Comeback Falls Short Against No. 15 MSU

Box Score

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Arkansas men’s tennis team won the first set in four of the six singles matches but was unable to complete the comeback in the match, falling to No. 15 Mississippi State 4-1 on Thursday night at the Billingsley Tennis Center.

Oscar Mesquida won at No. 4 singles, while No. 26 Jose Salazar led at No. 2 singles and Adam Sanjurjo had just started a third set at No. 3 singles for Arkansas (10-9, 2-4 SEC), when Mississippi State (14-3, 5-0 SEC) clinched the match in a three-setter at No. 6 singles. The win for the Bulldogs were their 10th win in a row.

Mississippi State won the first doubles match with a 6-1 win at No. 3 doubles. With a 5-2 lead at No. 1 doubles and a 5-2 deficit at No. 2 doubles, Sanjurjo and Mesquida held to extend their match at No. 2 doubles

The No. 37-ranked doubles team of Mike Redlicki and Jose Salazar took advantage and won a 40-40 point to hold serve and defeat the No. 31-ranked doubles team of Trevor Foshey and Niclas Braun at No. 1 doubles. MSU’s Mate Cutura and Vaughn Hunter then held in the eighth game for the 6-2 win at No. 2 doubles and clinch the doubles point for the Bulldogs.

Mississippi State won the first sets at No. 5 and No. 1 singles, but Arkansas came back and won the first sets in the other four singles matches. Sanjurjo broke to win the first set 7-5 at No. 3 singles, and then Salazar, the No. 26 player in the nation, won a first-set tiebreaker 7-4 at No. 2 singles. MSU also finished off a 6-0, 6-1 win at No. 5 singles for a 2-0 lead in the match.

After leading 5-1 early in the second set, Mesquida closed out a 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 4 singles, to pull Arkansas to within 2-1 in the match. Elsewhere, Redlicki, the No. 8 player in the nation, saved one match point but was unable to extend his match, falling to No. 10 Nuno Borges 6-2, 7-6(5) at No. 1 singles.

Mississippi State’s Vaughn Hunter won a key break in the seventh game of the third set at No. 6 singles and then broke again for 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 win at No. 6 singles and clinch the 4-1 win. Play was stopped in the remaining two singles matches with Salazar up a set and tied 5-5 in the second set at No. 2 singles and Sanjurjo in the first game of the third set at No. 3 singles.

Notable

  • Mike Redlicki and Jose Salazar improved to 10-5 overall and 3-3 against nationally ranked doubles teams this season.
  • Oscar Mesquida improved to 11-5 overall and a team-best 5-1 in SEC play, all at the No. 4 singles spot.
  • Jose Salazar remains 23-5 overall and 6-3 against ranked opponents, as his singles match was stopped when the match was clinched for Mississippi State.

Up Next

Arkansas wraps up its seven-match home stand with a doubleheader on Saturday at the Billingsley Tennis Center. Arkansas will host Auburn to begin play at 6 p.m. and will then play Saint Louis following the conclusion of that match.

For more information on Razorback men’s tennis, please follow @RazorbackMTEN on Twitter.