Men's Tennis Set to Open 2025 Home Slate
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Arkansas men’s tennis team returns home to Billingsley Tennis Center this weekend for three matches to open its 2025 home slate.
The Razorbacks (2-0) face the Incarnate Word Cardinals on Friday, Jan 17 at 5 p.m. before a doubleheader on Sunday, January 19 against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane at 12 p.m. and the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles at 5 p.m.
The Hogs opened the spring season with two wins over Hawaii on the road last week as all but two Razorbacks earned at least one singles and doubles victory over the two matches. In the first match, Jean-Baptiste Badon and Brendan Boland impressed in their doubles debut, collecting a 6-0 win on court three while Marino Jakic and Connor Smillie clinched the doubles point in the top spot. Arkansas claimed five singles courts en route to a 6-1 victory in the season opener.
The duos of Arthur Bellegy/Benni Emesz and Connor Smillie/Jakub Vrba each picked up wins to secure the doubles point for the Razorbacks to start the second match. Badon, Boland and Smillie along with Božo Barun all earned singles wins for the Hogs to collect a 5-2 victory over the Rainbow Warriors.
Incarnate Word is coming off a 19-5 season in 2024, going 4-0 in Southland Conference play and ended last year with a 4-3 loss to NJIT in the SLC Tournament Championship. The Cardinals are led by Emilio Vila, who posted a 25-8 overall singles record last season along with a 20-9 overall doubles record. Alejandro Hernandez and Marcel Miralles both claimed at least five singles wins and seven doubles victories this past fall.
The Golden Hurricane will visit Fayetteville after a season-opening doubleheader on Thursday against Omaha and Cornell. Tulsa saw great success a season ago, going 18-13 overall and winning the 2024 UTR Sports NIT Championship title. Timothy Carlsson Seger and Alex Okonkwo headline the Tulsa lineup, who return after combining for 33 singles wins last year. The Golden Hurricane lineup also features returners Will Pellegrini, Gus Tettamble and Victor Tosetto along with Liberty transfer Luis Felipe Miguel, who recorded 37 total victories between singles and doubles a season ago.
Oral Roberts will open its season on Saturday, Jan. 18 in Fayetteville against Incarnate Word before meeting the Razorbacks on Sunday afternoon. The Golden Eagles are coming off a 4-15 season in 2024, going 0-5 in Summit League play. Ricardo Filho returns to lead Oral Roberts while being named to the Summit League Preseason Athletes To Watch List.
Admission is free, live stats & live video are available on the men’s tennis schedule page.
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