Boland, Vrba Advance to Main Draw on Opening Day of ITA Central Region Championships

TULSA, Okla. – The Arkansas men’s tennis team finished the opening day of the ITA Central Region Championships with two Razorbacks advancing to the singles main draw.

Jakub Vrba kicked off the tournament with a three-set victory to earn his spot in the main draw, defeating Will Pellegrini (Tulsa), 6-3, 4-6, 7-5. Vrba will take the court again tomorrow with his opponent and match time still TBD.

Brendan Boland claimed his berth in the main draw after a narrow 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-4 win against Luis Sandoval Carvalho (Memphis) in the opening round. Boland will compete again tomorrow with his opponent and match time still TBD.

Božo Barun, Benni Emesz and Connor Smillie automatically qualified for the main draw with Barun earning the No. 9 seed and Emesz receiving the No. 13 seed. Smillie faces Leo Linquet (Nebraska) in the Round of 64 tomorrow at 11 a.m. while Barun plays Bruno Nhavene (Oklahoma) in the first round tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. Emesz will take on a qualifier in his Round of 64 match at 1 p.m.

The doubles teams for the Hogs consist of Barun/Smillie and Emesz/Vrba. Both pairings competed together earlier this fall at the ITA All-American Championships.

Day One Results
Singles Qualifying Draw
R32: Vrba (Arkansas) def. Pellegrini (Tulsa), 6-3, 4-6, 7-5
R32: Boland (Arkansas) def. Sandoval Carvalho (Memphis), 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-4