The University of Mississippi Athletics
Men's Tennis Singles Championships Set to Begin
6/21/1999 | Men's Tennis
May 27, 1998
ATHENS, Ga. - Sebastien DeChaunac of the Ole Miss men's tennis team is seeded No. 2 in the NCAA Singles Championships which begin Wednesday. He is seeded second behind Oklahoma State's Pavel Kudrnac, who won the first two legs of the collegiate grand slam.
In the first round, DeChaunac will face 69th-ranked Daniel Merkert of Boise State at 10 a.m., Wednesday. Merkert was an automatic qualifier from Region VII. If he wins the first round, DeChaunac could meet Georgia's John Roddick in the second round.
DeChaunac is bidding to become the first NCAA Singles Champion in Ole Miss history. He advanced to the semifinals at last year's NCAA Championships in Los Angeles, Calif., and is currently ranked No. 1 in the nation. DeChaunac owns a 21-6 overall record and as a result of being the number two seed, will earn All-America honors for the second year in a row.
Ole Miss has had three players make the final four in singles and two doubles teams reach the semifinals at the NCAAs. Former All-Americans Joakim Appelqvist and Johan Hede made the singles semifinals in 1994 and 1996 respectively.
In doubles, Mahesh Bhupahti, currently No. 6 in the world rankings, and Ali Hamadeh claimed the NCAA Doubles Championship in 1995. That same year, former All-Americans Johan Landsberg and Remi Feneon got to the semifinals.
Martin Sjoqvist was the second alternate in singles, while he and DeChaunac were the first alternate in doubles, but neither qualified into the respective draws.
