WINSTON SALEM, N.C. — Three Mississippi State and Ole Miss men’s tennis players, two Alabama men’s players, and two Ole Miss women’s players were selected Wednesday to participate in the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships on May 23-28.
MSU juniors Nuno Borges and Strahinja Rakic received the nation’s No. 1 overall seed in doubles, the highest NCAA Championships seeding in doubles in program history.
Borges also received his second automatic singles bid in as many seasons as the No. 3 overall seed in the singles draw, while sophomore Giovanni Oradini earned an at-large singles bid, the first of his career.
“I’m extremely excited for all three guys to have this excellent opportunity to play in the NCAA Championship,” MSU fourth-year coach Matt Roberts said. “They all work so hard every time they step on the court and they are very deserving of this. For Nuno and Strahinja to enter the tournament as the number one doubles seed is a testament to their hard work and dedication. All three have been a huge part of our success this season and we are so excited for them.”
By being tabbed the No. 1 doubles seed, Borges and Rakic become the first pair in program history to achieve the feat. The tandem has played a majority of the season at No. 1 doubles. Borges and Rakic hold a 13-4 dual-match record, including a 9-4 mark at No. 1, and are 15-5 overall. The duo has won five straight and eight of its last nine — highlighted by back-to-back top-six victories at the Southeastern Conference Championship.
With their automatic bid, Borges and Rakic will become MSU’s first doubles All-Americans since Marco Baron and Charles Sevigny took the honors in 2000. They are the third No. 1 NCAA individual seeds in program history as Thomas Dupre (1997) and Marco Baron (2001) were the top seeds in singles those seasons.
As the No. 3 seed in singles, Borges joins Daniel Courcol (2, 1993), Dupre (1, 1997), and Baron (1, 2001) as the fourth player to earn a top-four NCAA seed in singles. Coupled with his No. 2 seed last season, he is the only Bulldog to do it twice. With his automatic bid, Borges will earn All-America honors for the second year in a row, the first MSU player to do so since Romain Ambert (2002, 2003).
This season, Borges has earned a 23-5 record in singles. The junior has 19 ranked singles wins at the No. 1 position.
By earning All-America status in singles and doubles this season, Borges becomes the fifth Bulldog to do that in the same season, joining Courcol (1993), Joc Simmons (1994), Simon Larose (1997), and Baron (2000).
Oradini, who plays No. 2 singles, leads the Bulldogs with 27 wins and holds a 13-5 dual-match ledger.
Oradini and doubles partner Niclas Braun were named an alternate tandem in the doubles championship. This season, the duo has a 14-1 dual-match record (15-2 overall) at No. 2.
Ole Miss men’s tennis senior Gustav Hansson and sophomore Tim Sandkaulen earned bids to the NCAA Singles Championship, while Sandkaulen and junior Fabian Fallert received a bid in doubles.
This marks the third-straight bid for Hansson and the first for Sandkaulen in singles as well as doubles. Fallert participated in the NCAA doubles last year with Grey Hamilton.
Hansson, a senior All-American, enters the NCAA tournament with a 9-5 record. He was 6-4 at No. 1 singles before injury sidelined him for the Rebels’ final 13 matches of the regular season.
Sandkaulen owns a 21-12 record, 12-9 in dual matches. With Hansson missing time, Sandkaulen took over the No. 1 position and went 7-6.
In doubles, Sandkaulen and Fallert are ranked inside the top 20 with a 9-4 record. They started the spring 7-3 at No. 1 doubles before Fallert missed three weeks due to injury. Sandkaulen teamed with Hamilton and the pair earned a ranking of No. 46 and had a 7-3 record.
For the Ole Miss women, senior Arianne Hartono earned the automatic bid from the SEC in singles and in doubles with sophomore Alexa Bortles.
“I am so excited for Arianne and Alexa to be included in this year’s NCAA Individual Championships as the automatic selections from the SEC,” Ole Miss coach Mark Beyers said. “Having the highest ranked player and doubles team in this conference is such an honor and once again shows the outstanding year both of these young ladies have had.”
Hartono will participate in the NCAA singles and doubles for the third-consecutive year, while Bortles will compete in the doubles for the second-straight year with Hartono.
Last week, Hartono was named SEC Player of the Year in a league that placed 11 teams in the NCAA Team Championships and 11 in the 64-player singles bracket. She owns a 29-6 record, 20-2 at No. 1 singles.
Hartono and Bortles, who joined Hartono on the All-SEC first team, are ranked inside the top 10 with a 21-11 record, 12-6 at No. 1 doubles. They are one of seven teams in the SEC among the 32-team doubles draw.
Alabama Mazen Osama is the first All-American for Alabama men’s tennis since 2001. He earned a Top-16 national seed in the NCAA Singles Tournament. Osama and sophomore partner Edson Ortiz also qualified for the NCAA Doubles Tournament.
Osama, who is 15-7, is the No. 18 singles player in the country. He has nine wins against nationally ranked opponents. As a Top-16 seed, Osama earned All-America honors.
Osama qualification marks the first time an Alabama men’s tennis player has been named All-American since 2001 when then-sophomore Maxim Belski finished the season with a 21-12 record in singles play and ended the year at No. 19 in the final ITA rankings.
In doubles, Osama and Ortiz are ranked 30th in the country. The pair is 16-7 and has two victories against nationally ranked foes. Osama has earned a bid to the doubles tournament all three years with the Crimson Tide.
The singles and doubles championships will take place May 23-28, following the team championships in Winston Salem, North Carolina.
Top-seeded MSU will play host to the first and second rounds of the NCAA Championships. It will take on fourth-seeded Tennessee Tech no earlier than 1 p.m. on Friday, May 11.
The Ole Miss men earned their 25th -straight NCAA bid and will face Duke in the first round at noon Saturday, May 12, in Palo Alto, California.
The Ole Miss women earned their 10th-straight NCAA bid and will play host to the first and second rounds May 11-12 at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center. Ole Miss will face Missouri State in the first round at 3 p.m. Friday, May 11.
The draw for the 64-player NCAA Singles and 32-team Doubles Championships will be released closer to the start of the tournament. First-round action begins May 23 at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex
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