No. 29 Razorbacks Take Doubles Point in Loss to No. 27 Florida

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 29 Arkansas men’s tennis team (14-7, 3-4) grabbed the doubles point before falling 4-1 to No. 27 Florida (9-7, 4-3) Saturday afternoon at Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex.

Brendan Boland and Marino Jakic put the Razorbacks on the board first after a 6-3 win against Edengren/Weintraub on court three. The Gators responded with Ganesan/Jin collecting a 7-6 (1) victory over Božo Barun and Benni Emesz at the No. 2 position.

The doubles point came down to court one as the Hogs obtained the early advantage in the match following a 7-6 (6) win from Connor Smillie and Jakub Vrba against No. 19 Jefferson/Nirundorn. The victory for Smillie and Vrba marks their third ranked win this season and first over a top-20 opponent.

Florida earned its first point of the afternoon at the No. 6 position, as Weintraub defeated Arthur Bellegy in straight sets. The Gators claimed the lead after Johnson secured a 6-2, 7-6 (1) victory over No. 124 Vrba on court three. Edengren extended the Gators’ advantage to 3-1 after taking down Emesz at the No. 5 position, 6-2, 6-4. Florida clinched the match with No. 90 Jefferson picking up a 7-6 (7), 6-2 win against Jakic on court four.

At the No. 1 position, Barun fought back to force a third set versus No. 95 Ganesan before his match went unfinished. No. 82 Lukas Palovic fell 5-7 in the first set to No. 62 Jin on court two and held a 3-2 lead in the next set as his match was abandoned.

Arkansas returns to Billingsley Tennis Center next weekend to host No. 3 Texas on Friday, March 21 at 5:30 p.m. and No. 30 Georgia on Sunday, March 23 at 1 p.m.