OXFORD, Miss. - For the third consecutive match, the Troy men's tennis program took on a team from the Southeastern Conference that was nationally-ranked. The Trojans opened the season on the road at 52nd-ranked South Carolina, then traveled to 23rd-ranked Alabama and then, this week, traveled to ninth-ranked Ole Miss.
Troy (0-3) dropped their third consecutive match, this one to Ole Miss (1-0) 7-0.
“This was a good showing today,” Ole Miss head coach Billy Chadwick said. “The seniors really displayed great leadership. Kalle played lights out, and the freshmen stepped it up. Devin is impressive and has a lot of firepower.”
Ole Miss won the doubles point when their number one and two doubles teams won their matches. The Trojans number two team of Benjamin Chomette and Xavier Masson dropped an 8-3 decision to Ole Miss' Devin Britton and Otto Sauer. That match was followed by the Rebels' team of Chris Thiemann and Kalle Norberg defeated Troy's Bastain Maucher and Aurelien Tave, 8-4, to capture the doubles point.
While the point was decided, all of the doubles matches weren't as the Trojans team of Mario Silva and Branko Weber pushed the number one team from Ole Miss, Jonas Berg and Bram ten Berge to the brink of defeat. The Trojans' team eventually fell 9-7, but not before almost pulling off the upset at the number one position. Troy was up 6-4, with a chance to win the match by serving it out, but the top doubles team in the nation found a way to bounce back and capture the victory for Ole Miss.
“They know they have a target on their back by being No. 1 in the nation,” Chadwick said. “It would make somebody’s year to beat them. They started off slow, but regrouped to close out the sweep.”
In singles play, only four of the six matches were completed and started with Norberg defeating Troy's Chomette at number three singls 6-1, 6-0. The second match that was completed, giving Ole Miss a 3-0 lead, was at number two singles when Berg defeated Troy's tave in straight sets 7-5, 6-2.
Britton gained the upperhand in his match against Troy’s Branko Weber by taking the first set 6-4. Weber raced out to a 5-2 lead in the second set, before Britton, who reached the semis at the SEC Indoor, won five straight games to win it 7-5 in his home debut.
“It was a good match,” said Britton, a native of Jackson. “I had some first match nerves, but I was able to get a break and make it through the first set. I played sloppy in the beginning of the second set but then I got back in it. The nerves went away, and I was able to close it out.
“It’s huge to get a match in before this weekend’s big matches. I should have more confidence Saturday.”
The final two matches that were completed were opposites of each other, as Weber pushed Ole Miss' Britton to two long sets before galling 6-4, 7-5. Weber pushed Britton, a finalist in the U.S. Open Juniors this past season, to a late service break in the second set.
The last match of the day, and the match that clinched the Ole Miss victory was at number four when Silva fell to Ole Miss' ten Berge 6-3, 6-1.
Troy returns to action Saturday at home, hosting USC Upstate at the Lunsford Tennis Center.
