The University of Mississippi Athletics
No. 22 Rebels to face Auburn, No. 24 Florida
3/17/2016 | Men's Tennis
(Auburn) | Live Scoring/Video (Florida)
OXFORD, Miss. - The No. 22 ranked Ole Miss men's tennis team heads back on the road this weekend to face Auburn and No. 24 Florida.
The Rebels (7-4, 2-2) will battle the Tigers Friday at 2 p.m., at the Yarbrough Tennis Center followed by the Gators on Sunday at 12 p.m., CT., at the Ring Tennis Complex.
Last time out…
Ole Miss split last weekend's matches, downing LSU 4-1 before dropping a tight 4-1 decision to No. 7 Texas A&M. The Rebels won the doubles point against A&M and five singles went three sets, but the Aggies claimed three off those.
Scouting Auburn…
Auburn comes into the weekend at 8-6 overall, 0-3 in the SEC. They are coming off a 7-0 loss at Florida last Friday. The Tigers are led by Max Hinnsdaels, who owns an 8-6 overall record, 2-3 at No. 1 singles, where he'll play this weekend. Auburn boasts one player in the singles rankings, Marko Krickovic, ranked No. 82.
Looking at Florida…
Florida enters the weekend at 7-4 overall, 2-1 in the SEC. They beat Auburn 7-0 last Friday. The Gators are led by 21st-ranked Diego Hidalgo and 33rd-ranked Elliott Orkin. Hidalgo is 21-10 overall, 7-3 in dual matches, while Orkin is 22-7 and 9-2 in dual matches.
Rebels vs. Auburn and Florida…
Ole Miss beat both Auburn and Florida last year. The Rebels rallied to knock off the Gators 4-3 in the first round of the ITA Kick-Off in Gainesville and then shut out the Gators 4-0 in Oxford in the SEC regular season meeting. Against Auburn, the Rebels won a close doubles point and then got straight set wins at one and six, before Stefan Lindmark clinched it 6-2 in the third at No. 2 singles.
National Rankings…
The Rebels are ranked No. 22 in this week's Oracle/ITA National Rankings. In the latest individual rankings, Stefan Lindmark is ranked No. 103 in singles, while Filip Kraljevic and Zvonimir Babic are ranked No. 48 in doubles.
Double Trouble…
The Rebels have won the doubles point in eight of their 11 matches, which is already more than half the times they won the point last year with at least eight regular season contests left in the season. Fabian Fallert and Grey Hamilton improved to 10-3 overall, 8-2 in dual matches. They are 5-2 at No. 2 and 3-0 at No. 3. After not playing together for the first nine dual matches, Stefan Lindmark and Gustav Hansson teamed up again to post two wins, including saving match point against A&M at No. 3 doubles to clinch the point.
Quoting head coach Toby Hansson…
"With spring break it's been nice for the guys to only have tennis to focus on. We've had a solid week of practice, and they guys are looking forward to competing against two very good teams this weekend. We've had some good matches against both these teams over the years."
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.
