No. 18 Men’s tennis falls to fifth-ranked Mississippi State, defeats Eastern Kentucky

Mississippi State Box Score Eastern Kentucky Box Score
No. 18 Men’s tennis falls to fifth-ranked Mississippi State, defeats Eastern KentuckyNo. 18 Men’s tennis falls to fifth-ranked Mississippi State, defeats Eastern Kentucky

AUBURN, Ala. – No. 18 Auburn men’s tennis split its home doubleheader Saturday, falling to No. 5 Mississippi State 5-2 before shutting out Eastern Kentucky 4-0. Auburn mounted a late comeback bid against Mississippi State after trailing 3-0, but came up short. The Tigers rebounded in the evening match with a shutout of Eastern Kentucky behind a doubles point and three straight-set singles wins.

The Bulldogs started strong in doubles, earning 6-2 victories at the No. 1 and No. 3 positions to claim the doubles point. Mississippi State carried that momentum into singles, winning the opening set on four courts.

Mississippi State built a 3-0 lead after two straight-set singles victories, as Mario Martinez Serrano defeated Nicholas Heng and Petar Jovanovic defeated Billy Blaydes. With the score at 3-0, three matches moved to a third set.

At the No. 4 singles position, Mississippi State’s Raphael Vaksmann won the first set over Freddy Blaydes 6-3 and built a 3-1 lead in the second. Trailing 4-3, Blaydes earned a break to even the set, which eventually went to a tiebreak. Vaksmann won the tiebreak 7-5 to clinch the match for the Bulldogs. Mississippi State later added a win at the No. 6 position to extend the lead to 5-0.

After dropping the first set at the No. 5 position, Auburn freshman Alan Bojarski dominated the second set against Bryan Hernandez Cortes 6-0 to force a third. Cortes won each of the first three games of the final set before Bojarski responded by winning four straight. The two players held serve until Bojarski earned a break on a deciding point in the final game to claim the 3-6, 6-0, 7-5 victory.

On the top singles court, Auburn sophomore Hamza Nasridinov won four straight games in the first set against Benito Sanchez Martinez to take it 6-3. Sanchez Martinez claimed the second set 7-5 before Nasridinov capitalized on an early break in the third to secure a 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 victory.

Auburn opened the evening match against Eastern Kentucky with a 6-2 doubles win from Billy and Freddy Blaydes at the No. 1 position. Nicholas Heng and Joey Phillips overcame an early 2-0 deficit at the No. 2 position to win 6-3 and clinch the doubles point.

Thomas Kennedy set the tone in singles, delivering two bagels against Adrian Contreras in a 6-0, 6-0 victory to give Auburn a 2-0 lead.

Bojarski recorded his second singles win of the day over Joao Barreto in straight sets, and Heng clinched the team victory with a 6-2, 6-2 win at the No. 2 position.

Auburn is now 11-2 overall, and the loss to Mississippi State drops its SEC record to 2-1. The Tigers remain at home next weekend, hosting Charlotte on Friday at 2 p.m. and rival Alabama on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT at the Yarbrough Tennis Center.

Fans in attendance Friday will receive free “On Yarb Time” cups, and fans at Sunday’s Iron Bowl of Tennis will receive orange tank tops while supplies last. More fan information is available at AuburnTigers.com/MatchDay.

 

#5 Mississippi State 5, #18 Auburn 2

Singles Results:

  1. #56 Hamza Nasridinov (AUB) def. #47 Benito Sanchez Martinez (MSST) 6-2, 5-7, 6-3
  2. #10 Petar Jovanovic (MSST) def. #86 Billy Blaydes (AUB) 6-2, 6-3
  3. #43 Ma Martinez Serrano (MSST) def. Nicholas Heng (AUB) 6-1, 6-3
  4. Raphael Vaksmann (MSST) def. Freddy Blaydes (AUB) 6-3, 7-6 (7-5)
  5. Alan Bojarski (AUB) def. #55 Bryan Hernandez Cortes (MSST) 3-6, 6-0, 7-5
  6. Roberto Ferrer Guimaraes (MSST) def. #84 Manel Lazaro (AUB) 1-6, 6-3, 6-2

Doubles Results:

  1. #4 Petar Jovanovic/Benito Sanchez Martinez (MSST) def. #20 Billy Blaydes/Freddy Blaydes (AUB) 6-2
  2. Nicholas Heng/Joey Phillips (AUB) vs. #47 Ma Martinez Serrano/Michal Novansky (MSST) 3-4, unfinished
  3. Bryan Hernandez Cortes/Roberto Ferrer Guimaraes (MSST) def. Jake Kennedy/Hamza Nasridinov (AUB) 6-2

 

Time of match: 2:47 Order of finish: Doubles: 3,1; Singles: 3,2,4,6,5,1 Official: Donna Jerome

 

 

#18 Auburn 4, Eastern Kentucky 0

Singles Results:

  1. #86 Billy Blaydes (AUB) vs. Nuno Pinheiro (EKU) 6-3, 3-4, unfinished
  2. Nicholas Heng (AUB) def. Marek Nano (EKU) 6-2, 6-2
  3. Freddy Blaydes (AUB) vs. Fernando Bulnes (EKU) 6-4, 3-2, unfinished
  4. Joey Phillips (AUB) vs. Ilie Cazac (EKU) 4-6, 2-3, unfinished
  5. Alan Bojarski (AUB) def. Joao Barreto (EKU) 6-0, 6-2
  6. Thomas Kennedy (AUB) def. Adrian Contreras (EKU) 6-0, 6-0

Doubles Results:

  1. #20 Billy Blaydes/Freddy Blaydes (AUB) def. Nuno Pinheiro/Marek Nano (EKU) 6-2
  2. Nicholas Heng/Joey Phillips (AUB) def. Joao Barreto/Ilie Cazac (EKU) 6-3
  3. Jake Kennedy/Hamza Nasridinov (AUB) vs. Fernando Bulnes/Adrian Contreras (EKU) 5-4, unfinished

 

Time of match: 1:58 Order of finish: Doubles: 1,2; Singles: 6,5,2 Official: Donna Jerome