SMU Edges Razorbacks
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Despite winning the doubles point, the No. 19 Arkansas men’s tennis team fell in a hard-fought 4-3 decision to SMU on Friday night at Dills Indoor Tennis Center.
“Hats off to SMU,” head coach Andy Jackson said. “They played tough and did enough to win the team match. I’m pleased with our play in the middle and end of the singles. We were not good enough in the first 30 minutes of the singles and that put us in a bad position. We have to coach and play better in that situation. It took far too long for us to get into the match and SMU converted.
“We will try to play more of a complete match on Sunday. Finally, I’d like to say how proud of Michael (Redlicki) and Jose (Salazar) I am. We have won so many matches 4-3 with them both winning. We beat both Texas and SMU last year with them both winning. Today. it went the other way.”
With both teams earning a doubles victory, the opening point came down to the No. 3 position where Razorbacks Branch Terrell and Johan den Toom pulled off a 7-6 (7-5) win to give Arkansas (1-1) the early advantage.
The Mustangs (2-1) responded during singles play, picking up consecutive wins at the No. 4 and 3 spots to take a 2-1 lead.
Arkansas surged back, claiming the next two matches as Oscar Mesquida battled his way to a 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory at No. 5 before Juan Marino dispatched SMU’s Tony Russell in straight sets at No. 6. SMU then moved level again with the Razorbacks when Hunter Johnson defeated No. 19 Salazar 6-0, 7-6 (8-6) at No. 2.
With the overall match tied 3-3, attention turned to the top singles spot. Despite a valiant effort and pushing his match to a third set, No. 3 Redlicki was defeated by SMU’s Ronald Slobodchikov 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
Slobodchikov’s win clinched the tight 4-3 overall match victory for the Mustangs.
Up Next
Arkansas hosts No. 4 Texas and Illinois State on Sunday, with the Texas match set for 1 p.m. and the Illinois State match set to follow one hour after the conclusion of the Texas match.
Promotions on Sunday:
Sunday, January 22nd vs Texas at 1 p.m.
- Razorback Tennis t-shirts to the first 50 fans
- Enter to win two tickets to the men’s basketball game vs. Alabama
Sunday, January 22nd vs Illinois State (One hour after conclusion of Texas match)
- Punch Card Giveaway (Attend the match vs. Texas and receive a punch card. Bring the punch card to the match vs. Illinois State and win a Razorback Tennis prize pack)
For more information on Razorback men’s tennis, please follow @RazorbackMTEN on Twitter.
