STARKVILLE — Even at this stage of the year, where one bad afternoon will end its season, the Mississippi State men’s tennis team still has time to keep the mood light.
“At this point we are just trying to enjoy our matches and it’s a pretty good group,” junior Nemanja Malesevic said Tuesday afternoon before practice. “We are confident we can win against anyone. We showed that against South Carolina (on March 19), I was joking with the guys that we have never lost to No. 2 in the country, so let’s go out there and play our best tennis and see what happens.”
Two months ago, MSU convincingly defeated then No. 2 South Carolina in a 5-2 home victory. The Bulldogs (21-7) have won six matches since, including both in last weekend’s NCAA Tournament regional at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre against Alabama State and Middle Tennessee to advance to Saturday’s Sweet 16 round against No. 2 TCU in Fort Worth, Texas.
“This is our peak of confidence,” freshman Petar Jovanovic said. “We are ready to go out. We trust ourselves, trust each other. I know each of my teammates will give it all.”
It’s no accident Saturday will be MSU’s fourth national quarterfinal in the last five tournaments. Under 10-year head coach Matt Roberts, the Bulldogs have successfully found a formula in actively recruiting internationally, then building his guys to playing their best tennis come May.
“They come in as puppy dogs and we’ve got to teach them how to become Bulldogs,” Roberts said. “That is what we say. They are just not used to training three, four hours a day. They are getting two hours in the morning or afternoon, plus another hour or two (later). They are putting in the full 20 hours a week, and they aren’t used to doing that at this level where you have to mentally stay locked in and focused in practices. Once they got used to that, they got more resilient in their singles matches and more confident in themselves. It’s a process.”
MSU, who’s roster is made up of seven European student-athletes, doesn’t have the front-line talent that some of its past Sweet 16 teams have had, according to Roberts. But its depth is something he believes has made his team a tough out all season.
Six of MSUs players have tallied double-digit singles wins this season, led by Carles Hernandez and Benito Sanchez Martinez, who each have won 20 matches. Jovanovic and Ewen Lumsden each add 19 wins, while Malesevic and Gregor Ramskogler have each won 12.
Where MSU can possibly find a difference-maker on Saturday, Roberts thinks, is in doubles play, where the pairs of Malesevic and Novansky (3), and Jovanovic and Lumsden (2), have won their past five combined matches.
“At this time of year, we are going to feel pretty loose,” Roberts said. “They (TCU) will probably have a little pressure on them at home. We are feeling healthy, mentally and physically…We are playing good tennis in some spots, so it is definitely doable.”
Justin Frommer is the Mississippi State sports reporter for The Dispatch.
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