Ole Miss Takes Eighth Straight River Hills Cup

JACKSON, Miss. The Ole Miss men’s tennis team proved its No. 5 ranking against a solid but young Mississippi State team (ranked No. 52 in the nation), recording a 4-0 shutout here Thursday in front of a packed house at the River Hills Club.   The win marked the Rebels eighth straight in this event and fifth consecutive shutout.

Senior Eric Claesson clinched the match with a comeback at No. 2 singles. At 40-30 in the seventh game of the third set, Claesson aced his opponent, MSU’s Ivan Bjelica, to clinch Ole Miss’ 18^th straight in the series.

“When it comes down to it, the key was taking the doubles point,” head coach Billy Chadwick said.  “If you let a young team like (Mississippi State) take the doubles point on you, it would have been an uphill battle.”

Claesson lost the first set to MSU’s Bjelica, ranked No. 32 in the nation, 6-3.  He got down a break early in the second set, but was able to break back and hold for 6-3 to force the final set.

“I played really well in doubles,” Claesson said.  “I felt like I was ready to go, but the feet and the legs just weren’t there.  He (Bjelica) played really well in the first set.  In the second set I started moving better.  I got a lot more balls back and got more free points.

“I was worried when I lost the first set and got down a break early in the second set.  When I got the break back in the second set, I started feeling much better and felt that I would have a great chance to bring it home.”

Ole Miss won the doubles point to take the early 1-0 lead in the match.  All-Americans Erling Tveit and Claesson teamed up to post an 8-3 win over State’s Bjelica and Philippe Frayssinoux at No. 1 doubles.   Moments later, Robbye Poole and Jonas Berg finished off an 8-6 win against Edouard Benchetrit and Christopher Doerr on court three to clinch the point.

Tveit, ranked No. 40 in the nation downed 31^st-ranked Frayssinoux 6-3, 6-2 at the top spot to give the Rebels a 2-0 lead.  The 2006 NCAA Semifinalist improved to 5-0 in dual matches, 4-0 at No. 1.

“It was extremely important for Erling to finish off his match early to give us that 2-0 lead,” Chadwick said.  “Then it was an uphill battle for State.”

Poole, ranked No. 79 in the nation, set up the clinching match when he defeated State newcomer Artem Kuznetsov in straight sets.  Poole raced out to a 4-1 lead in the first set, before seeing the Bulldog tie it up at 4-4.  The two traded breaks, before Poole dominated the tiebreaker (7-1) to win the first set.  He used that momentum to gain a 4-2 lead in the second set.  At 5-3, and 40-15, Poole nailed a winner down the line to end the match at 6-3.  With the win, Poole improved to 19-5 overall and 5-0 in dual matches.

“My mom made the trip down from Charleston, S.C., to watch me play, so that (made the win) very nice,” Poole said. 

The Rebels (6-0) will now turn their attention to a match against Northwestern followed by the National Team Indoor.

“This was extremely important for us from the standpoint that the guys knew we were going to go into the National Team Indoor as the fifth seed with a win.  From having this stiff of competition (against Mississippi State) we are better prepared,” Chadwick said of his match against MSU.  “I feel like our team grew a lot from this performance.”

#5 OLE MISS  4

#52 Mississippi State  0

DOUBLES

#1 Tveit/Claesson (OM) def. Bjelica/Frayssinoux (MSU) 8-3

#2 Klaeson/Rea (OM) vs. Kuznetsov/Necajevs (MSU) 6-4, MSU

#3 Poole/Berg (OM) def. Benechetrit/Doerr (MSU) 8-6

SINGLES

#1 Erling Tveit (OM) def. Philippe Frayssinoux (MSU) 6-3, 6-2

#2 Eric Claesson (OM) def. Ivan Bejelica (MSU) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2

#3 Robbye Poole (OM) def. Artem Kuznetsov (MSU) 7-6(1), 6-3

#4 Jakob Klaeson (OM) vs. Pjotrs Necajevs (MSU) 6-6, sus.

#5 Kalle Norberg (OM) vs. Edouard Bechetrit (MSU) 5-3 OM sus.

#6 Jonas Berg (OM) vs. Ryan Farlow DNP

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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