No. 8 Men’s Tennis Drops Heartbreaker to Arkansas, 4-3

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION – The No. 8 Texas A&M men's tennis team dropped a heartbreaker to the Arkansas Razorbacks, 4-3, Sunday at the Mitchell Tennis Center.
 
"Hard fought match that we had chances to win, but didn't get enough big points down the stretch," head coach Steve Denton said. "We have to play a bit better in key moments. Congrats to Arkansas, they deserved to win the match today."
 
JC Roddick/Lathan Skrobarcek took down Alan Sau Franco/Melvin Manuel on court 3, 6-4. Kenner Taylor/Togan Tokac were down 4-1 and came back to clinch the doubles point for the Aggies (18-7, 7-3 SEC) in a thriller over Connor Smillie/Jake Sweeney on court 1, 7-6 (7-4). Raphael Perot/Tiago Pires were ahead on court 1 before A&M clinched doubles.
 
No. 26 Perot went to work on court 1 in singles, winning in straight sets against Bozo Barun (6-4, 6-4) to extend the lead for the Maroon & White. The Razorbacks (17-9, 4-6 SEC) responded with a win on court 4. Luke Casper came back from behind to secure a victory on court 5 against Benedikt Emesz in a three-set thriller (4-6, 7-5, 6-1) but Arkansas earned wins on courts 2 and 3 to make the score 3-3. Grant Lothringer played a valiant match versus Karlo Kajin that took three sets to complete. Kajin would get the best of Lothringer, clinching the victory for the Razorbacks.
 
The Tuesday match against Memphis is canceled due to impending weather. The Aggies hit the road to take on the Auburn Tigers, April 12.
 
 
TEAM NOTES

• A&M is 11-2 at home this season.
• Luke Casper is on a four-match winning streak and has 20 wins on the season.
• JC Roddick and Lathan Skrobarcek are 2-0 on court 3.

 
 
MATCH STATS
Doubles

1. Raphael Perot/Tiago Pires (TAMU) vs. Bozo Barun/Jared Horwood (UA) 6-6 (2-1) UNF
2. Kenner Taylor/Togan Tokac (TAMU) def. Connor Smillie/Jake Sweeney (UA) 7-6 (7-4)
3. JC Roddick/Lathan Skrobarcek (TAMU) def. Alan Sau Franco/Melvin Manuel (UA) 6-4

 
Order of finish: 3, 2
 
Singles

1. No. 26 Raphael Perot (TAMU) def. Bozo Barun (UA) 6-4, 6-4
2. Gerard Planelles Ripoll (UA) def. JC Roddick (TAMU) 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
3. Melvin Manuel (UA) def. Togan Tokac (TAMU) 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 6-3
4. Stefanos Savva (UA) def. Tiago Pires (TAMU) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5)
5. Luke Casper (TAMU) def. Benedikt Emesz (UA) 4-6, 7-5, 6-1
6. Karlo Kajin (UA) def. Grant Lothringer (TAMU) 4-6, 6-4, 7-5

 
Order of finish: 1, 4, 5, 2, 3, 6*
 
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