Arkansas Completes Opening Matches at ITA All-American Championships

TULSA, Okla. – Three members of the Arkansas men’s tennis team finished the opening day of the ITA All-American Championships today at Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Okla.

Božo Barun was the only Razorback to compete in the prequalifying singles draw as he dropped his Round of 128 match to Filipe Costa (Georgia), 4-6, 3-6. Barun is set to play tomorrow at 11 a.m. CT in the consolation draw against Karim Al-Amin (MTSU).

The Hogs had two doubles teams take part in the prequalifying doubles draw on Saturday with Benni Emesz playing alongside Jakub Vrba while Barun and Connor Smillie teamed up to begin their run in Tulsa. Emesz/Vrba came up just shy of a win in their Round of 32 match, falling to Homberg/Papa (Pepperdine) in three hard-fought sets. The duo is scheduled to play tomorrow at 2 p.m. CT against No. 57 de la Bassetiere/Kapasi (Rice).

Barun/Smillie dropped their opening match at the ITA All-American Championships to Noroozian/Samaha (New Mexico), 2-6, 1-6. The tandem is set to compete again tomorrow at 4 p.m. CT as they face Thompson/Zhang (Notre Dame).

Prequalifying Singles Draw Results
Costa (Georgia) def. Barun (Arkansas), 6-4, 6-3

Prequalifying Doubles Draw Results
Homberg/Papa (Pepperdine) def. Emesz/Vrba (Arkansas), 6-4, 3-6, 13-11
Noroozian/Samaha (New Mexico) def. Barun/Smillie (Arkansas), 6-2, 6-1