News: Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy

By Ben Garrett
The Oxford Enterprise

Harry Fowler sure knows how to make an impression.

During his first collegiate match Monday for the No. 10 Ole Miss men’s tennis team, all eyes fell on the 18-year-old freshman.

Ole Miss trailed 3-2 to rival Mississippi State in the annual Mississippi Cup, and needed a victory from Fowler at No. 5 singles to continue the match. Ole Miss hadn’t lost to the Bulldogs during the annual event in 11 seasons, but the Rebels dropped the doubles point and both matches at No. 1 and No. 3 singles.

“I knew there was a long winning streak on the line,” Fowler says. “We all knew about it. I didn’t even think I was going to be able to play at first. We lost the doubles point and got down a set in all three first singles matches. Somebody needed to pull a miracle.”

And Fowler did just that against Mississippi State’s lone senior, Chris Doerr. Fowler was overmatched early and lost the first set 6-3. He faced a match point in the second set tiebreak, but battled back to win three straight and take the set 8-6.

In the third and final set, Fowler broke Doerr at 2-2 and then cruised to a 6-3 victory. The win evened the match at 3-3, and shortly thereafter sophomore Chris Thiemann gave Ole Miss the win with a straight-set victory against Mississippi State’s Daniel Sanchez.

“The crowd really gathered on (Fowler’s) court,” Ole Miss head coach Billy Chadwick says. “(Assistant tennis coach) Toby (Hansson) and I are on that court just reminding Harry to fight. That was one of those moments where we’re going to look back at Harry and say it was the night he grew up. He got an understanding about what competing is all about. He had his back against the wall.”

And he did it for a team he’d joined just two weeks prior.

Fowler was one of three signees to join the Rebel netters this spring, and is the second American in two seasons to arrive at Ole Miss by way IMG Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida. The other was 2009 NCAA Division 1 men’s singles champion Devin Britton, whom Fowler roomed with for two and a half years while at IMG.

“It’s a do-or-die place,” Fowler says of IMG, where he enrolled as a 15-year-old. “You have to perform and give it your all every day. It’s an unbelievably competitive place. You have maybe a group of 15 guys who are the top guys in the world for their age. You can be a really great tennis player and not feel very good when you’re down there playing with those guys.”

After the comeback win against Mississippi State, Fowler received some encouragement from his good friend turned professional tennis player.

“Devin posted on my Facebook wall and sent me a few text messages (after the match),” Fowler says. “He was really pumped up that we pulled that one out. I just didn’t want to be the one to lose it. I didn’t want to be the one to break the winning streak. I pulled out a clutch point.”

Recruiting in tennis, like most sports, is heavily reliant upon longstanding relationships. The friendship Fowler forged with Britton while at IMG was a deciding factor in the Houston, Texas native deciding to come to Oxford.

Britton introduced Ole Miss to Fowler. His selling points consisted of a family atmosphere and the rapid improvement he had gained under Chadwick and assistant coach Toby Hansson in six months on campus.

Pulling Fowler out of his native Texas was a coup for Chadwick. Rice University, located in Houston, targeted Fowler early. The University of Texas also showed interest, as did Southeastern Conference powerhouse Georgia.

“I wouldn’t have really looked at Ole Miss if not for Devin,” Fowler says. “I just didn’t really know too much about Ole Miss. I got introduced to Toby (Hansson) this summer when he was working with Devin at the Junior Slams. I saw the work he did with Devin and that really sold me on it.”

Fowler hopes to follow the path of his former roommate, and one day compete for championships. During his only semester at Ole Miss, Britton claimed the highest individual accomplishment at the collegiate level.

Fowler, ranked as high as No. 30 in the International Tennis Federation World 18-under Rankings, expects similar success working under Chadwick.

“I definitely want to get a ring,” Fowler says. “That’s one of the things I’d really like to do. Maybe also become an All-American. Making the NCAA’s is also high on my list. But getting a team championship is the hardest thing to do. That’s what I would really like to do.”

During a decorated amateur career, Fowler competed in all four junior grand slam events. He reached the round of 16 at Junior Wimbledon this past summer, and competed in several more ITF events in both singles and doubles.

But since beginning his tennis career at “four or five years old,” he hadn’t experienced the rapport of a team atmosphere. Fowler says that’s what has made his limited experience at Ole Miss so special.

“It’s way more fun, I think,” he says. “It gives a whole new meaning to fighting. You’re playing for your team and trying to keep it in there for six other guys. You have to keep it together for them. It’s great to have guys there to support you.”

It’s a support system like he’s never experienced.

“I knew this program was great,” says Fowler. “Devin told me about this great group of guys, which couldn’t be more true. We have great team chemistry and get along really well. We had such great support (in Jackson). It’s definitely great to look to the fans and your teammates when you’re down. There was a lot of pressure, but it was a lot of fun.”