No. 68 Jovanovic Earns Second Straight Top 20 Win – Mississippi State – Mississippi State Athletics

On Thursday, No. 68 Petar Jovanovic earned the highest-ranked win of his career by defeating 19^th-ranked Ryan Fishback of Virginia Tech in the consolation round of 16 at the ITA National Fall Championships in San Diego, California.

Jovanovic’s achievement lasted less than 24 hours because in the consolation quarterfinals on Friday, the Mississippi State sophomore attained a new personal best by beating No. 15 Michael Zheng of Columbia. Zheng, who currently holds a #525 world ATP ranking and reached the finals of Wimbledon Juniors in 2022, claimed a first-set tiebreaker 7-6(6) before Jovanovic gained control and took the final two sets 6-4, 6-2.

The win pushed Jovanovic into the consolation semifinals against Illinois’ Kenta Miyoshi on Saturday at noon CT.

Jovanovic and partner Benito Sanchez Martinez nearly pulled off another upset on Friday evening. The Bulldog tandem claimed the first set from 24^th-ranked Erik Grevelius and Alvin Tudorica of USF 6-2 before the Bulls batted back to even things by winning the second set 6-4. The two teams traded blows in a third set super tiebreaker before Grevelius and Tudorica eventually outlasted Jovanovic and Sanchez Martinez 13-11.

Across the country, another MSU duo was in action in the GT Fall Invite in Atlanta. Marshall Landry and Nemanja Malesevic earned a hard-fought 8-6 win against Alex Meggs and Nicolas Recoura of New Mexico to start things off on Friday morning.

Later in the day, Malesevic made his first singles appearance of the fall. However, the 46^th-ranked senior fell to Georgia’s Thomas Paulsell 6-1, 6-3. Landry also lost 6-4, 6-4 to UGA’s Parker Mariencheck.

The GT Fall Invite will continue Saturday starting at 8 a.m. CT.

ITA National Fall Championships
Barnes Tennis Center | San Diego, Calif.
Nov. 3, 2023

Singles Consolation Quarterfinals
No. 68 Petar Jovanovic (MSU) def. No. 15 Michael Zheng (Columbia) 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-2

Doubles Consolation Quarterfinals
No. 24 Erik Grevelius/Alvin Tudorica (USF) def. Petar Jovanovic/Benito Sanchez Martinez (MSU) 2-6, 6-4, 1-0[11]

GT Fall Invite
Ken Byers Tennis Complex | Atlanta, Ga.
Nov. 3, 2023

Doubles
Marshall Landry/Nemanja Malesevic (MSU) def. Alex Meggs/Nicolas Recoura (New Mexico) 8-6

Singles
Thomas Paulsell (Georgia) def. No. 46 Nemanja Malesevic (MSU) 6-1, 6-3
Parker Mariencheck (Georgia) def. Marshall Landry (MSU) 6-4, 6-4

For more information on the Bulldog men’s tennis program, visit HailState.com or search for “HailStateMT” on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.