No. 34 Arkansas Splits Doubleheader to Conclude Regular Season

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The No. 34 Arkansas men’s tennis team (20-10, 5-7) split its doubleheader to close out the regular season, falling 4-2 to No. 12 Mississippi State (17-6, 9-3) before rebounding with a 4-0 win over Lindenwood (2-13) on Sunday afternoon at Billingsley Tennis Center.

The Razorbacks earned the No. 9 seed in the SEC Tournament, which runs from April 17-21 in Baton Rouge, La.

In doubles play, the Hogs took the early advantage after a win on court two, as Connor Smillie/Jake Sweeney defeated Malesevic/Novansky, 6-1. The Bulldogs responded with Hernandez/Milanovic earning a 6-2 victory over Melvin Manuel/Alan Sau Franco at the No. 3 position. The doubles point came down to court one as No. 16 Jovanovic/Martinez clinched the point for Mississippi State with a 6-4 win against No. 47 Božo Barun/Jared Horwood.

The Bulldogs struck first in singles play as No. 70 Malesevic took down Barun in straight sets at the No. 1 position, while Arkansas answered with a 6-2, 7-5 victory from Karlo Kajin over Ferrer Guimaraes on court six. Mississippi State came within one point of taking the match after No. 42 Jovanovic bested No. 89 Gerard Planelles Ripoll in three sets.

Stefanos Savva secured his team-leading 16th singles win this spring following a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 battle at the No. 4 position against Sanchez Martinez. The Bulldogs clinched the match on court five as Milanovic defeated Benedikt Emesz, 6-1, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (3). At the No. 3 position, Manuel dropped the first-set marathon tiebreak, 6-7 (16), before fighting back to take the second set 6-4 as his match went unfinished.

The match against Lindenwood consisted of only six singles matches, where the Razorbacks earned wins on four of the six courts to clinch the sweep. On court five, Horwood defeated Martin Paz, 6-0, 6-0, while Sweeney won his match at the No. 1 position due to retirement, giving the Hogs a 2-0 lead.

Jakob Mosvold took down Lamm in straight sets on court six as Arkansas clinched the final point of the match at the No. 2 position with Smillie besting Henriques, 6-3, 6-2.

The Razorbacks travel to Baton Rouge, La., for the SEC Men’s Tennis Tournament and will play No. 8 seed (No. 38 ITA) Georgia on Thursday, April 18, at 6 p.m.