The University of Mississippi Athletics
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Tennessee
Rebels top Tennessee 5-2 in SEC Opener
3/4/2016 | Men's Tennis
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - In their Southeastern Conference opener Friday, the Ole Miss men's tennis team dropped the doubles point but rallied for a 5-2 win at Tennessee to improve to 6-2 overall and 1-0 in the SEC.
Ole Miss won 6-3 at No. 3 doubles with Grey Hamilton and Fabian Fallert, but the Vols took the No. 1 and 2 matches 6-3 for the early 1-0 lead.
The Rebels responded in singles, winning five first sets. In one of those, sophomore Zvonimir Babic wasted little time getting off the court, taking out Jack Heslin 6-1, 6-2 at court six to tie the match 1-1.
Tennessee regained the lead 2-1, when Srdjan Jakovljevic took out Ricardo Jorge in two tight sets, 6-4, 6-4 at No. 4 singles.
Hamilton finished off UT's Preston Touliatos 7-5, 6-3 at No. 5 singles to square the match at 2-2.
After dominating the first set against Luis Valero, 6-1 at No. 1 singles, senior Stefan Lindmark won a key second set tiebreaker 7-6(5) to give the Rebels a 3-2 lead. At 5-5 in the breaker, Valero hit a backhand wide to give Lindmark match point, which he converted for his fourth straight win.
Moments after Tennessee won the second set to split sets on court three, Rebel sophomore Gustav Hansson made sure that match wouldn't be needed, completing a 6-2, 7-5 win against Vol freshman Timo Stodder at No. 2 singles. Hansson served for it at 6-2, 5-4, but got broken. He broke back for 6-5 and served it out 7-5.
Fallert raced through Tennessee's Jack Schipanski in the third set to finish off a 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 win at No. 3 singles for the final 5-2 score.
Notables…
• Ole Miss improved to 6-2 overall with the win and 1-0 in the SEC.
• The Rebels have now won seven straight against the Volunteers.
• Stefan Lindmark improved to 12-5 on the year and 6-1 at No. 1 singles.
• Gustav Hansson has now clinched three of the Rebels six wins, all on the road.
• Fabian Fallert played his first match at No. 3 singles.
Quoting Head Coach Toby Hansson…
"It was a great team effort today. We lost a close doubles point, but the guys did a fantastic job of bouncing back quickly in singles, winning five first sets. Z played great at six to get us on the board. Up and down the lineup everybody competed hard and played well. Grey did a nice job winning in two and Stefan won a huge tiebreaker to close out his opponent. Gus stepped up again to deliver the win, and then Fabi winning in three finished off a great singles performance."
On coming back after dropping the doubles…
"We knew we were capable of coming back and the guys responded to the challenge. It's great to see them keep battling and fighting on every point. That's not easy to do on the road in the SEC."
On playing Kentucky next…
"We have another big challenge on Sunday. Kentucky is playing well right now, but we are looking forward to the match and trying to get another SEC road win."
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.
Players Mentioned
