.png&width=32&height=32&type=webp)
The University of Mississippi Athletics
Hansson Wins Doubles and Singles at Edwardsville Futures
8/13/2017 | Men's Tennis
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. â€" With school starting back in just over a week, Ole Miss men's tennis senior Gustav Hansson finished out the summer with a bang, taking home two titles at the Edwardsville Futures.
As part of the ITF Collegiate Team, Hansson has spent the past month training and playing Futures events in Illinois. In his final tournament (Edwardsville), Hansson captured the doubles on Friday and followed up with his first ITF Futures singles title on Sunday.
In Sunday's final, Hansson downed O. Ram Harel, who finished up a solid career at Tulsa in May, 6-1, 6-2.
In the first set, Hansson took a 2-1 lead and then broke Ram Harel's serve again in the fifth game to go up 4-1. He closed out the set with another break.
The second set was tied at 1-1, with both players breaking the other's serve. Hansson won the next two games to take a 3-1 lead, but, Ram-Harel pulled within 3-2 by breaking Hansson's serve. That was the last break of serve for Ram Harel as Hansson won the next three games to clinch the set and the match.
"It feels fantastic. I'm a little overwhelmed and very happy," Hansson said. "It's been a lot of tennis, but I've been playing better and better every match. I know Ram-Harel. He's a fighter and I knew there were going to be a lot of long rallies."
The Rebel All-American began the tournament in the qualifying where he won three matches in straight sets to earn a spot in the main draw. After taking out South Carolina senior Gabriel Friedrich and Illinois senior Aron Hiltzik in straight sets in the first two rounds, Hansson overcame former Georgia Tech All-American Kevin King in three sets to reach the semifinals, where he dominated Argentina's Genaro Alberto Olivieri 6-1, 6-1.
In their first professional tournament together as a pair, Hansson and former Ohio State player Hunter Callahan teamed up for a 6-3, 6-4 victory over top-seeded Rob Galloway and Alex Lawson Friday night for the doubles title.
Four weeks ago, they decided to become a doubles team after meeting each other in a hotel room.
Hansson and Callahan only dropped one set in their four doubles matches. They began tournament play on Tuesday with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Aron Hiltzik and Jeffrey Schorsch in the first round, upset third-seeded Nathaniel Lammons and Keegan Smith in two sets in the quarterfinals on Wednesday and came back to beat Florida State's Aziz Dougaz and Guy Orly Iradukunda in three sets in Thursday's semifinals.
On Friday, Callahan and Hansson scored three break points to beat Galloway and Lawson in the finals.
Callahan said Hansson was a great doubles partner even though they had only been playing together for a short time.
"He returns well and I volley well," Callahan said. "He carries me, he's always positive and he's never down. I think we really mesh well together. It's one of those things where we know we play well together."
Rebel head coach Toby Hansson followed his No. 1 player's results all week from Oxford and surprised the three-time All-SEC honoree as a spectator for the singles final.
"I am extremely happy for Gus," Hansson said. "His results this week shows that he can compete at this level, and I believe he will win a lot more titles in the future. The final was closer than the score indicates. There were a lot of high quality points, but Gus was just a little bit stronger and able to dictate play with his forehand. Overall, it was a fantastic week for Gus and we look forward to the upcoming year with him leading our team."
The 2017-18 academic year at Ole Miss begins Aug. 21, and the Rebels will begin the fall campaign in September.
Players Mentioned
