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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Hansson Advances to Third Round at All-American
10/7/2016 | Men's Tennis
All-American Central
TULSA, Okla. - It's not how you start it's how you finish. Ole Miss men's tennis junior Gustav Hansson started slow in his second round match at the Saint Francis Health System All-American Championships Friday morning, but he found a way to get it done to advance to the third round.
Hansson defeated Oklahoma State's Lukas Finzelberg in straight sets 7-6(3), 6-1.
Despite having a chance to start with a break, Hansson got off to a slow start in the first set, making unforced errors and allowing Finzelberg to take a commanding 5-2 lead in set one. After Hansson held serve for 3-5, Finzelberg looked to close it out on his serve. Hansson saved set six points to ultimately force a tiebreaker.
Hansson took control of the match in the tiebreaker, winning it 7-6(3) to steal back momentum. He never relinquished it cruising in the second set 6-1 to advance.
"Gus started off a little slow today, but he did a great job of getting himself going as the match went on," assistant coach Devin Britton said. "To be able to turn the first set around after trailing 0-4 and saving six set points was an unbelievable effort. He maintained a great level in the second set and finished the match off strong. I'm looking forward to seeing him battle the top ranked player in the country tomorrow."
Hansson will face No.1 ranked, Mikael Torpegaard of Ohio State, Saturday at 9 a.m. If Hansson wins that match, he would play again not before 12:30 p.m. Saturday morning's match will be a rematch. The two met in May in the third round of the NCAA Singles Championship with Torpegaard winning two tight sets.
In doubles, junior Zvonimir Babic and sophomore Filip Kraljevic, ranked No. 6, had a tough day against 10th-ranked Laurens Verboven and Nick Crystal, struggling to hold serve in a 6-2, 6-0 loss.
"Z and Filip had a tough day today," Britton said. "They gave up a few too many free points in their service games, which was tough to overcome. Overall I was happy with the level I saw from them this week. They will be a really tough doubles force moving forward."
For more information on Ole Miss Men's Tennis, follow the Rebels on Twitter @OleMissMTennis, on Facebook at OleMissMTennis and on Instagram at OleMissMTennis, follow Coach Hansson on Twitter at @TennisToby.
ITA All-American Championships
Singles Second Round
(9-16) Gustav Hansson def. Lukas Finzelberg (Oklahoma State) 7-6(3), 6-1.
Doubles Second Round
Nick Crystal/Laurens Verboven (USC) def. (5-8) Zvonimir Babic/Filip Kraljevic (OM) 6-2, 6-0.
Players Mentioned
