Razorback Duo Advance To Round Of 16

ATHENS, Ga. – Arkansas men’s tennis sixth-ranked doubles tandem of seniors Mike Redlicki and Jose Salazar advanced to the round of 16, defeating Ohio State’s 16th-ranked pairing of Herkko Pollanen and Mikael Torpegaard 2-6, 6-2, 10-5.

The duo becomes the first Razorback doubles team to advance out of the first round since 2013 (Jeske/Nott) and looks to become the first since 1994 (Hilpert/McGinn) to advance to the quarterfinals.

In the first set, the Buckeye duo charged out to a 4-1 lead. Despite holding to bring it to 4-2, Redlicki and Salazar dropped the first set 6-2.

The Razorback tandem cruised in the second set to a 6-2 win, after jumping out 3-0. The decision came down to a 10-point tiebreaker in lieu of a third set. The Buckeyes grabbed a 4-2 lead, before Arkansas won six straight to take the 8-4 advantage. After splitting the next two, Arkansas clinched the match, winning 10-5 to advance to the round of 16 where Redlicki and Salazar will face Oklahoma’s 15th-ranked Andrew Harris and Spencer Papa on Friday at 1:30 p.m.

Redlicki and Salazar improved to 11-7 this spring, 14-8 overall on this year.

Earlier Thursday morning, Redlicki continued play in singles against Texas’ 55th-ranked Yuya Ito. After breaking Ito to open the match, Redlicki held serve to take an early 2-0 lead. The two went back and forth, holding serve for five straight games, before Redlicki would break his opponent again to take the commanding 5-2 lead in the first set, where he would close it out and win 6-2.

To begin the second set, the senior dropped the first three games to fall behind for the first time in the match. Ito climbed to a 5-2 lead before a rain delay struck. After play resumed, the Longhorn clinched the set, winning 6-3 to send it to a decisive third and final set.

The two each held serve in the first three games of the third set, before Redlicki broke to gain the 3-1 advantage. Ito fought back, tying it 4-4. Redlicki took the 5-4 lead, before Ito won three straight to defeat Redlicki 7-5.

Redlicki ended his senior year 28-11 overall in singles play, 11-9 this spring. He finished 20-8 against ranked competition.

RESULTS
Singles
#55 Yuya Ito (UT) def. #10 Mike Redlicki (AR) 2-6, 6-3, 7-5

Doubles
#6 Redlicki/Salazar (AR) def. #16 Pollanen/Torpegaard (OSU) 2-6, 6-2, 10-5

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