Nikola Slavic Wins ITA Southern Singles Championships

AUBURN, Ala. – Ole Miss Rebel Nikola Slavic defeated Auburn's Tad Maclean in three sets at the Yarbrough Tennis Center on Tuesday to win the ITA Southern Regional Singles Championships. Slavic earned automatic entry into the ITA Fall National Championships with the victory.

Slavic earned five consecutive victories to claim the regional singles title this week. Slavic, ranked No. 21 in the ITA Preseason Rankings, received the No. 3 overall seed in the event. After defeating Ole Miss teammates in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds, Slavic edged out Auburn's Maclean in three sets in the championship match on Tuesday.

Slavic started off strong in the match, taking a 3-2 lead in the first set. He then broke Maclean's serve, held serve and broke serve again to take the opening set. 6-2. The Tiger's Maclean gained the momentum in the second set, jumping ahead to 3-1, 3-2 and 4-2 leads. Slavic attempted to comeback in the set, but Maclean held on to take the second, 6-4, and split sets. Slavic and Maclean fought back-and-forth in the championship set, exchanging games to 4-4. Slavic held his serve to take the 5-4 advantage. He then broke Maclean's serve to win the set 6-4 and claim the regional title.

Slavic is the first Rebel to win the ITA Southern singles title since Nik Sholtz won the tournament in 2012. He is the first Rebel to win in either singles or doubles at the ITA Southern Regional Championships since 2017. Slavic, a Junior, won the event in his second try as 2020 iteration of the event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Slavic's victory guarantees him an automatic entry into the ITA National Fall Championships. The ITA Fall Nationals take place Nov. 4-7 at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego.

Assistant Coach Kalle Norberg's Thoughts

"It's always fun to leave a tournament with a win. Niko had a great week here. Today was a really food performance, especially in the third set where they (Slavic and Maclean) both played some great tennis."

Ole Miss ITA Regional Champions:

SINGLES
2006    Erling Tveit
2007    Matthias Wellermann
2012    Nik Sholtz
2021    Nikola Slavic

DOUBLES
2010    Marcel Thiemann/Chris Thiemann
2011    Johan Backstrom/Jonas Lutjen
2013    William Kallberg/Stefan Lindmark
2016    Fabian Fallert/Grey Hamilton
2017    Zvonimir Babic/Filip Kraljevic

For more information on Ole Miss Men's Tennis, follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissMTennis, on Facebook at OleMissMTennis and on Instagram at OleMissMTennis, follow Coach Hansson on Twitter at @TennisToby.

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Players Mentioned

Nikola Slavic

The University of Mississippi Athletics