.png&width=32&height=32&type=webp)
The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Columbia
Men’s Tennis Falls to No. 19 Columbia, 6-1
2/3/2023 | Men's Tennis
Nikola Slavic Earns Ranked Singles Win Over No. 11 Player in the Country
OXFORD, Miss. – The Ole Miss men's tennis team (3-2) fought to the bitter end against No. 19 Columbia (2-1) on Friday, but the Rebels were unable to pull off the home upset with the Lions taking home the win 6-1.
Senior Nikola Slavic ended up being the lone singles win of the day for the Rebels, but it was a big one as the Stockholm, Sweden, native took down his biggest opponent yet, earning a hard-fought 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2) victory over No. 11 ranked Michael Zheng. The Rebels also saw a doubles win for the freshman duo of Isac Strömberg and Noah Schlagenhauf, who won their No. 3 doubles match 7-5 to remain undefeated as a pair this spring.
Friday's match opened up with three extremely tight doubles matches across all three courts, as both teams proved it would be a battle to decide who would come away with the win. Following a 6-3 loss for Slavic and Lukas Engelhardt on Court 1, Strömberg and Schlagenhauf rallied for the Rebels by earning a 7-5 win on Court 3 to level things at one match a piece.
Despite the very best efforts of John Hallquist Lithen and Simon Junk, the duo fell just short of securing the doubles point for the Rebels as Columbia went on to win the match 6-4 and take an early lead heading into singles action.
Headlining singles for both teams was a battle of two heavyweights, as No. 99 ranked Nikola Slavic matched himself up against the No. 11 player in the country in Michael Zheng. Feeding off of the crowd's energy, Slavic was able to slam the door shut on back-to-back set tiebreakers to earn his second ranked win of 2022-23, taking down Zheng 7-6(4), 7-6(2).
John Hallquist Lithen eventually came up short in his three-set, ranked battle between himself and No. 49 ranked Roko Horvat for Columbia, falling 1-6, 7-5, 0-1(3). The loss marks Lithen's very first ranked singles loss of the season, now moving to 3-1.
The remaining four singles matches all resulted in straight-set wins for the Lions, and Columbia would ultimately secure the 6-1 win over Ole Miss to leave Oxford with a win under their belt.
Up Next
The Rebels will now have a day off to prepare for their match this Sunday, February 5 at home against Tulane. The match will start at 1 p.m. CT at Galtney Tennis Center and will serve as International Student Day for those in attendance.
Ole Miss 1, Columbia 6
Doubles
Westphal/N. Kotzen (COL) def. Nikola Slavic/Lukas Engelhardt (OM) 6-3
Horvat/Winegar (COL) def. John Hallquist Lithen/Simon Junk (OM) 6-4
Isac Strömberg/Noah Schlagenhauf (OM) def. A. Kotzen/Zheng (COL) 7-5
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2
Singles
No. 99 Nikola Slavic (OM) def. No. 11 Michael Zheng (COL) 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2)
No. 49 Alex Kotzen (COL) def. No. 82 John Hallquist Lithen (OM) 1-6, 7-5, (3) 0-1
No. 33 Roko Horvat (COL) def. Simon Junk (OM) 6-4, 6-2
Hugo Hashimoto (COL) def. Lukas Engelhardt (OM) 6-3, 6-3
Nicolas Kotzen (COL) def. Noah Schlagenhauf (OM) 6-3, 7-6 (4)
Henry Ruger (COL) def. Isac Strömberg (OM) 6-0, 6-2
Order of finish: 6, 4, 5, 3, 2, 1
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.
Players Mentioned
