Mississippi State beats Georgia 4-2 in top-10 men’s tennis showdown

STARKVILLE, Miss. — No. 5 Mississippi State earned a 4-2 victory over No. 8 Georgia on Sunday at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre, marking their second top-10 win this season, according to the university’s athletic department.

Georgia took the doubles point, winning on courts two and three despite a 6-1 victory from Mississippi State’s Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez on court one. The Bulldogs responded in singles, with Jovanovic defeating Georgia’s Will Jansen 6-1, 6-4 to tie the match.

Raphael Vaksmann then put Mississippi State ahead with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Noah Johnston. Gabriele Vulpitta secured Georgia’s only point with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Roberto Ferrer Guimaraes, but Sanchez Martinez reclaimed the lead for Mississippi State by beating Arda Azkara 6-2, 6-2.

Niccolo Baroni clinched the match for the Bulldogs with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 comeback victory over Derrick Chen, his second match-winning performance of the season, according to the school.

Mississippi State’s record improves to 13-2 overall and 4-1 in Southeastern Conference play, while Georgia drops to 10-4 and 3-3 in the SEC. The Bulldogs have faced ranked opponents in every conference match and have defeated four of five SEC teams this season. Jovanovic extended his singles winning streak to four matches.

The Bulldogs will travel to No. 13 South Carolina on March 13 for their next match, scheduled for 4 p.m. CT, according to the university.

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