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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Men's Tennis Advances to SEC Tourney Semifinals
4/20/2001 | Men's Tennis
With the overall score of the match knotted at 3-3, Rebel Martin Selin finished off Kentucky's Johan Grunditz at No. 4 singles, to clinch the win for the Rebels. Selin won the first set in an exciting tiebreaker 7-6(6) and then carried that momentum into the second set where he won 6-3.
"We are obviously happy for Selin to clinch the match," assistant coach Mark Beyers said. "He's been struggling this year, and for him to step up and win against Grunditz, who went 10-1 in the SEC this year, is huge. We played much better in doubles this time than when we played them in the regular season. It's always tough to play the home team in the first round with a big crowd."
The Rebels improved to 17-6 overall and advance to the semifinals for the second consecutive year. Kentucky dropped to 13-14 overall. Ole Miss has now won nine straight over Kentucky including this year's regular season 4-3 victory in Lexington.
Ole Miss claimed the doubles point with wins at the No. 1 and 2 spots to take a 1-0 lead. James Shortall and Kristofer Stahlberg defeated Grunditz and Reven Stephens 8-4 at the top spot, and then Selin and Paul Ciorascu topped Edo Bawano and Karim Benmansour 8-6 at No. 2 doubles for the point. The Rebels are 13-1 when they win the doubles point.
Kentucky evened the match at 1-1, as Rahim Esmail downed sophomore Patrick Chucri 6-0, 6-1 at No. 6 singles. Esmail avenged a tough three-set loss to Chucri in the regular season meeting, that clinched a 4-3 win for the Rebels.
The Rebels regained the lead at 3-1 with straight set victories on courts two and three. Stahlberg, playing at No. 3 singles again, where he came in with a 14-0 record, was impressive in taking down Kentucky's Matt Emery 6-2, 6-1. He needs one more victory to become the second Rebel to notch 25 wins this year. Shortall won his seventh in a row with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Benmansour at No. 2 singles and also earned his 90th career victory.
The Wildcats closed to within 3-2, when 47th-ranked Edo Bawano held off ninth-ranked Alex Hartman in three sets. Bawano won the first set 6-4 but Hartman came back to win the second 6-3. Bawano closed out the third 6-4 for the upset.
Kentucky's Gustav Pousette tied the match at 3-3 with a three-set win over Ciorascu at the No. 5 spot. Pousette won the first set 6-2, but Ciorascu rallied to win the second set 6-3 to force a third set. Pousette got up on Ciorascu 4-1 before taking the set 6-3, setting up Selin's clinching match.
"We are excited to move on in the tournament," Beyers said. "Whether we play Georgia or Mississippi State in the semifinals, we know that it will be a challenge. It will take a great team effort to reach one of our goals of getting to the finals of this tournament."
Ole Miss defeated Mississippi State 4-3 in the regular season and lost to Georgia 4-2. The Rebels won the SEC Tournament title in 1997 by defeating Georgia 4-2. Georgia boasts two players in the top 10 in the country. Mississippi State has the nation's No. 3 ranked player and the SEC Player of the Year, Marco Baron.
MEN'S TENNIS SEC TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINALS#4 Seed Ole Miss 4#5 Seed Kentucky 3
SINGLES#1 Edo Bawano (UK) def. Alex Hartman (OM) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4#2 James Shortall (OM) def. Karim Benmansour (UK) 6-3, 6-4#3 Kristofer Stahlberg (OM) def. Matt Emery (UK) 6-2, 6-1#4 Martin Selin (OM) def. Johan Grunditz (UK) 7-6(6), 6-3#5 Gustav Pousette (UK) def. Paul Ciorascu (OM) 6-2, 3-6, 6-3#6 Rahim Esmail (UK) def. Patrick Chucri (OM) 6-0, 6-1DOUBLES#1 Shortall-Stahlberg (OM) def. Grunditz-Reven Stephens (UK) 8-4#2 Selin-Ciorascu (OM) def. Bawano-Benmansour (UK) 8-6#3 Hartman-Chucri (OM) vs. Emery-Pousette (UK) suspended