Men's tennis ranked 13th preseason.......

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The Ole Miss men’s tennis team begins the 2013 season ranked No. 13 in the nation, as the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) announced its preseason team rankings as well as the latest individual rankings, Thursday. The Rebels continue to boast the top player in the Southeastern Conference in singles, with senior Jonas Lutjen moving up to a career-high No. 5 in the nation.

The tradition of excellence continued with the Rebels’ earning the program’s 17th top 15 preseason ranking in 20 years. It also marks the 26th consecutive year for the Rebels to be among the preseason top 25.

The preseason team rankings are based mostly on the 2012 final ranking and results. The Rebels will have plenty of opportunities to make a statement as the SEC leads the nation with eight teams in the top 25. Fourteen of the Rebels’ opponents are ranked inside the top 40.

“We are very excited about this spring,” said head coach Billy Chadwick, who begins his 31st season with the men’s team. “The guys have worked hard all fall and we have our sights on a championship season. We have a great home schedule, beginning with the ITA Kickoff Weekend and including six SEC matches as well as hosting the SEC Tournament [in April].”

Lutjen, arguably one of the most improved players in the nation, boasted a team-leading 14-3 fall record including winning the Southern Intercollegiate and the ITA All-American Consolation bracket. The Schessel, Germany native leads nine SEC players in the singles top 25.

“Jonas had an outstanding fall,” Chadwick said. “He is building on last year’s success of making the NCAA field in singles, and we are looking for great things from him in the New Year.”

Last year’s SEC Freshman of the Year, sophomore Nik Scholtz is ranked No. 33 in the nation. He finished the fall with an 8-2 record including capturing the ITA Southern Regional singles title.

Fellow sophomore William Kallberg is ranked No. 95 in singles after posting a 9-3 fall record.

Ole Miss boasts two teams in the doubles rankings with Kallberg and senior Adrian Forberg Skogeng at No. 25. Lutjen and Scholtz began the fall ranked No. 2 in the country, but with limited results, start the spring at No. 43.

The Rebels kick off the spring Jan. 18-21 at the National Collegiate Tennis Classic in Desert Springs, Calif., before hosting the ITA Kickoff Weekend Jan. 25-26 at the Gillom Sports Center.

Follow the Rebels on Twitter, @OleMissMTennis and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/OleMissMTennis.

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Karim Hossam



Nov. 26, 2012

OXFORD, Miss. - Karim Hossam, one of the world's top junior players, has signed a 2013-14 National Letter of Intent and plans on joining the Rebels for the upcoming spring semester.

Hossam, a native of Cairo, Egypt, owns a career-high ranking of No. 11 in the ITF World Junior Rankings. He has participated in all four grand slams, reaching the quarterfinals of the 2011 U.S. Open Junior Championships and the round of 16 at the 2012 Australian Open Juniors.

In spring 2012, Hossam won the ITF African Closed Junior 18 and under Championship in both singles and doubles. He presently has an ATP Ranking of No. 1223 in singles.

"We are very excited about Karim joining our team in January," head coach Billy Chadwick said. "His experience and success of playing on the highest level of ITF junior tennis around the world makes him one of the top NCAA recruits. Karim has an edge over many international players as he has trained extensively in the U.S. and has proven to be very good on the hardcourts. Karim is physically very strong, with a big serve and a powerful groundstroke game."

Hossam is coached in Egypt by Karim Zaher, who played collegiate tennis at Alabama. In the United States, Hossam trains at the Advantage Tennis Academy in California, directed by Jimmy Johnson. He is under the guidance of Mahmoud Karim, one of the co-founders of the academy.

"Our team has worked really hard this fall and top to bottom has shown great improvement. With the addition of a player of Karim's caliber, it puts us that much closer to our goal of winning a championship," Chadwick said.

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