STARKVILLE, Miss. — Vanderbilt men’s tennis got multiple wins from the bottom of its lineup on Friday, but it was not enough as No. 15 Mississippi State earned a 5-2 victory over the Commodores at the Rula Tennis Pavilion.
Michael Ross and Hugo Coquelin picked up straight-sets decisions on Courts 5 and 6 for the Commodores (9-7, 0-4 SEC), with Ross winning his second singles match in a row and Coquelin earning his first singles victory in SEC action.
“Congrats to Mississippi State,” head coach Scott Brown said. “Matt Roberts runs a quality program and they beat us with tennis at a couple of spots today. On our end, I want to mention Hugo Coquelin and Michael Ross and how proud I am of how they finished the match for us even when we were down 0-5. They left it out there for their teammates and the program, and they finished the match in the right manner.”
To start the match, Carles Hernandez and Dusan Milanovic claimed the last three games to pick up a win on Court 2 and put Mississippi State (11-4, 3-1 SEC) ahead in doubles. Coquelin and Danil Panarin broke serve to extend their match on Court 3, but Nemanja Malesevic and Michal Novansky replied immediately with a break to give the Bulldogs the doubles point and a 1-0 advantage.
Mississippi State then picked up three singles victories in straight sets within minutes of each other, two from ranked individuals, to clinch the match. No. 27 Petar Jovanovic defeated Nathan Cox—playing his first match in two weeks after suffering an injury—on Court No. 2, with No. 121 Hernandez following on Court 3 with a defeat of Joubert Klopper. Milanovic’s victory over Jeremie Casabon on Court 4 ensured the win for the Bulldogs.
“What I love about this group of young men is that they are resilient and continue to work, even though the results haven’t gone our way the past few weeks,” Brown said. “If they can keep this up over the next 4-6 weeks, the next 3-6 months and the next 1-2 years, then I know we are going to catch fire at some point. Fight Dores.”
Singles
1. Malesevic (Mississippi State) def. #57 Panarin 6-3, 6-3
2. #27 Jovanovic (Mississippi state) def. Cox 6-1, 6-2
3. #121 Hernandez (Mississippi State) def. Klopper 6-2, 6-1
4. Milanovic (Mississippi State) def. Casabon 6-1, 6-1
5. Ross (Vanderbilt) def. Benito Sanchez Martinez 7-6 (2), 7-6 (6)
6. Coquelin (Vanderbilt) def. Radomir Tomic 6-3, 6-4
Doubles
1. Klopper/Ross (Vanderbilt) vs. #35 Jovanovic/Sanchez Martinez 3-4 unfinished
2. Hernandez/Milanovic (Mississippi State) def. Casabon/Cox 6-3
3. Malesevic/Novansky (Mississippi State) def. Coquelin/Panarin 6-3
Up Next: Vandy will visit Ole Miss Sunday, with first serve scheduled for 1 p.m. in Oxford.
