No. 41 Razorbacks on the Road for Three-Match Stretch
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The No. 41 Arkansas men’s tennis team (15-9, 2-6) is set for their final road trip of the regular season as the Razorbacks will play three matches across a four-day span.
The Hogs begin their stretch in Baton Rouge, La., as they face No. 37 LSU (11-9, 1-8) on Friday, April 5, at 5:30 p.m. before traveling to the Lone Star State for a pair of matches against No. 8 Texas A&M (18-6, 7-2) on Sunday, April 7, at 1 p.m. and No. 51 Rice (14-6) on Monday, April 8, at noon.
Last time out, Arkansas was narrowly defeated by No. 5 Kentucky before rebounding two days later to take down No. 25 Auburn for its first top-25 win this year. In the first match against the Wildcats, the duo of Melvin Manuel and Alan Sau Franco improved to 4-0 this spring after a 6-4 victory over Rankin/Weekes on court three. Manuel, Gerard Planelles Ripoll, and Karlo Kajin all picked up straight-set wins in singles play.
The Razorbacks took the doubles point in their match versus the Tigers as No. 34 Božo Barun/Jared Horwood and Connor Smillie/Jake Sweeney collected victories to take the early 1-0 advantage. The Hogs went down 3-1 in the match before storming back behind wins from Benedikt Emesz, Manuel, and Kajin to secure the upset over Auburn.
No. 37 LSU is 11-9 overall and 1-8 in SEC play this year after a 5-2 loss to then-No. 10 Texas A&M last Sunday. The Tigers are headlined by fifth-year seniors Stefan Latinovic in the top spot and George Stoupe at the No. 2 position. LSU is led in singles victories by junior Julien Penzlin, who has 12 wins this spring while primarily playing at the No. 6 position. Penzlin and senior Chen Dong hold a 10-1 doubles record together this season.
No. 8 Texas A&M is coming off a 5-2 loss to No. 11 Oklahoma on the road after victories over No. 44 Vanderbilt and then-No. 36 LSU this past weekend. The Aggies are now 18-6 overall and 7-2 in SEC contests this year. Texas A&M is led by senior No. 26 Raphael Perot and junior No. 30 JC Roddick, who have played on courts one and two this spring and have combined to win 25 singles matches this season. Juniors Luke Casper and Giulio Perego along with sophomore Togan Tokac have all earned at least 10 victories in singles competition this spring with Perego leading the Aggies with 14 wins. In doubles, the tandem of Perego and Tokac are ranked No. 18 in the ITA doubles rankings and have recorded 11 victories at the No. 1 position this season.
No. 51 Rice is 14-6 this year and most recently won its match last Sunday against No. 70 Charlotte. Sophomore Kabeer Kapasi leads the Owls with 12 singles victories while primarily playing on court six while junior Emir Sendogan and freshman Petro Kuzmenok have both obtained at least 10 singles wins. Kapasi and senior Yasha Zemel head the Rice doubles lineup with a 5-2 record together at the No. 1 position.
Live coverage of the LSU and Texas A&M matches will be provided by Cracked Racquets as part of the SEC CrossCourt whip-around broadcast streamed on SEC Network+. Live stats & video links for all three matches are available on the men’s tennis schedule page.
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