GAINESVILLE, Fla., – Mississippi State men’s tennis suffered its first loss of the season on Saturday, falling 4-2 to No. 16 Florida in the finals of ITA Kickoff Weekend on the Gators’ campus.
No. 107 Petar Jovanovic and Carles Hernandez each claimed straight-set singles wins for the Bulldogs, who dropped to 5-1 on the year.
Jovanovic, the reigning SEC Freshman of the Week, won 6-3, 6-4 over Will Grant for his ninth consecutive win. Hernandez beat 51st-ranked Nate Bonetto 7-5, 6-2 to claim his third victory over an opponent ranked in the ITA top 60 this season.
MSU was on the brink of adding another ranked singles win to its ledger as Ewen Lumsden topped No. 93 Jonah Braswell 6-4 in the first set and was in a second set tiebreaker when the Gators clinched the match.
Gregor Ramskogler took Togan Tokac to three sets before bowing out. Tokac edged Ramskogler in a tiebreaking first set 7-6(1) before the graduate from Austria roared back with a 6-0 win in the second before ultimately falling 6-2 in the final set.
Benito Sanchez Martinez battled Lukas Greif but fell 6-4, 7-6(1) and Nemanja Malesevic lost 6-0, 6-3 to Axel Nefve as Florida improved to 3-1.
The Gators also got the doubles point as their 10th-ranked tandem of Tokac and Tannapatt Nirundorn defeated Lumsden and Michal Novansky 6-3 and No. 43 team of Braswell and Greif scraped by Jovanovic and Ramskogler 7-5.
State returns to action on Friday as it hosts Tulane at 3 p.m.
No. 16 Florida 4, Mississippi State 2
Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex | Gainesville, Fla.
Jan. 28, 2023
Doubles
1. Will Grant/Axel Nefve (UF) vs. Nemanja Malesevic/Carles Hernandez (MSU) 6-6 (2-4), unfinished
2. No. 10 Tanapatt Nirundorn/Togan Tokac (UF) def. Ewen Lumsden/Michal Novansky (MSU) 6-3
3. No. 43 Jonah Braswell/Lukas Greif (UF) def. Petar Jovanovic/Gregor Ramskogler (MSU) 7-5
Order of finish: (2,3)
Singles
1. Axel Nefve (UF) def. Nemanja Malesevic (MSU) 6-0, 6-3
2. No. 107 Petar Jovanovic (MSU) def. Will Grant (UF) 6-3, 6-4
3. Carles Hernandez (MSU) def. No. 51 Nate Bonetto (UF) 7-5, 6-2
4. No. 93 Jonah Braswell (UF) vs. Ewen Lumsden (MSU) 4-6, 6-6 (4-3), unfinished
5. Lukas Greif (UF) def. B. Sanchez Martinez (MSU) 6-4, 7-6 (7-1)
6. Togan Tokac (UF) def. Gregor Ramskogler (MSU) 7-6 (7-1), 0-6, 6-2
Order of finish: (1,2,3,6,5)
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