Men’s Tennis set to host Illinois State
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Razorback Men’s Tennis (2-0) is set to host Illinois State (0-4) on Saturday, January 30 at the Billingsley Tennis Center. First serve in Fayetteville is scheduled for 3 p.m. CT.
Match 3 Info
Opponent: Illinois State Redbirds
Date: Saturday, January 30
Location: Billingsley Tennis Center
First Serve: 3 p.m. CT
Live Stats: bit.ly/3a7hpAU
PlaySight Home: bit.ly/38RMCc9
Last Time Out
The Razorbacks opened the spring season with a pair of victories in a doubleheader against Omaha on January 15th. Arkansas swept all 12 singles matches and earned the doubles point in the night cap.
The Razorbacks utilized the same singles lineup in both matches with Alex Reco and Nico Rousset highlighting the top two spots. Reco, the No. 72 ranked singles player in the country, downed Matt Hulme at the No. 1 spot with two straight set wins, while Rousset won 6-2, 6-2 in his first match and came out victorious in a third set tiebreaker that capped off the second match.
The doubles duo of Enrique Paya and Jose Dominguez Alonso picked up a pair of wins in doubles action after getting bumped up to the No. 2 position for the second match. The tandem put together a 6-3 win over Philip Olsson/Julian Kenzlers to open their day and followed it up with a 6-2 victory against Hugo Piles Ballester/Davis Lawley in match number two.
Scouting the Redbirds
Illinois State is 0-4 coming into Saturday after two losses at both Notre Dame and No. 21 Kentucky. Nam Pham has won the only point for the Redbirds this season. He downed Jean-Marc Malkowski of Notre Dame at the No. 4 spot in the second match of the doubleheader by a score of 7-6, 7-6.
After slotting Diego Le Gal Perez at No. 1 in singles to open the season against Notre Dame, Melker Isaakson and Nam Pham shared the top spot in the doubleheader against UK.
Quick Hits
>> After downing Omaha on January 15th, the Razorbacks have now won their last 10 season openers.
>> Alex Reco was ranked No. 72 in the Oracle/ITA Top 125 Preseason rankings released on January 13th. He’s gone 11-1 in singles play over the last two dual seasons.
>> Arkansas has faced Illinois State on just one occasion under head coach Andy Jackson, winning a match in 2017 by a score of 6-1.
>> After an undefeated weekend against Omaha, the Razorbacks are tied atop the SEC standings with six other squads.
