URBANA, Ill. – Two Bulldogs began competition at the 2013 NCAA Singles Championship Wednesday, but only one advanced to the second round of action, as Mississippi State men’s tennis junior Malte Stropp earned a straight-sets victory to move on to the round of 32.
The 57th-ranked Dusseldorf, Germany, native faced Texas A&M-Corpus Christi’s 88th-ranked Peter Nagy in a Wednesday morning match. Stropp dominated throughout the entire match, defeating Nagy 6-2, 6-1. He advances to face Ohio State’s No. 12 ranked and 9-16 seeded Blaz Rola Thursday at 10:30 a.m. CT.
In MSU’s other singles action Wednesday, No. 6 ranked and fifth-seeded Romain Bogaerts dropped a tight 6-3, 7-6(2) decision to UCLA’s No. 25 Marcos Giron to conclude his stellar rookie season. Bogaerts finished the 2012-13 campaign with a 28-11 overall record, 15-7 in dual match play. He captured Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year and All-SEC First Team honors, along with being named the Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Rookie of the Year earlier this week.
As play continues Thursday for Stropp in singles, play also begins for MSU’s 13th-ranked doubles squad of Stropp and freshman Jordan Angus. The pair will take on North Carolina State’s Dave Thomson and Sean Weber in the first round of the 32-team national doubles draw. The opening-round match is set to begin at 5 p.m. CT.
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2013 NCAA Men’s Tennis Individual Championships
May 22, 2013 – Atkins Tennis Center – Urbana, Ill.
Singles – First Round
No. 57 Malte Stropp (MSU) def. No. 88 Peter Nagy (AMCC) 6-2, 6-1; No. 25 Marcos Giron (UCLA) def. No. 6 Romain Bogaerts (MSU) [5] 6-3, 7-6(2)
