Florida State Ousts Hogs In Opening Round Match
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FORT WORTH, Texas – The Arkansas men’s tennis team fell to the Florida State Seminoles 4-1 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament’s Fort Worth Regional Friday afternoon at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center.
Falling to 13-19 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, Arkansas ends the 2017 spring season 16-13 overall, 6-6 in Southeastern Conference play. After going 20-9 a year ago, head coach Andy Jackson has taken the Razorbacks to back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since going 16-10 in 2001 and 15-10 in 2002.
As anticipated, the doubles point was a close one. Having only been paired for the last four matches, Johan den Toom and Adam Sanjurjo faced their first ranked opponent of the season on Friday in Florida State’s 49th-ranked Jose Gracia and Lucas Poullain. The duo defeated Gracia and Poullain 6-4 at the No. 2 spot giving Arkansas the early advantage.
Oscar Mesquida and Juan Marino fell on court three 6-4, bringing the doubles decision down to the No. 1 spot.
Tied 5-5, Florida State’s 58th-ranked pairing of Aziz Dougaz and Guy Iradukunda won the final two games to defeat 6th-ranked Mike Redlicki and Jose Salazar to give the Seminoles the 1-0 lead heading into singles play.
Needing four singles victories, the Razorbacks took the first set at the top three courts, splitting with the Seminoles, as they took the bottom three. Arkansas looked to maintain its advantage at the top spots, while trying to take one from FSU at one of the bottom spots.
Arkansas was able to tie the match at 1-1 with a 6-2, 6-2 straight set win at the No. 2 spot by No. 39 Jose Salazar. The senior knocked off No. 79 Guy Iradukunda to give him three straight victories, all over ranked opponents.
Soon after, FSU regained the lead at 2-1, as Rana Roop Bhullar defeated Juan Marino 6-2, 6-0 at No. 6. With a 6-3, 6-1 victory at the No. 4 spot, the Seminoles clinched the match.
No. 10 Redlicki was up 6-4, 5-2 over No. 38 Aziz Dougaz, while Mesquida led No. 94 Lucas Poullain 6-2, 1-6, 2-0 in the third set at the clinch.
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Even though team competition is over for the Razorbacks, Mike Redlicki and Jose Salazar will compete as two of the 64 singles players and one of the 32 doubles pairings in the 2017 NCAA Division I Men’s Tennis Championships in Athens, Georgia on May 24-29. The duo ranks as the sixth-best doubles squad in the country. Individually, Redlicki is the No. 10 singles player, while Salazar ranks No. 39.
Florida State 4, Arkansas 1
Doubles competition – Order of finish (2,3,1)
1. #58 Aziz Dougaz/Guy Iradukunda (FS) def. #6 Mike Redlicki/Jose Salazar (AR) 7-5
2. Johan den Toom/Adam Sanjurjo (AR) def. #49 Jose Gracia/Lucas Poullain (FS) 6-4
3. Terrance Whitehurst/Terrell Whitehurst (FS) def. Oscar Mesquida/Juan Marino (AR) 6-4
Singles competition – Order of finish (2,6,5,4)
1. #38 Aziz Dougaz (FS) vs. #10 Mike Redlicki (AR) 4-6, 2-5, unfinished
2. #39 Jose Salazar (AR) def. #79 Guy Iradukunda (FS) 6-2, 6-2
3. #94 Lucas Poullain (FS) vs. Oscar Mesquida (AR) 2-6, 6-1, 0-2, unfinished
4. Jose Gracia (FS) def. Adam Sanjurjo (AR) 6-3, 6-1
5. Alex Knaff (FS) def. Johan den Toom (AR) 6-3, 6-4
6. Rana Roop Bhullar (FS) def. Juan Marino (AR) 6-2, 6-0
For more information on Razorback men’s tennis, please follow @RazorbackMTEN on Twitter.
