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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Slavic and Sandkaulen Defeated in NCAA First Round Heartbreakers
5/23/2021 | Men's Tennis
No. 29 Nikola Slavic and No. 32 Tim Sandkaulen Fall in Three Sets
ORLANDO, Fla. – Two Ole Miss Rebels competed in the frst round of the NCAA Singles Championships on Sunday at the USTA National Campus. No. 29 Nikola Slavic fell to TCU's No. 17 Luc Fomba and No. 32 Tim Sandkaulen fell to San Diego's No. 90 August Holmgren. Both Rebels forced their matches to three sets after dropping the first. One Rebel, No. 16 Finn Reynolds, has reached the Round of 32 in singles after advancing on Saturday.
No. 17 Luc Fomba (TCU) def. No. 29 Nikola Slavic, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
Slavic battled hard after losing the first to TCU's Fomba. He came back to win the second set, but was unable to come out with a victory in his NCAA individual tournament debut. Slavic concludes the 2021 season with a 14-8 overall record and 8-4 record versus ranked opponents.
Both Slavic and Fomba held serve through the first four games in the opening set. Slavic had his serve broken to fall behind 3-2. The break proved to be crucial as both held serve and Fomba extended his lead to 5-3. Slavic was broken again to drop the first set, 6-3, and fall behind in a one set hole.
Slavic rebounded to win the second set. Both student-athletes held serve through the first eight games to tie the set at 4-4. Slavic then jumped ahead on return, 40-15, over Fomba and took the decisive game point at 40-40 to break. Slavic then won the second set on his serve, 6-4, to split sets versus Fomba.
The third set started similarly to the second. Both players held serve through the first nine games and Fomba held a 5-4 lead over Slavic. Slavic dropped the deciding point, tied 40-40 in the next game, to lose the set 6-4 and the match.
No. 90 August Holmgren (San Diego) def. No. 32 Tim Sandkaulen, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4
Sandkaulen's collegiate singles career ends in a hard-fought defeat to WCC Player of the Year Holmgren. Sandkaulen concludes his collegiate career with a 91-76 record in singles including 14 wins this season. His 91 victories rank No. 11 all-time in Ole Miss program history.
Sandkaulen started slow on Sunday, falling behind 2-0 after Holmgren took an early break in the first set. Both players held serve as Sandkaulen brought the match to 3-2 in favor of Holmgren. Sandkaulen then broke Holmgren's serve to tie the set at 3-3. Both held serve to level the match 5-5 before Holmgren broke Sandkaulen and won the first set 7-5 on his serve.
Sandkaulen stormed in front to go up 5-1 in the second set. Holmgren scraped two more games off Sandkaulen, but the Rebel was able to win the set on serve, 6-3. Sandkaulen forced the match to a decisive third set.
The final set of the match was wire-to-wire between both student-athletes holding their serve. Holmgren served first, and through nine games of service holds he took a 5-4 lead over Sandkaulen. Sandkaulen could not extend the match, and dropped the final set 6-4 in a losing effort.
Up Next
Sandkaulen and Reynolds are set to compete in the first round in doubles tomorrow as the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament. They will take on the Oracle/ITA No. 12 ranked Eduardo Nava and Henri Squire from Wake Forest.
Reynolds will also be competing in the Round of 32 in singles tomorrow versus Illinois' No. 124 Siphosothando Montsi.
Live scoring and tournament information can be found at:
https://www.ustanationalcampus.com/en/home/collegiate/ncaa-championships.html
Live streaming of the match will be available on the TennisOne app.
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.
No. 17 Luc Fomba (TCU) def. No. 29 Nikola Slavic, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
Slavic battled hard after losing the first to TCU's Fomba. He came back to win the second set, but was unable to come out with a victory in his NCAA individual tournament debut. Slavic concludes the 2021 season with a 14-8 overall record and 8-4 record versus ranked opponents.
Both Slavic and Fomba held serve through the first four games in the opening set. Slavic had his serve broken to fall behind 3-2. The break proved to be crucial as both held serve and Fomba extended his lead to 5-3. Slavic was broken again to drop the first set, 6-3, and fall behind in a one set hole.
Slavic rebounded to win the second set. Both student-athletes held serve through the first eight games to tie the set at 4-4. Slavic then jumped ahead on return, 40-15, over Fomba and took the decisive game point at 40-40 to break. Slavic then won the second set on his serve, 6-4, to split sets versus Fomba.
The third set started similarly to the second. Both players held serve through the first nine games and Fomba held a 5-4 lead over Slavic. Slavic dropped the deciding point, tied 40-40 in the next game, to lose the set 6-4 and the match.
No. 90 August Holmgren (San Diego) def. No. 32 Tim Sandkaulen, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4
Sandkaulen's collegiate singles career ends in a hard-fought defeat to WCC Player of the Year Holmgren. Sandkaulen concludes his collegiate career with a 91-76 record in singles including 14 wins this season. His 91 victories rank No. 11 all-time in Ole Miss program history.
Sandkaulen started slow on Sunday, falling behind 2-0 after Holmgren took an early break in the first set. Both players held serve as Sandkaulen brought the match to 3-2 in favor of Holmgren. Sandkaulen then broke Holmgren's serve to tie the set at 3-3. Both held serve to level the match 5-5 before Holmgren broke Sandkaulen and won the first set 7-5 on his serve.
Sandkaulen stormed in front to go up 5-1 in the second set. Holmgren scraped two more games off Sandkaulen, but the Rebel was able to win the set on serve, 6-3. Sandkaulen forced the match to a decisive third set.
The final set of the match was wire-to-wire between both student-athletes holding their serve. Holmgren served first, and through nine games of service holds he took a 5-4 lead over Sandkaulen. Sandkaulen could not extend the match, and dropped the final set 6-4 in a losing effort.
Up Next
Sandkaulen and Reynolds are set to compete in the first round in doubles tomorrow as the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament. They will take on the Oracle/ITA No. 12 ranked Eduardo Nava and Henri Squire from Wake Forest.
Reynolds will also be competing in the Round of 32 in singles tomorrow versus Illinois' No. 124 Siphosothando Montsi.
Live scoring and tournament information can be found at:
https://www.ustanationalcampus.com/en/home/collegiate/ncaa-championships.html
Live streaming of the match will be available on the TennisOne app.
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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