No. 18 Ole Miss Men’s Tennis strikes hot against the Tide

By Caleb Harris

The Daily Mississippian

The No. 18 Ole Miss Men’s Tennis team had to earn every single point in a hard fought victory against Alabama over the weekend. The Rebels earned the win against the Tide at 4-2, but played the final match to a 4-3 Rebel victory. 

Alabama got off to a hot start against Ole Miss in the first match with a strong 2-1 lead in doubles. Jakob Cadonau and John Hallquist Lithén earned a 6-3 victory over Rudi Christiansen and Zach Foster of Alabama. Cadnou is attempting to make history at Ole Miss and has tied the doubles record with nine wins over the course of the 2021-2022 season. 

Nikola Slavic evened the score in the singles match against German Samafalov 6-3, 6-1. Slavis is the first Rebel to reach double-figure wins during the season campaign.  

From then on it became a back-and-forth battle until ultimately the victory came to the Rebels. Both teams played the final match on court No. 3, which led to a Crimson Tide win, but the Rebels still came away with the victory at 4-3. 

The Rebels will take on the Oklahoma Sooners, Illinois and N.C. State for the regional section of the ITA National Indoor Tournament from Jan. 29 to Jan. 30.  The Rebels will be the No. 14 seed in the tournament.