Manuel, Barun Shine at the PTT 25K Fayetteville

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Arkansas men’s tennis team continued its fall season this week competing in the PTT 25K Fayetteville. Melvin Manuel and Božo Barun both finished atop their groups, advancing to the 1st place playoffs.

Group D was decided this afternoon in a match between two Razorbacks: Melvin Manuel and Alan Sau Franco. The duo each went 3-0 leading up to the match and had only dropped three sets combined during the group stage. Sau Franco won the first set 7-6 (5), but Manuel responded with a 6-2 victory in the second set. In a winner-take-all third set, Manuel narrowly edged Sau Franco 6-4 to clinch 1st place in Group D.

Group A concluded play with Barun, Evan Bynoe, and Alexander Okonkwo all tied at 3-1. However, due to tiebreakers, Barun ended up finishing atop the group, solidifying his spot in the 1st place playoffs. Barun and Manuel are set to face off tomorrow with the winner advancing to the Finals on Sunday.

Gerard Planelles Ripoll entered Friday with a 3-0 record and a chance to win Group B with a victory today. Planelles Ripoll took the first set, but Jason Shuler went on to win the next two sets to clinch the top spot in the group. Planelles Ripoll faces Evan Bynoe tomorrow in the 2nd place playoffs.

Before dropping his match to Manuel this afternoon, Sau Franco performed very well throughout the group stage. Sau Franco totaled a pair of three-set wins in addition to a 6-4, 6-3 victory over teammate Connor Smillie to finish 2nd in Group D.

In Group C, Stefanos Savva and Benedikt Emesz tied for 2nd place at 2-2. But, in Round 1 of the group stage, Savva defeated Emesz 6-3, 6-4, giving Savva the tiebreaker over Emesz. Savva and Sau Franco will meet in the Semifinals of the 2nd place playoffs tomorrow. Emesz matches up against Victor Tosetto in the 3rd place playoffs.

Foster Rogers qualified for the 4th place playoffs after a 1-3 finish in Group C. Jake Sweeney will join Rogers after filling in for Callum Gale in Group D. Rogers will face off against Gus Tettamble while Sweeney plays Timothy Carlsson Seger in the 4th place playoffs.

The Razorbacks will have two members of the squad competing in the 5th place playoffs as Jared Horwood is set to play Volodymyr Zakharov while Connor Smillie faces Luke Bracks.

For all information regarding the tournament, visit the tournament homepage to find draws, schedule of play, and results. Fans are welcome to attend this weekend with free admission. Matches will be streamed on Amazon Prime Video.