No. 31 Razorbacks Cruise Past No. 35 Bulldogs, Advance to Play No. 4 Kentucky

BATON ROUGE, La. – The No. 31 Arkansas men’s tennis team (21-10) avenged its 4-0 loss to No. 35 Georgia (14-13) in Athens earlier this season with a dominating 4-1 win in the second round of the SEC Tournament on Thursday evening at LSU Tennis Complex.

With the victory, the Razorbacks earned their 21st win of the year, which is the most in a single season since 1986.

In doubles play, the Bulldogs took the early advantage after a victory on court two, as No. 88 Colby/Paulsell defeated Connor Smillie/Jake Sweeney, 6-2. The Hogs responded with Melvin Manuel/Alan Sau Franco earning a 6-3 win over Mahjoob/Perez Peña at the No. 3 position. The doubles point came down to court one as No. 28 Blaydes/Ratiu clinched the point for Georgia with a 7-6 (2) victory against No. 30 Bozo Barun/Jared Horwood.

Arkansas quickly responded in singles play, getting off to a scorching hot start after taking the first set on all six courts and eventually securing the match with four consecutive singles wins. At the No. 4 position, Stefanos Savva collected a commanding 6-1, 6-4 victory over Perez Peña, while No. 104 Gerard Planelles Ripoll picked up his third ranked win of the spring after beating No. 68 Ryan Colby in straight sets on court two.

At the No. 5 position, Benedikt Emesz cruised to a 6-3, 6-2 victory against Mahjoob to give the Razorbacks a 3-1 lead. The Hogs claimed the final point of the match on court three as Manuel closed out a second-set tiebreak to take down Ratiu, 7-5, 7-6 (7).

The Razorbacks advance to the SEC Tournament quarterfinals to play top-seeded No. 4 Kentucky tomorrow evening at 6 p.m. The Hogs and Wildcats faced off earlier this season in Fayetteville, as Kentucky narrowly defeated Arkansas 4-3.

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