Hogs Jump Out to Fast Start, Down No. 25 Auburn

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The men’s tennis Hogs (10-6, 1-2) dismantled the visiting No. 25 Auburn Tigers (12-3, 1-1) on Friday, winning the first four points of the match, and ending the day with a 4-3 victory. The last time the Razorbacks beat a ranked team was April 4, 2021. That is, until the 25th-ranked Tigers came to Fayetteville on Friday. 

“Happy for the team,” Head Coach Andy Jackson said. “Our guys have been knocking hard on the door and today got through. Today was very close, very hard, like it always is in the SEC.”

Arkansas got out to the perfect start in the doubles sets, as the doubles teams of Adrien Burdet/Melvin Manuel and Hunter Harrison/Jake Sweeney were lethal in their matches, winning 6-3 and 6-1, respectively, to clinch the doubles point.

It was much of the same in singles, as Adrien Burdet, celebrating his 20th birthday on Friday, was the first off the court, gliding to a 6-1, 6-4 win over Raul Dobai. Razorback and No. 47-ranked Aleksa Bucan grabbed a straight sets win on court six to clinch the match at 4-0.

Melvin Manuel continued to play relentless tennis Friday, winning his singles match in three sets and improving to 10-1 on the season. 

Arkansas is pitted against No. 12 Kentucky on Sunday when the Hogs will look to build off Friday’s win. 

“UK is No. 12 and really good,” Jackson said. “It’s going to be a big challenge, but it is so great to be in the SEC to play this schedule with these opportunities.”

The Hogs and ‘Cats will face off at 1 p.m. CT Sunday.