Men’s Tennis Set for ITA Southern Championships

AUBURN, Ala. – Ole Miss men's tennis is set to head east for the annual ITA Southern Championships, set to run Oct. 12-16 at Auburn University.

The five-day tournament will pit the best players in the ITA's Southern Region against one another in both singles and doubles play, with a total of 17 teams being represented at the Yarbrough Tennis Center. All seven Rebels will make the trip to Auburn, with Walker Stearns and Gordon Whitwell kicking off play for the Rebels in the qualifying singles draw.

Qualifying singles is set to take place Thursday and Friday with the main draw of singles and doubles both set to follow beginning Saturday morning.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

Thursday, October 12 – Qualifying Draw Singles
Friday, October 13 – Qualifying Draw Singles
Saturday, October 14 – Main Draw Singles and Doubles
Sunday, October 15 – Main Draw Singles and Doubles
Monday, October 16 – Main Draw Singles and Doubles

THE REBELS

Nikola Slavic (Sr.) – Stockholm, Sweden

No. 1 overall seed in Southern Regional singles draw, has a bye in first round
No. 1 overall seed in Southern Regional doubles draw with Lukas Engelhardt
Enters 2023 fall season ranked No. 34 in singles by the ITA
Enters 2023 fall season ranked No. 8 in doubles by the ITA alongside Engelhardt
Defeated Ohio State's 10th-ranked Alexander Bernard at ITA All-Americans

Lukas Engelhardt (Sr.) – Augsburg, Germany

Set to compete in Southern Regional singles draw
No. 1 overall seed in Southern Regional doubles draw with Nikola Slavic
Enters 2023 fall season ranked No. 8 in doubles by the ITA alongside Slavic
Concluded the 2022-23 season with a 17-19 singles record and 18-8 doubles record
NCAA Double Championships alternate with partner Slavic

John Hallquist Lithén (Sr.) - Gothenburg, Sweden

Set to compete in Southern Regional singles draw, has a bye in first round
Set to compete in Southern Regional doubles draw with Walker Stearns
2022 ITA Southern Regional Doubles Runner-Up

Enters 2023 fall season ranked No. 77 in singles by the ITA
Finished 2022-23 with a record of 22-9 in singles and 15-20 in doubles

Noah Schlagenhauf (So.) – Buertingen, Germany

Set to compete in Southern Regional singles qualifying draw, has a bye in first round
No. 8 overall seed in Southern Regional doubles draw with Isac Stromberg

Compiled a 12-9 singles record and 7-9 doubles record in the 2022-23 season
Went 2-0 in singles during the ITA Kickoff Weekend
Tallied a 7-3 singles record in non-conference play

Isac Stromberg (So.) – Stockholm, Sweden

Set to compete in Southern Regional singles draw
No. 8 overall seed in Southern Regional doubles draw with Noah Schlagenhauf

Compiled a 12-12 singles record and 7-16 doubles record in the 2023 season
Clinched four matches for the Rebels in singles
Secured the doubles point four times

Gordon Whitwell (So.) – Oxford, Miss.

Set to compete in Southern Regional singles qualifying draw
Went 1-3 in singles and 2-1 in doubles in the first two tournaments of the 2023 fall season
Saw action in 12 singles matches and six doubles matches
Finished 2022-23 with a record of 6-9 in singles
Clinched his first collegiate singles in against Belmont with a 7-6 (4), 1-6, 6-4 victory

Walker Stearns (So.) – Germantown, Tenn.

Set to compete in Southern Regional singles qualifying draw
Set to compete in Southern Regional doubles draw with John Hallquist Lithén
Appeared in five dual matches in the 2022-23 season
Compiled a 0-1 singles record and a 2-9 doubles record in the 2022-23 season
Competed in eight singles matches and six doubles matches in tournament play last 2022 fall season

LIVE VIDEO & STATS
Live video and live stat options will be made available by the host site for the quarterfinal rounds of both singles and doubles play in Auburn. Links to videos and stats will be on the Ole Miss men's tennis schedule page and social media.

FALL SLATE
The ITA Regional Championships stands as the halfway point for Ole Miss men's tennis' 2023 fall season, marking the third of five tournaments in the team's year-end slate. After wrapping up play in Auburn, the Rebels will then send the individuals and doubles pairings that qualify to San Diego for the ITA National Fall Championships, which will take place Nov. 1-5. That same weekend, the remaining Rebels not traveling to San Diego will head to Fayetteville for the annual ITF Future Fayetteville. The tournament is set to run Oct. 29-Nov. 5 at the Billingsley Tennis Center.

LITHEN AIMS TO MATCH LAST YEAR'S PERFORMANCE
Senior John Hallquist Lithén will be looking to match his performance from last year's ITA Southern Regional Championships in this season's installment, with the Gothenburg, Sweden, native entering Auburn as the Southern Region's runner-up doubles champion. Following five straight victories to punch their ticket into the ITA Southern Regional Doubles Championship match, Lithén and Ole Miss alumnus, Simon Junk, battled all the way to a second place finish. Lithén aims to help the Rebels complete a successful trip once again, competing with Walker Stearns as his new doubles partner.

REBELS BATTLE IT OUT AT ITA ALL-AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
Ole Miss travels to Auburn after competing in the 2023 ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa just a week ago, where the Rebels finished their tournament going 7-7 record in singles and a 1-2 record in doubles as a team. The biggest win of the week came from Nikola Slavic after he dominated the 10^th-ranked Alexander Bernard from Ohio State in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3. The senior battled in his next matchup against Arizona's No. 87 Jay Friend, but ultimately fell, 6-3, 6-2. The duo of Slavic and Lukas Engelhardt fought valiantly in the doubles main draw by winning their consolation match, 7-5, 6-3, against Tulsa's Callum Gale and Alex Okonkwo, before dropping their next match to end Ole Miss' time in Tulsa.

FOLLOW THE REBELS ON SOCIAL
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.

RebelsCalendar

Players Mentioned

Lukas Engelhardt

Simon Junk

Noah Schlagenhauf

Nikola Slavic

Walker Stearns

Gordon Whitwell

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