Matt Roberts is typically quite strict when it comes to his players losing their temper in practice.
If a player gets upset to the point where he throws his racket, Mississippi State’s head coach will make the entire team run laps. But when Nuno Borges lost a match in practice and threw his shoe over the fence in frustration one day, Roberts knew it was simply a sign of his competitiveness, no matter the situation.
“I didn’t make him run. I was just like, ‘Go get your shoe,’” Roberts said. “It just showed us, he’s so disgusted that he lost in practice that he threw his shoe over the fence. That’s when we knew, if he can mature and harness that competitive nature to stay in control in these dual matches, he’s going to beat a lot of people in college.”
Borges did indeed beat a lot of people in college, and he’s beaten a lot of people as a professional, too. Later this week, he will play his first match at the Olympic Games in Paris, the Bulldogs’ first-ever Olympian in tennis. And he’s coming off his first ATP tournament title Sunday at the Swedish Open, defeating the legendary Rafael Nadal in straight sets in the final.
When Roberts recruited him to Starkville from Maia, Portugal, Borges already had an impressive resume, playing in three Grand Slam tournaments as a junior player. The Bulldogs put him in the No. 3 singles position as a freshman in 2016, and Borges finished 20-4 in dual singles matches that year including 9-3 in Southeastern Conference play. MSU upset Illinois 4-0 on the road in the second round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to North Carolina.
“I grew a lot playing those four years under Matt Roberts,” Borges said. “The team accomplished a lot of things, and they helped me day in and day out, pushing me. It’s also their credit for me to be here now.”
Roberts knew Borges had the potential to be an elite college player, and he began realizing that potential as a sophomore, winning 20 of his 23 dual matches at No. 1 singles and earning his first SEC Player of the Year award. At the NCAA individual championships, Borges reached the semifinals in both 2017 and 2018 and was the national runner-up in 2019.
“He always had a super competitive mindframe,” Roberts said. “It didn’t matter if he played cards or anything, he just wanted to beat you. He hated losing. Off the court, he was the nicest, most humble guy, but on the court he was the fiercest competitor. He could switch from being really nice (and) easygoing to someone you didn’t want to play, because he was so fierce on the court. That competitive nature he had helped him improve a lot in college.”
By the time he graduated, Borges had won three SEC Player of the Year awards and was also named to the SEC Community Service Team three times. As a senior, he was named the ITA National Player of the Year, but the honor that meant the most to both him and Roberts was the Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award, which he won as a junior in 2018.
“He loves the college system,” Roberts said. “When he would learn about an award, like an academic award or a leadership or sportsmanship award, he wanted to achieve that. He just loved the challenge of academics and athletics and wanted to do well in every area. You see a guy who’s top 50 in the world and you think he’s just focused on tennis, but he was a straight-A student and did so well in every area of this college athletics system.”
Because he played four years of college tennis, Borges did not turn pro until age 22, and the COVID-19 pandemic delayed his debut on the ATP Tour until 2021. Borges moved into the top 100 in singles after reaching the second round of the 2022 US Open, then defeated John Isner in the first round of the 2023 French Open.
But his true breakthrough came this January at the Australian Open, when he earned his first top-20 win against Grigor Dimitrov to reach the fourth round before losing in four sets to Daniil Medvedev. That vaulted Borges into the top 50 of the ATP rankings, making him just the second Portuguese player to achieve a ranking that high.
“The more I play against the best, the more they expose me and make me feel more insecure and vulnerable on the court,” Borges said. “The challenges keep getting bigger, and those are the matches that you start to realize what you really need to work on.”
This year’s Olympic tennis competition will be held on the famed clay courts of Roland Garros, site of the French Open. Borges is the only Portuguese player competing in singles, and will be paired with Francisco Cabral in doubles.
Although he is a relatively late bloomer by tennis standards, Borges is still improving at age 27 and is in the midst of a career year. A strong performance at the Olympics, with the US Open not far away, could lift him even further up the rankings by year’s end.
“It’s very hectic and chaotic, but at the same time it means things are going well,” Borges said. “I’m playing the biggest tournaments, and the opportunities are huge. I feel very thankful, proud of the work I’ve been putting in. Looking back to all the hard work, it does feel great. It feels like a huge achievement, just being able to play there on those big courts and the biggest tournaments in the world against the very best.”
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 36 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
