Tennessee tennis fell in its SEC opener to the Mississippi State Bulldogs, 4-3. The No. 16 Vols (9-3, 0-1 SEC) lost the doubles point to the No. 26 Bulldogs (11-1, 1-0) and it proved to be big in the end.
Here are some takeaways from the match on Saturday in the Goodfriend Tennis Center.
Doubles struggles hold Vols back
The Vols struggled again in doubles, quickly finding themselves in a deficit. James Newton and Jan Kobierski were unable to take the fight to Michal Novansky and Dusan Milanovic on Court 3, dropping their match, 6-2.
Court 1 was a closer match for the Vols, but they still came up short. Alejandro Moreno and Alex Kotzen were gridlocked with Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez, the No. 10 ranked duo in the nation. However, the Bulldogs found an edge late, collecting a 6-4 win to seal the point.
Court 2 was the best of the day for the Vols, leading 5-4 when the point was called. Shunsuke Mitsui and Alan Jesudason battled hard for the lead over Mario Martinez Serrano and Niccolo Baroni, but their efforts were nil as they were unable to finish.
Early struggles in the first set
After a lackluster doubles segment, the Vols were faced with an uphill battle for the rest of the match. They were unable to turn things around early, losing five courts, with only Mitsui snagging a win. Newton and Jesudason were unable to put anything together, falling 6-1 in the first set. Moreno also lost 6-2, but the rest of the courts fared better.
Kotzen had the lead over his opponent but relinquished them to fall, 6-4. Garcia led for most of his match but was unable to close it out, losing 7-6 in the tiebreaker.
The bright spot of the first set was Mitsui. Initially, he looked like he was going to follow suit, facing a 5-1 deficit in his match. However, he pulled off a ridiculous comeback to deny the Bulldogs a first-set sweep.
Mitsui’s miraculous comeback
The most impressive individual of the day was Mitsui, pulling off a near-miracle in the first set. Despite being faced with a 5-1 deficit, he slowly climbed back into the set. He ripped off five straight points to take the lead over ITA’s No. 67 ranked player, Petar Jovanovic, 6-5. Jovanovic tied it at 6, forcing a tiebreaker. Mitsui regained the momentum in the tiebreaker, polishing him off to complete the comeback, 7-6.
His second match didn’t have the same theatrics, as he crushed Jovanovic 6-2 to get the Vols on the board.
Late life
The Vols were more competitive in the second set and third sets, but it wasn’t enough to complete the comeback. Newton and Jesudason performed much better than their first set but still fell in straight sets, 6-4 and 6-3.
Those two losses atop the doubles loss put Tennessee in a 3-0 hole with little life remaining.
Mitsui got the Vols on the board, cruising through his second set, 6-2, to cut the lead to 3-1. Moreno, Garcia and Kotzen also helped in the second set, with each winning to force a third set that would decide the game.
Mississippi State was barely able to stave off the comeback attempt, shutting the door on Tennessee on Court 5. Moreno played from behind for much of the set, leading to a 6-2 defeat that handed the Vols the first loss in SEC play.
Kotzen and Garcia both led 4-3 in their final sets when the match was decided but went on to win, 6-3 and 7-5.
Up next
The Vols travel to Athens on Monday to face the No. 54 Bulldogs (5-4). Tennessee will need to recover quickly and refine its doubles play for a bounce-back game.
