Men's Tennis Drops Road Match at Mississippi State, 5-2

Sunday, January 31

Starkville, Miss.

Noon

Tulane University

Mississippi State

Photo by: Parker Waters

Men's Tennis Drops Road Match at Mississippi State, 5-2

Jan 31, 2021 | Men's Tennis

Box Score

STARKVILLE, Miss. - The Tulane men's tennis team won the doubles point for the fifth straight match but suffered a 5-2 road setback at Mississippi State on Sunday at the Rula Tennis Pavilion.

The matchup was the first of two scheduled for the 2021 season, as the Bulldogs will make a return trip to New Orleans on Feb. 21.

"It was almost a carbon copy of Friday's match," director of tennis Mark Booras said. "We played great doubles, had a great start in singles and didn't close people out. Then, we fought and hustled like crazy to get more chances in second and third sets but weren't able to capitalize."

Tulane (3-2) got the afternoon underway with another strong showing in doubles play, as Akos Kotorman and Billy Suarez defeated Mississippi State's (5-0) 47th-ranked duo on court two. Hamish Stewart and Ewan Moore were close behind in clinching the doubles point with an upset win of their own, topping the Bulldogs' 28th-ranked tandem on court one, to give the Green Wave a 1-0 lead in the overall match.

"It's good to see us playing good doubles and having the ability to take it to teams like these in singles," Booras said. "But if we want to be successful, we will maybe have to be a little less like Miyagi-Do and a little more like Cobra Kai when trying to close them out."

Mississippi State took control from that point however, winning the first set on five singles courts before scoring a pair of straight-set wins on courts six and one, respectively, to take a 2-1 advantage. The Bulldogs continued their pressure with a comeback win in three sets on court three, before clinching the match with another straight-set victory on court four.

After Mississippi State put one final point on the board with a win on court two, Tulane finished the day with a positive as freshman Fynn Kuenkler upended Carles Hernandez, 5-7, 6-4, 1-0(3), on court five. Kuenkler now owns a 3-2 singles mark in his debut campaign.

Up next, Tulane hosts Auburn and Xavier University (New Orleans) in a doubleheader on Friday, February 5 at the City Park Tennis Center. The Green Wave will face the Tigers at 1 p.m., before taking on the Gold at 5 p.m.

Mississippi State 5, Tulane 2
Singles competition
1. #36 Giovanni Oradini (MS) def. #40 Hamish Stewart (TU) 7-5, 6-2
2. #87 Florian Broska (MS) def. #53 Ewan Moore (TU) 6-2, 2-6, 6-2
3. Nemanja Malesevic (MS) def. Luis Erlenbusch (TU) 1-6, 6-1, 6-4
4. Alberto Colas (MS) def. Billy Suarez (TU) 7-5, 7-5
5. Fynn Kuenkler (TU) def. Carles Hernandez (MS) 5-7, 6-4, 1-0 (10-3)
6. Gregor Ramskogler (MS) def. Jeremy Schifris (TU) 6-2, 6-4

Doubles competition
1. Ewan Moore/Hamish Stewart (TU) def. #28 Florian Broska/Nicolas Ocana (MS) 6-3
2. Akos Kotorman/Billy Suarez (TU) def. #47 Alberto Colas/Gregor Ramskogler (MS) 6-4
3. Nemanja Malesevic/Giovanni Oradini (MS) vs. Luis Erlenbusch/Fynn Kuenkler (TU) 5-6, unfinished

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