TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Ole Miss men’s tennis saw a long day come to a close at the ITA Southern Championships with two singles players and two doubles pairings advancing into the tournament’s Round of 16.
Ending Saturday with a record of 2-2 in singles and 2-0 in doubles, the Rebels will now look to clinch spots in the singles and doubles quarterfinals in Tuscaloosa. Nikola Slavic and John Hallquist Lithen both punched their ticket into the Singles Round of 16, while the pairings of Slavic and Lukas Engelhardt as well as Lithen and Simon Junk having earned places in the Doubles Round of 16.
Saturday got off and rolling with the Rebels putting on a masterclass in doubles play, sweeping both of the team’s matches to end the day a perfect 2-0.
The No. 2 seeded pairing in the region Slavic and Engelhardt got the Rebels into the win column early after the duo made quick work of New Orleans’ Volz/Heinzel, securing an 8-3 victory. The pair now matchup Sunday morning against No. 15 seed Delcour/Clements from South Alabama.
Lithen and Junk also dispatched of their Saturday doubles opponents in convincing fashion, defeating Alabama A&M duo Pathange/Lawrence 8-2. Ranked as the No. 6 seed in the region, Lithen and Junk now turn their attention to their Sunday morning match against LSU’s Dong/Koch.
The momentum for Slavic and Lithen carried right into their singles matches on the day, with each Rebel getting a first round bye before their Round of 32 matchups.
Slavic, the region’s No. 1 seeded singles player, got to work right away following his Round of 64 bye. Matched up against Vasil Dimitrov (Louisiana), Slavic showed exactly why the Stockholm, Sweden, native earned All-American honors a season ago, defeating his opponent 6-3, 6-2 to earn his spot in the Round of 16.
Lithen’s Round of 32 matchup wouldn’t come quite as easy, with a three-set battle taking place between the Rebel and his opponent, Chen Dong of LSU. After both grabbed a 6-3 victory in the match’s first two sets, Lithen delivered the match-winning blow in set No. 3, winning it 6-3 to advance to the Southern Regional Singles Round of 16.
Simon Junk was the last Rebel to play in the Round of 32, with the senior matching up against in-conference foe Matias Ponce De Leon of Alabama. Despite Junk’s best efforts, it was Ponce De Leon that came out ahead of the…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Ole Miss Athletics…