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The Florida Gators men’s tennis team is in Starkville to face Mississippi State at 2 p.m. Saturday at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre. Florida is fourth in the SEC standings right in front of fifth MSU.
The Gators have played the last three matches away. The Bulldogs will be Florida’s last match before it returns to the Alfred A. Tennis Complex. Florida is coming into this match 12-7 overall and 6-3 in SEC play after defeating LSU on Thursday, 5-2.
The Bulldogs are 16-4 overall and 6-3 in the conference. Mississippi State is coming into the match after a 7-0 win against Arkansas on Thursday.
ITA Rankings
Florida has two pairs ranked in the ITA doubles rankings: No. 18 Tanapatt Nirundorn and Henry Jefferson and No. 78 Nirundorn and Ganesan. Three players are ranked in singles competition: No. 65 Jeremy Jin, No. 113 Jefferson and No. 124 Ganesan.
MSU has two ranked doubles pairs: No. 4 Petar Jovanovic-Benito Sanchez Martinez and No. 39 Niccolo Baroni-Mario Martinez Serrano. The Bulldogs have four players ranked in singles play: No. 38 Martinez, No. 95 Serrano, No. 100 Jovanovic, and No. 117 Baroni.
Previous Matchups
Florida overall has been dominant over Mississippi State, winning 20 out of 27 matches in program history. However, UF lost the last match, 4-3, on March 24, 2024 at home.
UF and MSU have both faced mutual SEC opponents. Both teams defeated LSU, Vanderbilt and Arkansas, and lost to Texas. Florida defeated Kentucky, 6-1, while MSU lost, 4-2. Florida lost to Oklahoma, 4-0, while Mississippi State won 5-2.
