Rebels Blank Auburn 4-0

March 23, 2017

OXFORD, Miss. - Coming into Thursday's match against Auburn, the Ole Miss men's tennis team faced essentially a must win if they want to be playing in May. The Rebels rose to the occasion and took care of the Tigers 4-0 at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center.

Ricardo Jorge and Zvonimir Babic got the party started with a 6-2 win at No. 2 doubles. Auburn squared the doubles with a 6-3 win in a battle of top 20 teams on court one. At one time, the Rebels appeared to be on their way to wrapping up the doubles quickly as Tim Sandkaulen and Filip Kraljevic led 5-1 at No. 3. The Tiger duo of Dante Saleh and Olle Thestrup rallied to tie it at 5-5. The Rebels broke and then Sandkaulen served it out 7-5 to clinch the point.

The Rebels carried the momentum into singles, winning five of the six first sets. In two of those they closed out straight-set wins to go up 3-0. All-American Gustav Hansson, ranked No. 39, spotted his opponent only one game in each set, dominating 67^th-ranked Maxime Hinnsdaels 6-1, 6-1 on court one.

Fabian Fallert followed with a 6-1, 6-4 win against the Tigers' Edward Nguyen at No. 4 singles to put the Rebels within one.

Getting the final point took a little longer, as Auburn came back to force third sets on courts two, three and six, while Kraljevic forced a third set on five.

Junior Grey Hamilton, playing in his first singles match in nearly three weeks, got off to a quick break in the final set against Brandon Laubser and served for the match at 6-5. Laubser broke back for 6-6. Leading 4-3 in the tiebreak, Hamilton won three of the next four points to win 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(4) and clinch the victory.

At the Netâ€¦
â€¢ The Rebels improved to 7-6 on the year, 2-4 in the SEC
â€¢ Ole Miss now leads the all-time series with Auburn 32-28 and have won three straight in Oxford.
â€¢ Gustav Hansson improved to 14-9 overall, 6-5 at No. 1 singles
â€¢ Fabian Fallert improved to 15-6 overall, 9-3 in dual matches, 5-1 in the SEC
â€¢ Grey Hamilton is 2-0 against Auburn's Brandon Laubser after beating him in the fall
â€¢ Ricardo Jorge and Zvonimir Babic improved to 9-1 overall, 6-0 in dual matches, and 4-0 in the SEC

Complete Results

Doubles
1. #18 Hinnsdaels/Huertas (AU) def. #13 Fallert/Hamilton (OM) 6-3
2. Jorge/Babic (OM) def. Nguyen/Laubser (AU) 6-2
3. Sandkaulen/Kraljevic (OM) def. Saleh/Thestrup 7-5
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3
Singles
1. #38 Gustav Hansson (OM) def. #67 Maxime Hinnsdaels (AU) 6-1, 6-1
2. Ricardo Jorge (OM) vs. Carles Sarrio (AU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-5, sus.
3. Tim Sandkaulen (OM) vs. Connor Huertas (AU) 6-4, 4-6, 3-2, sus.
4. Fabian Fallert (OM) def. Edward Nguyen (AU) 6-1, 6-4
5. Filip Kraljevic (OM) vs. Olle Thestrup (AU) 3-6, 6-4, 5-4, sus.
6. Grey Hamilton (OM) def. Brandon Laubser (AU) 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(4)
Order of Finish: 1, 4, 6

Thoughts from head coach Toby Hanssonâ€¦
"This was a huge win for us. We'll take it however we can get it done. We were up big in doubles and then they came back on us. We were able to settle down and regroup and get the point. We kept the momentum going in singles, getting five first sets and things were looking really good. Auburn has a good team and we knew they would battle, so I am not surprised we lost a couple second sets. I give our team a lot of credit for hanging in there in the third sets and giving ourselves a good chance on all the courts. In the end, we were able to get the match up top from Grey."

On Gus' match setting the toneâ€¦
"It was great to see Gus take control of his match and get off the court fast. He normally doesn't finish first for us, because he likes to grind it out. He was hitting the ball with some speed and controlling the points."

On Grey's matchâ€¦
"We are very proud of Grey. He hadn't played a singles match in a while and stepped in and played at high a level. it was very impressive the way he finished off that tiebreaker to clinch."

Grey Hamilton on the winâ€¦
"It was definitely a big win for the team after having lost our last few matches to some very good teams. We had a tough start to the SEC schedule with both Florida and Georgia in the first two weekends, and I think we all knew that just because we haven't started the conference schedule off as well doesn't mean we can't finish very strongly. It was awesome for us to bounce back today, especially in preparation for the big match against MSU on Saturday."

On his match-clincherâ€¦
"Getting an opportunity to play singles today was awesome, and I'm really glad I could make the most of it and get the win as well as clinch the team win. It's always tough to be out of the lineup for a few weeks then come back in and play your best, but I feel like I did a good job the past month staying mentally and physically prepared to play. I was able to step in and play at a pretty high level today."

Up nextâ€¦
The Rebels will travel down to Starkville for a showdown with arch-rival Mississippi State, ranked No. 15, Saturday at 3 p.m. at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.

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.

RebelsCalendar

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Zvonimir Babic

Fabian Fallert

Grey Hamilton

Gustav Hansson

Ricardo Jorge

Filip Kraljevic

Tim Sandkaulen

The University of Mississippi Athletics