No. 41 Arkansas Upsets No. 8 Texas A&M to Earn First Win in College Station since 1994

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 41 Arkansas men’s tennis team (17-9, 4-6) earned their third straight win over an SEC ranked opponent after a 4-3 comeback victory against No. 8 Texas A&M (18-7, 7-3) on Sunday afternoon at Mitchell Tennis Center.

The Razorbacks overcame a 3-1 deficit in singles play to secure their first win over the Aggies in College Station since 1994.

Texas A&M took the early advantage in doubles play with a win on court three, as Roddick/Skrobareck defeated Melvin Manuel/Alan Sau Franco, 6-4. The Aggies claimed the doubles point after a narrow victory at the No. 2 position from Taylor/Tokac against Connor Smillie/Jake Sweeney, 7-6 (4). No. 34 Bozo Barun and Jared Horwood’s match went unfinished with the score tied 6-6.

The Hogs went down 2-0 in the match after Texas A&M obtained the first singles point on court one as Barun fell to No. 26 Perot in straight sets. Arkansas responded with Stefanos Savva collecting his 14th singles win of the spring after a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5) battle against Pires at the No. 4 position. The Aggies pulled within one point of taking the match after Casper bested Emesz on court five, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1.

Gerard Planelles Ripoll battled back after dropping the first set to earn his first ranked victory of the season with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over No. 30 Roddick at the No. 2 position. Manuel secured a 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-3 comeback victory against Tokac on court three to even the score at 3-3.

The match came down to court six, where Karlo Kajin faced off against Grant Lothringer. Lothringer took the first set 6-4 while Kajin fought back to win the second set 6-4, forcing a winner-take-all third set. In the final set, Kajin went down 3-4 before storming back to win four of the next five games en route to a 7-5 victory in the third set to clinch the top-10 upset for the Razorbacks.

The Hogs are back in action on the road tomorrow at noon to face No. 51 Rice.