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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebel SEC Championship Hopes Dashed
6/21/1999 | Men's Tennis
April 23, 1999
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The Ole Miss men's tennis team came into the SEC Tournament with the hopes of winning the SEC title, but South Carolina ended those dreams by defeating the top-seeded Rebels 4-3 Friday in the quarterfinals at Scott Linder Tennis Stadium. With the loss, the Rebels dropped to 17-5 overall, 9-3 in the SEC.
The Rebels got the early lead by winning the doubles point. South Carolina won at No. 3 doubles, but then James Shortall and Martin Sjoqvist defeated Vladimir Pavicevic and Tomasz Wawrzyniak 9-7 at No. 1 doubles. Ole Miss' Vikrant Chadha and Anders Stenman won a thrilling tiebreaker 9-8(6) over Guillaume Legat and Olof Akesson at No. 2 doubles to clinch the point.
Ole Miss pushed its lead to 3-0 briefly, with wins at No. 2 and 6 singles. Sjoqvist downed 55th-ranked Vladimir Pavicevic 6-4, 6-1 and then Kristofer Stahlberg handed the Gamecocks' Wawrzyniak a 6-1, 6-3 loss.
But, the Gamecocks answered with wins at No. 1 and 3 singles to pull to within 3-2. Rebel Shortall dropped his match to Jerome Jourdon 6-4, 6-2 and then Chadha fell in straight sets to Akesson 6-4, 6-0.
South Carolina's Legat rallied from a set down to defeat Rebel Stenman 3-6, 6-0, 6-2 to make it 3-3. Stenman, down a break in third set (3-2), had an opportunity to break back but Legat held on and went on to win the final two games.
At No. 5 singles, freshman Martin Selin was battling Juan Gamboa. Gamboa won the first set 7-5 and was up 5-2 in the second set but Selin wouldn't quit. He won three straight games to pull even, but Gamboa won the the next two to take the set 7-5 and clinch the victory for South Carolina.
"We are extremely disappointed," head coach Billy Chadwick said. "South Carolina played real well. They are the type of team that is very dangerous. They have underachieved all year long and we had beaten them twice this year. You always know that if they want to be competitive at every position then they are a very good team and they were today."
The loss was the first one against South Carolina in three matches for the Rebels. It also marks the first time a No. 1 seed has lost in SEC Tournament history (since 1990) in the quarterfinals. The Rebels have now lost back-to-back matches for the first time this year.
The Rebels will now wait to find out the regional pairings and sites, which will be announced on May 5. They still have a good chance of hosting a four-team regional.
1999 MEN'S TENNIS SEC TOURNAMENT - Gainesville, Fla.
QUARTERFINALS#1 seed Ole Miss 3#8 seed South Carolina 4
SINGLES#1 Jerome Jourdon (SC) def. James Shortall (OM) 6-4, 6-2#2 Martin Sjoqvist (OM) def. Vladimir Pavicevic (SC) 6-4, 6-1#3 Guillaume Legat (SC) def. Anders Stenman (OM) 3-6, 6-0, 6-2#4 Olof Akesson (SC) def. Vikrant Chadha (OM) 6-4, 6-0#5 Juan Gamboa (SC) def. Martin Selin (OM) 7-5, 7-5#6 Kristofer Stahlberg (OM) def. Tomasz Wawrzyniak (SC) 6-1, 6-3
DOUBLES#1 Shortall-Sjoqvist (OM) def. Pavicevic-Wawrzyniak (SC) 9-7#2 Chadha-Stenman (OM) def. Akesson-Legat (SC) 9-8(6)#3 Gamboa-Jourdon (SC) def. Selin-Stahlberg (OM) 8-6