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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Men's Tennis Players To Compete in Mississippi Intercollegiate
6/21/1999 | Men's Tennis
Sept. 30, 1998
OXFORD, Miss. - Several members of the Ole Miss men's tennis team will compete in the Mississippi Intercollegiate this weekend hosted by Mississippi State in Starkville. Mississippi State is hosting the tournament for the sixth time in the last seven years. The Rebels are coming off the T. Rowe Price National Clay Court Championships last weekend in Baltimore, Md.
Junior Martin Sjoqvist, a finalist at last year's Mississippi Intercollegiate in Jackson, is the No. 1 seed this year followed by State's Matthieu Ballay and Jeremy Bayon, the 1997 champion. Rebel Vikrant Chada is seeded fourth, Martin Selin is seeded sixth and James Shortall, who is coming off a solid performance at the clay courts, is seeded eighth. Teams participating in the Mississippi Intercollegiate include Alabama, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Southern Mississippi. The tournament will feature a 32 player singles draw and a 16-team doubles field. Play begins at 10:30 a.m., with the first round. The top eight seeds in the draw receive first-round byes.
Rebel netters David Blackburn (Vicksburg, Miss.), Ben Cousins (Memphis, Tenn.), and Bo Petro (Madison, Miss.), all have first-round matches. Blackburn faces MSU's Mathieu Soto, Cousins will meet Alabama's Mason Snider and Petro plays Mason Greene (MSU) in his first collegiate match for the Rebels. Anders Stenman is also competing for the Rebels, but received a first-round bye.
Five of the top seeds in the tournament are ranked in the top 75 in the preseason singles rankings, including Sjoqvist, who is ranked No. 25. Ole Miss has had a finalist at the Mississippi Intercollegiate four consecutive years since 1994 and has claimed five titles, two in singles and three in doubles.
Shortall comes in playing well for the Rebels, after posting an 8-1 record at the clay courts. He advanced from the prequalifying round to the main draw in singles, in his first grand slam appearance. Ole Miss will have four teams in the doubles draw with Sjoqvist and Selin leading the way. The two knocked off the No. 2 team in the nation last weekend at the clay courts.