The Ole Miss men’s tennis team is coming off a thrilling victory against the fourth-ranked Baylor Bears with a score of 4-3. The Rebels not only won, but looked really good doing it.
The Rebels won the doubles point and split the singles points evenly. This victory was a massive one for the team, and they are now 3-1 for the season.
The Rebels have a very busy weekend ahead of them this weekend as they take on in-state rival Southern Miss Saturday at 1 p.m. Southern Miss is 5-3 and coming off a loss to Samford.
The Eagles are led by their No. 1 singles player Tarun Surat, a senior from Loyola, Louisiana. Tarun Surat will take on the Rebels’ No. 1 singles player Stefan Lindmark. It will be a very fun match to watch, but I believe Lindmark will win. This is a match the Rebels should be able to pull out.
On Sunday at 1 p.m., the Rebels are playing the University of Memphis in Oxford. The Tigers are currently sitting at 5-1 and have very impressive wins over Vanderbilt and Harvard, two teams that are both in the top 25 of the country.
The Tigers have three really talented doubles teams led by their No. 1 team, Louis Asser and Kai Lemke. Their No.1 singles player is Ryan Peniston.
This match could very well come down to the doubles point. Asser/Lemke of Memphis will play against the Rebels’ No.1 doubles team, Zvonimir Babic and Filip Kraljevic.
This doubles match alone is reason enough to come out and watch. The Rebels have a tough weekend ahead of them. Ole Miss is looking to host their second consecutive regional this season, and will have an opportunity to garner two quality wins this weekend against these respective universities.
The Rebels have been battle-tested early this season, and have already overcome adversity against Baylor.
Ole Miss is only two weeks from opening Southeastern Conference play, so these matches will prepare them to play in one of the toughest tennis conferences in the land. The Rebels will open on the road in SEC play at Tennessee, before traveling to take on a talented Kentucky team.
My prediction for the weekend is that Ole Miss will beat the University of Southern Mississippi by a score of 4-0 and that they will beat the Tigers in a tightly-contested battle by a score of 4-2.
