SEC Home Opener on Tap as Bulldogs Face No. 37 Vanderbilt

Saturday, February 21

Starkville

12 p.m.

Mississippi State

Vanderbilt

SEC Home Opener on Tap as Bulldogs Face No. 37 Vanderbilt

February 20, 2026 | Men's Tennis

Match Notes (PDF)

By: Tad Couch, Mississippi State Athletic Communications Student Intern

Saturday, February 21 at 12 p.m. CT
Starkville, Miss | A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre
Match 10
No. 10 Mississippi State vs No. 37 Vanderbilt
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STARKVILLE – Mississippi State opens Southeastern Conference home play Saturday playing hosts to No. 37 Vanderbilt at noon at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.

The Bulldogs enter the matchup fresh off a standout performance at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships, highlighted by wins over No. 23 Florida and No. 4 Stanford, with their only loss coming against No. 1 Virginia. Vanderbilt comes to Starkville with an impressive resume of its own, with eight wins and their only defeats coming by way of No. 2 Virginia and No. 1 Wake Forest.

Saturday's match marks Mississippi State's SEC home opener, where head coach Matt Roberts has posted an 8-3 record in league home openers during his tenure. A win against the Commodores would also give Roberts his 221st career victory, breaking the program's all-time wins record.

Mississippi State Notes
• Mississippi State has won seven of their last 10 SEC openers and SEC home openers.
• The Bulldogs picked up their first top-five victory of the season defeating No. 4 Stanford 4-3 at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
• State has been on the road for much of the season, playing just two home matches prior to SEC play.
• Mississippi State opened the 2026 season with four consecutive road sweeps before returning home to sweep Santa Clara and Auburn at the ITA Kickoff Weekend.
• The Bulldogs hold a winning record at every singles position through the opening stretch of the season.
• Mississippi State earned its second and third ranked victories of the year at the ITA National Team Indoors over No. 4 Stanford and No. 23 Florida.
• Four Bulldogs are ranked in the ITA singles rankings, led by Petar Jovanovic at No. 10, the second highest-ranked player in the SEC.
• The Bulldogs have two doubles teams in the ITA Rankings for the first time this season. No. 4 Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez are the highest ranked SEC duo.
• Seniors Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez return as ITA Doubles All-Americans, while Jovanovic also earned ITA Singles All-American honors after reaching the NCAA Individual Championships quarterfinals.
• Mississippi State posted 25 wins in 2025, tying the 1979 team for the most single-season victories in program history.
• In 2025, Benito Sanchez Martinez set single-season program records for dual-match wins in both singles and doubles.
• Jovanovic and Sanchez Martinez are the winningest doubles pair in program history, surpassing Nuno Borges and Strahinja Rakic by nine victories.
• The Bulldogs return eight letterwinners from last season's NCAA quarterfinal squad.
• Mississippi State is in its 102nd season as a program, with an all-time record of 1,118-645-8.

Mississippi State Record Book Watch
• Head coach Matt Roberts is tied for the most career wins all time as the Bulldogs' head coach with 220 victories. He is one win away from overtaking Andy Jackson for the most wins all time at the helm.
•Petar Jovanovic sits at 185 career wins (singles and doubles). He trails the all-time leader, Nuno Borges by four wins.
• Jovanovic has 86 career doubles wins, tying him with Gregor Ramskogler (2018-2023) for third-most all-time. He sits just 11 wins away from Laurent Miquelard's (1992-95) total of 97.
• Jovanovic currently has 56 career dual match doubles wins. He is just nine wins away from breaking Ramskogler's total for the for the most all-time.
• Jovanovic is tied for 5th all-time in career dual match wins with Thomas Dupré (1995-1998) at 113 wins. He is now four wins away from being tied for 4th all-time.
• Jovanovic is in sole possession of 8th for career singles with a total of 97. He is two wins away from jumping to 5th all-time.

Mississippi State in the ITA Rankings
Team Ranking – 10th
Singles
No. 10 – Petar Jovanovic
No. 43 – Mario Martinez Serrano
No. 47 – Benito Sanchez Martinez
No. 55 – Bryan Hernandez Cortes

Doubles
No. 4 - Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez
No. 47 – Mario Martinez Serrano and Michal Novansky

Series History vs. Vanderbilt
• Mississippi State is 49-14 all-time against the Commodores.
• The Bulldogs are 19-5 against Vanderbilt at home.
• Mississippi State has won 10 consecutive meetings, the Bulldogs' longest streak is 19 against Vanderbilt.
• State has never dropped an SEC home opener to the Commodores.
• The Bulldogs and Commodores have met 12 times under head coach Matt Roberts, with Mississippi State claiming 10 victories.



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