Gainesville, Fla. — No. 7 Mississippi State defeated No. 22 Florida 4-3 in an SEC men’s tennis match Sunday at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex. The Bulldogs earned their sixth conference victory of the season, improving their overall record to 15-2.
Florida took an early lead by winning the doubles point with victories on courts two and three. Mississippi State responded with wins from No. 8 Petar Jovanovic and Raphael Vaksmann in singles to even the match.
The Gators pulled ahead again after a straight-sets win on court three. However, Niccolo Baroni and Benito Sanchez Martinez responded with victories on courts four and one, respectively, to put the Bulldogs ahead. Florida’s Kevin Edengren then tied the match at 3-3 with a win on court six.
The match came down to Sanchez Martinez on court one. After dropping the first set, he won the next two, including a decisive break in the third, to seal the 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over No. 87 Adhithya Ganesan.
Sanchez Martinez’s win secured the Bulldogs’ road victory. The match was closely contested, with Mississippi State earning its third ranked road win this season, according to sources.
Additional highlights included Baroni extending his winning streak to nine matches and Vaksmann winning his seventh straight singles match. Jovanovic leads the team with 13 singles wins this season, while Sanchez Martinez recorded his 10th singles victory.
