BATON ROUGE, La. – The No. 19 LSU Men’s Tennis team (11-4, 1-3 SEC) fell to No. 22 Mississippi State (10-4, 2-1 SEC) on Sunday by a score of 4-3 at the LSU Tennis Complex.
Doubles
The Tigers started the match off strong by taking the doubles point. On the No. 3 court, Chen Dong and Julien Penzlin teamed up against Nemanja Malesevic and Michal Novansky. Dong and Penzlin secured a quick win only dropping two games, 6-2. Dong and Penzlin continue to see success on the doubles court this season, improving their record to 7-0.
On the No. 1 court, No. 51-ranked duo Tiger Stefan Latinovic and Aleksi Lofman faced No. 34-ranked Bulldog duo Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez. Latinovic and Lofman fell by a score of 6-3.
The No. 73-ranked duo of Welsh Hotard and George Stoupe clinched the doubles point for the Tigers on the No. 2 court. Hotard and Stoupe defeated Carles Hernandez and Dusan Milanovic with a narrow win of 7-5 to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead in the match. Hotard and Stoupe continue to show their strength in doubles play this season, holding an impressive dual record of 7-1 after their win today.
Singles
On the No. 2 court, Aleksi Lofman extended the lead for the Tigers to 2-0. He faced No. 27 Petar Jovanovic and won in two quick sets, 6-3, 6-3. The win is the highest ranked win of the season for Lofman thus far and snapped a three match losing streak.
Chen Dong fell in his singles match on the No. 4 court. Dusan Milanovic defeated Dong by a score of 6-1, 6-4.
The Bulldogs tied up the score to 2-2 with a win on the No. 3 court. No. 121 Carles Hernandez defeated George Stoupe 6-2, 6-4.
On the No. 5 court, Rudy Ceccon played an impressive singles match against Benito Sanchez Martinez. Ceccon won in two narrow sets by a score of 7-5, 6-4. The Frenchman’s singles success has been vital for the Tigers this season, posting a team-high 8-3 record playing at the No. 2-5 spots for the Tigers.
The Bulldogs tied up the score for a second time after Radomier Tomic defeated Julien Penzlin in three sets. In the first set, Tomic only dropped one game, winning 6-1. Penzlin took the second set by a score of 6-1, forcing a third set. In the third set, Tomic won with a score of 6-2. The defeat was Penzlin’s first in the dual season, dropping his record to 10-1.
Mississippi State clinched a 4-3 win on the No. 1 court after Nemanja Malesevic defeated Stefan Latinovic in three sets. The first set went to Latinovic in a narrow win of 7-5. Malesevic won the second set by a score of 6-4, forcing a third set. The third and final set of the match was a close game, but was won by Malesevic by a score of 6-4 to give the visitors the team win.
Up Next
The Tigers will have another weekend at home, first facing Kentucky on Friday, March 15 at 5:30 p.m. CT and then Tennessee Sunday, March 17 at noon CT.
Results
#22 MSU 4, #19 LSU 2
Doubles
1. #34 Jovanovic/Martinez (MSU) def. #51 Latinovic/Lofman (LSU) 6-3
2. #73 Stoupe/Hotard (LSU) def. Hernandez/Milanovic (MSU) 7-5
3. Dong/Penzlin (LSU) def. Malesevic/Novansku (MSU) 6-2
Singles
1. Nemanja Malesevic (MSU) def. Stefan Latinovic (LSU) 5-7, 6-4, 6-4
2. Aleksi Lofman (LSU) def. #27 Petar Jovanovic (MSU) 6-3, 6-3
3. #121 Carles Hernandez (MSU) def. George Stoupe (LSU) 6-2, 6-4
4. Dusan Milanovic (MSU) def. Chen Dong (LSU) 6-1, 6-4
5. Rudy Ceccon (LSU) def. Benito Sanchez Martinez (MSU) 7-5, 6-4
6. Radomir Tomic (MSU) def. Julien Penzlin (LSU) 6-1, 1-6, 6-2
Match Notes
Order of Finish: Doubles (3, 1, 2), Singles (2, 4, 3, 5, 6, 1)
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