Razorbacks Close Fall With Sweep of Thunderbird Invitational

TEMPE, Ariz. – Senior Matt Roberts defeated teammate Rohan Gajjar Sunday to win the Arizona State Thunderbird Invitational in Tempe, Ariz., and the two teamed to claim the doubles title, giving the Razorbacks a championship sweep.

“This was a great way to end the fall season,” Arkansas head coach Robert Cox said, “What more could we have asked for? We had the doubles and singles champions, as well as a singles finalist. I couldn’t be more pleased.”

Roberts, ranked 73rd nationally, closed the fall season with a 9-2 record. The Little Rock, Ark. product has won 65 career matches, and is 35-12 since the beginning of the 2004 fall season.

Gajjar, the highest ranked Hog at No. 31, finished the fall campaign with a 5-3 mark. The senior from Mumbia, India, a first-team All-SEC selection in 2005, has been ranked the last 11 ITA national rankings.

The duo claimed the doubles title, their first as a team, with a, 8-1, triumph over Stjepan Beg and Brice Magnanou of New Mexico State. Gajjar and Roberts, playing together for the first time since the spring of 2004, improved to 3-0.

“Rohan and Matt clicked really well this week as a doubles team,” Cox said.

Gajjar is part of the nation’s 6th-ranked doubles team with Adrians Zguns, and finished the fall with an overall doubles record of 4-2. Roberts, who teamed with freshman Blake Strode to advance to the semifinals of the Central Region Championships a week ago, ended the fall 6-1 in doubles.

The Razorbacks will begin the 2006 spring with an Alumni Reunion on January 13-15, before hosting Scotland’s Sterling University on Jan. 16 in an exhibition match.

The Hogs officially open the 2006 season Tuesday, Jan. 24 against Oral Roberts at 1 p.m. at the Dills Indoor Tennis Center in Fayetteville.