Men's Tennis Opens NCAA Tournament Against Middle Tennessee

Saturday, May 8

Oxford, Miss.

12 PM

Tulane University

Middle Tennessee

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Men's Tennis Opens NCAA Tournament Against Middle Tennessee

May 7, 2021 | Men's Tennis

REGIONAL CENTRAL | LIVE SCORING/VIDEO

OXFORD, Miss. - Making its fifth straight NCAA Tournament appearance, the Tulane University men's tennis team begins play in the Oxford Regional on Saturday, May 8 against Middle Tennessee. First serves are scheduled for noon at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Mississippi.

With a victory, the Green Wave (14-7) will face the winner of Ole Miss and Belmont in Sunday's regional final at 1 p.m.

IN THE RANKINGS
In the latest ITA team rankings released on May 5, the Green Wave are ranked 22nd in the national poll. In the singles rankings, senior Hamish Stewart is No. 34, while he and fifth-year senior Ewan Moore comprise the nation's No. 21 doubles tandem.

NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Tulane makes its 14th NCAA Tournament appearance in program history, entering the Oxford Regional as the No. 2 seed. The Green Wave have won their first-round matchup twice in the last four occasions. The Wave seek their first round of 16 appearance since 2003.

FAMILIARITY FACTORS

Tulane 12th-year head coach and director of tennis Mark Booras' brother, Jamie, was the first men's tennis All-American in doubles at Ole Miss as a freshman in 1988.
Former Green Wave letterwinner Sebastian Rey (2013-17) finished his collegiate career fifth in program history with 85 singles wins and went on to serve as an assistant coach at Middle Tennessee for two seasons (2017-19).

🎥: Coach Booras reflects on the team's NCAA selection and discusses the Oxford Regional.#RollWave 🌊🎾 pic.twitter.com/wYnDriu3I1
— Tulane Men's Tennis (@GreenWaveMTenn) May 7, 2021

SCOUTING MIDDLE TENNESSEE
The Blue Raiders (17-7) enter Saturday's match ranked 42nd nationally and coming off four-straight wins, as the last three guided them to capturing the Conference USA title following victories over UAB, Charlotte and Old Dominion. Francisco Rocha is ranked 55th in the national singles poll, while the doubles tandem of Pavel Motl and Stijn Slump are listed 77th. Rocha owns a 13-5 overall singles record, including a 5-3 mark playing on court one. Slump holds a team-leading 16-5 record, including a 9-2 ledger on court two, while Chris Edge is 15-5 with all of his decisions coming on court four.

LAST TIME THEY MET - MARCH 2, 2018
Tulane owns a 5-2 record against Middle Tennessee dating back to 2003, including a 5-2 road win over the Blue Raiders in 2018. The Green Wave fell behind early, dropping the doubles point, but responded with five-consecutive singles wins win upend the Blue Raiders.

SCOUTING OLE MISS
The Rebels (11-10) enter the weekend as the No. 15 overall seed nationally and ranked 14th in the ITA poll. They have dropped three of their last five matches and hold just a 3-6 record playing on their home courts in 2021. Ole Miss possesses three ranked singles players, including No. 16 Finn Reynolds, No. 29 Nikola Slavic and No. 32 Tim Sandkaulen. Slavic holds the top record of that trio with a 13-7 mark this spring, including a 12-7 ledger on court three. In doubles, Sandkaulen and Reynolds hold the nation's No. 1 ranking with a 14-2 record, including seven wins over ranked foes.

LAST TIME THEY MET - FEBRUARY 27, 2015
Tulane and Ole Miss have met four times dating back to the 2002 season with all four matchups taking place in Oxford. The Rebels won all four of those contests, including a 5-2 victory in the most recent meeting in 2015. Ole Miss was ranked 10th in that meeting as Constantin Schmitz and Rey recorded respective singles wins for the Green Wave.

SCOUTING BELMONT
The Bruins (13-4) come into the weekend following two-straight wins over the top two seeds Jacksonville State (No. 2) and Tennessee Tech (No. 1) to claim the Ohio Valley Conference crown and earn their second NCAA Tournament appearance in program history. Marko Ilic owns a 13-4 record this season playing No. 1 singles, while Arthur Toledo is 13-3 playing at No. 2. In doubles, Ilic and Taisei Miyamoto are 11-6 on court one, while Diego Castro and Tomas Luis hold an 11-2 record on court two.

LAST TIME THEY MET - NEVER
Tulane and Belmont have never faced one another in men's tennis.

THE DOUBLES POINT
Tulane has won the doubles point in 15 of its 21 matches this season and own a combined 35-18 (.660) overall record. Stewart and Moore are 12-6 at the No. 1 spot in the lineup, while freshman Billy Suarez and senior Akos Kotorman are 12-6 playing at the No. 2 position. Luis Erlenbusch and Fynn Kuenkler are 10-4 at No. 3.

ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS
Hamish Stewart was selected to the 2021 All-American Athletic Conference Team in singles, while he and Ewan Moore earned all-league honors as a doubles team. With Stewart's selection, Tulane extends its streak to six-consecutive seasons with at least one honoree in singles. Stewart and Moore are the Green Wave's third doubles tandem since joining the conference to earn all-league recognition.

NCAA SINGLES AND DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIP SELECTIONS
Hamish Stewart, who is currently ranked 34th nationally in the latest ITA poll, received one of 51 at-large bids into the NCAA Singles Championship, while he and Moore, who hold a No. 21 national ranking in doubles, earned one of 22 at-large selections into the doubles tournament. Stewart's selection to NCAA Singles Championship continues Tulane's streak of six-consecutive seasons with at least one player appearing in the 64-player draw.

DE ALBA WINNING STREAK
Freshman Rafael de Alba has won six-consecutive singles matches dating back to the March 21 home win over LSU. Four of those victories were completed in straight sets, as the Green Wave went 4-2 in those contests. He owns a 12-4 overall record this spring, including a 9-1 mark at the No. 6 position in the lineup.

CAGING ALL TIGERS!
The Green Wave collected three consecutive wins over teams nicknamed "Tigers" when they defeated Memphis (4-0) on March 13, Auburn (4-3) on March 19 and LSU (6-1) on March 21.

BOORAS WINS NO. 150
In his 12th season at the helm of the program, director of tennis and head coach Mark Booras earned his 150th career victory in Tulane's 4-3 home win over Auburn on March 19.

FOLLOW THE GREEN WAVE
Follow Tulane men's tennis on Twitter and Facebook (@GreenWaveMTenn), as well as Instagram (@TulaneMTennis) for behind-the-scenes coverage of the program.