Men’s tennis comes up short against No. 7 Mississippi State on the road

Men’s tennis comes up short against No. 7 Mississippi State on the roadMen’s tennis comes up short against No. 7 Mississippi State on the road
Bella Mauritz/Auburn Tigers

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Auburn men’s tennis fell to No. 7 Mississippi State on Saturday at the Rula Tennis Pavilion in Starkville, Mississippi. Auburn claimed the doubles point and one singles match, but ultimately fell by a 4-2 score.

Mississippi State struck first with a doubles win at the No. 2 position, but Alan Bojarski and Jake Kennedy responded by claiming court three by a 7-5 score. Billy and Freddy Blaydes came through in a tiebreaker in their match against Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez, the second ranked doubles team in the nation, to clinch a dramatic doubles point.

In singles, Mississippi State responded with straight set victories at the No. 4, No. 3 and No. 2 singles positions to take a 3-1 lead. Auburn continued to battle despite the deficit, as Manel Lazaro won an opening set tiebreaker and Alan Boajarski bounced back from dropping his first set in a tiebreaker to winning the second over Raphael Vaksmann 7-5 to force a third. On the top singles court, Hamza Nasridinov also forced a third set with a 6-2 second set victory. Lazaro then completed a straight set win to tighten the team score to 3-2. 

Vaksmann ultimately prevailed in his third set over Bojarski to win the match 7-6 (7), 5-7, 6-2 and clinch the victory for the Bulldogs.

Auburn’s first loss of the season drops its record to 6-1 overall. Up next, Auburn will travel to Clemson on Sunday, Feb. 1. The match at the Duckworth Family Tennis Facility in Clemson, South Carolina, is scheduled for noon CT.

 

#7 Mississippi State 4, Auburn 2

Singles Results:

  1. #54 Benito Sanchez Martinez (MSST) vs. #40 Hamza Nasridinov (AUB) 7-5, 2-6, 1-3, unfinished
  2. #13 Petar Jovanovic (MSST) def. #36 Billy Blaydes (AUB) 6-4, 6-4
  3. Niccolo Baroni (MSST) def. Nicholas Heng (AUB) 6-0, 6-2
  4. #37 Mario Martinez Serrano (MSST) def. Freddy Blaydes (AUB) 6-3, 6-0
  5. #125 Raphael Vaksmann (MSST) def. Alan Bojarski (AUB) 7-6 (7), 5-7, 6-2
  6. Manel Lazaro (AUB) def. #34 Br Hernandez Cortes (MSST) 7-6 (6), 2-6, 6-3

Doubles Results:

  1. #24 Billy Blaydes/ Freddy Blaydes (AUB) def. #2 Petar Jovanovic/Benito Sanchez Martinez (MSST) 7-6 (3)
  2. Niccolo Baroni/ Ma Martinez Serrano (MSST) def. Nicholas Heng/ Joey Phillips (AUB) 6-2
  3. Alan Bojarski/Jake Kennedy (AUB) def. Bryan Hernandez Cortes/Michal Novansky (MSST) 7-5

 

Order of finish: Doubles: 2,3,1; Singles: 4,3,2,6,5