Salazar Clinches Win At Tennessee
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – For the first time since 1993 and only the second time in program history, the Arkansas men’s tennis team is off to a 2-0 start in Southeastern Conference play, as Arkansas downed Tennessee 4-3 on Friday afternoon in Barksdale Stadium.
Arkansas won the doubles point for the 10th time in 13 matches this season and won in straight sets at No. 5, No. 6 and No. 2 singles for a 4-2 lead in the match. Jose Salazar, the No. 24 player in the nation, forced a tiebreaker in the second set and then clinched the match with a 6-1, 7-6(4) win over Luis Valero at No. 2 singles.
“Excellent team win today,” head coach Andy Jackson said. “Tennessee is one of the toughest places to win in the SEC. They have great tradition and pride. It was very close and Jose clinched playing well when we needed it most. Johan (den Toom) played a very tough match. And Juan (Marino) was just super in coming back from 5-0 down in the second. We are looking forward to playing Georgia on Sunday.”
Johan den Toom and Branch Terrell won two early breaks on the way to a 6-1 win at No. 3 doubles. Mike Redlicki and Jose Salazar, the No. 56 doubles team in the nation, went up an early break and clinched the doubles point with a 6-3 win over the No. 21-ranked doubles team of Luis Valero and Jack Schipanski at No. 1 doubles.
Arkansas and Tennessee split the first set in the six singles matches, winning three singles matches each. After Tennessee evened the matched at 1-1 with a win at No. 4 singles, Arkansas went back ahead 2-1, as den Toom closed out a 6-4, 6-1 win at No. 5 singles.
Tennessee came back and tied the match again at 2-2, as No. 86 Timo Stodder defeated No. 6 Redlicki 6-2, 6-4 at No. 1 singles.
Juan Marino trailed 5-0 in the second set before winning seven straight games to win the set and the match, 6-2, 7-5, to give Arkansas a 3-2 lead in the match, as the remaining two matches continued late into the second set.
Trailing 6-5 in the second set, Salazar forced a tiebreaker and then won the breaker for the 6-1, 7-6(4) win at No. 2 singles and clinched the match for the Razorbacks. With the match already clinched, Adam Sanjurjo forced a third set supertiebreaker at No. 3 singles but came up short 11-9 in the breaker.
Notable
- Arkansas defeated Tennessee for the second straight time, after losing the previous 10 meetings.
- Arkansas is off to a 2-0 start in SEC play for the second time in program history and the first time since 1993.
- Arkansas has won its last five and six of its last eight SEC regular season road matches dating back to last season.
- Mike Redlicki and Jose Salazar, the No. 56-ranked doubles team, improved to 9-2 in doubles play, including 6-1 this spring.
- Arkansas has won the doubles point in 10 of 13 matches this season.
- Jose Salazar improved to 20-5 in singles matches this season, including a team-best 9-2 record this spring.
Up Next
Arkansas travels to No. 11 Georgia on Sunday for its final road match of a three-match road swing to begin SEC play. Arkansas will then return home for seven straight home matches over four match days, beginning with No. 23 South Carolina on March 16. Arkansas will also host No. 15 Florida (March 18) and No. 16 Mississippi State (March 23) during the home stand.
For more information on Razorback men’s tennis, please follow @RazorbackMTEN on Twitter.
