Jeske earns fourth ranked win of year

OXFORD, Miss. – Sophomore Manfred Jeske racked up another ranked singles win for the spring Friday afternoon after defeating No. 61 Chris Thiemann, 6-2, 6-4. Unfortunately, for the rest of the Razorback men’s tennis team, it was the only win it would get as 14th-ranked Ole Miss defeated 39th-ranked Arkansas, 6-1, in Oxford, Miss. 

Jeske, who now has four wins against ranked opponents this year, leads the team in the category as senior Nikolas Zogaj is one behind him with three wins. With the win, Jeske is now 14-13 overall and 6-8 in dual play. The win is also Jeske’s second in Southeastern Conference play.

For the team, its Arkansas’ eighth loss of the year and sixth in the SEC. The Razorbacks record now sits at 14-8 and 1-6 in league play while Ole Miss moves up to 9-5 overall and 5-2 in the SEC.

The day didn’t start out well for the Razorbacks as Ole Miss scored doubles wins at courts one and three to clinch the early 1-0 lead. The final doubles match at court two was suspended midway through after the point was clinched, but had sophomore Mike Nott and Jeske leading, 6-5, over 12th-ranked Marcel Thiemann and Chris Thiemann.

As the match went into singles, Arkansas was faced with the tough task of having to climb back from a doubles point loss and needing four out of six singles victories. Ole Miss came into the match with its top four players ranked in the Top-65 by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association and showed its strength by winning in straight sets on courts one through three to win the overall match early. The clincher came at court three after No. 40 Jonas Lutjen defeated senior Matt Walters, 7-6(2), 6-1.

Even though the match was already notched in the loss column for the Razorbacks, the men’s team didn’t quit on the remaining three matches. After Jeske’s win at court four, juniors Mike Ward and Hall Fess forced their matches to third set tiebreakers.

As close as the two matches were all day, the third sets in both matches were just as close. Court five was off first as Ward came up four points short of the win, falling to Johan Backstrom, 6-4, 5-7, 1-0(6). Fess, who was playing in his first SEC match of the year had an even closer third set, but lost by two in the tiebreaker to Adrian Skogeng, 7-6(4), 1-6, 1-0(8).

Arkansas completes its road schedule on Sunday in Starkville, Miss. when it takes on 10th-ranked Mississippi State at 1 p.m. A full match recap with complete results will be posted online following the day’s play.

Order of Finish: 1, 3*

No. 1 #63 Nik Scholtz/Jonas Lutjen (UM) def. #48 Matt Walters/Hall Fess (ARK) 8-3

No. 2 #12 Marcel Thiemann/Chris Thiemann (UM) vs. Mike Nott/Manfred Jeske (ARK) 6-5

 No. 3 William Kallberg/Johan Backstrom (UM) def. Nikolas Zogaj/Mike Ward (ARK) 8-6

Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3*, 4, 5, 6

No. 1 #19 Nik Scholtz (UM) def. #108 Nikolas Zogaj (ARK) 6-3, 6-3

No. 2 #36 Marcel Thiemann (UM) def. Gregoire Lehmann (ARK) 6-1, 6-0

No. 3 #40 Jonas Lutjen (UM) def. Matt Walters (ARK) 7-6(2), 6-1

No. 4 Manfred Jeske (ARK) def. #61 Chris Thiemann (UM) 6-2, 6-4

No. 5 Johan Backstrom (UM) def. Mike Ward (ARK) 6-4, 5-7, 1-0(6)

No. 6 Adrian Skogeng (UM) def. Hall Fess (ARK) 7-6(4), 1-6, 1-0(8)