No. 49 Men’s Tennis Returns Home to Face No. 5 Kentucky, No. 25 Auburn
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The No. 49 Arkansas men’s tennis team (14-8, 1-5) returns to Billingsley Tennis Center after a four-match road stretch to host No. 5 Kentucky (16-2, 7-0) on Friday, March 29, at 5:30 p.m. and No. 25 Auburn (13-7, 4-3) on Sunday, March 31, at noon.
The Razorbacks dropped their two SEC road matches this past weekend, falling to No. 28 Alabama and No. 40 Georgia. In the first match against the Crimson Tide, the duo of Connor Smillie and Jake Sweeney teamed up for their seventh victory this spring after a 6-3 win over Matic Dimic/Roan Jones on court two. Stefanos Savva took down Jones in three sets for his 12th singles victory this dual season while Benedikt Emesz picked up his fourth straight win with a 2-6, 7-6 (7-3), 1-0 (10-4) comeback victory against Dimic.
The No. 5 Wildcats are coming off two top-25 wins against No. 10 Texas A&M and then-No. 21 Auburn to improve to 16-2 overall and 7-0 in SEC play this year. Kentucky currently holds a nine-match winning streak and is led by seniors No. 36 Taha Baadi and Joshua Lapadat, who have played on courts one and two this spring. Sophomores Charlelie Cosnet and Jaden Weekes along with freshmen Jack Loutit and Eli Stephenson have all earned at least 10 singles victories this dual season, with Loutit leading the team with 14 wins while Stephenson has a perfect 13-0 record this spring. In doubles, the tandem of Lapadat and redshirt senior JJ Mercer are ranked No. 23 in the ITA doubles rankings and have collected eight victories at the No. 1 position this year.
No. 25 Auburn is 13-7 overall and 4-3 in SEC contests this season after losses to No. 56 Vanderbilt and No. 5 Kentucky last weekend. The Tigers are headlined by fifth-year seniors No. 43 Tyler Stice in the top spot and No. 91 Finn Murgett on court two. Auburn’s singles lineup also features sophomore Billy Blaydes and redshirt freshman Nicholas Heng, who are a combined 28-8 this year. The duos of No. 26 Murgett/Raul Dobai and Stice/Will Nolan each have a team-leading eight doubles wins this season.
Live coverage of both matches will be provided by Cracked Racquets as part of the SEC CrossCourt whip-around broadcast streamed on SEC Network+. Admission is free, live stats & video links for both matches are available on the men’s tennis schedule page.
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