No. 47 Alabama Men’s Tennis Falls at No. 43 Arkansas, 4-3

Sunday, April 1

Fayetteville, Ark.

1 p.m. CT

Alabama

#43 Arkansas

No. 47 Alabama Men’s Tennis Falls at No. 43 Arkansas, 4-3

4/1/2018 3:58:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score Match Results (PDF)

The Crimson Tide won the doubles point, but the Razorbacks won four-straight in singles play to earn the victory

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The No. 47 Alabama men's tennis team fell at No. 43 Arkansas, 4-3, at the Billingsley Tennis Center on Sunday afternoon.

"We fought hard today and had good energy throughout," head coach George Husack said. "Hats off to Arkansas for their performance. We got a little unlucky with Riccardo's injury but overall our opponents were a bit better than us today. We are getting better with each match regardless of what the box score says. I believe in this team and they believe in one another. We have more opportunities in front of us and we will prepare with the same work ethic and enthusiasm we've had all year."

The Crimson Tide (15-8, 1-7 SEC) won the doubles point before the Razorbacks (10-11, 3-6 SEC) won four-straight singles matches to clinch the win.

Alabama began the afternoon with a doubles point after junior Mazen Osama and sophomore Edson Ortiz dominated Mesquida/Sanjurjo, 6-1, and the No. 71 doubles pair in the country, sophomores Alexey Nesterov and Thibault Cancel, pushed past Salazar/Howard-Tripp, 6-4, to put the Tide up 1-0.

In singles competition, Arkansas took control after winning back-to-back matches in a span of seconds with Oscar Mesquida defeating Cancel, 6-2, 6-2, and Josh Howard-Tripp moving past freshman Patrick Kaukovalta, 6-2, 6-4. Later on, Jose Alonso pushed the Razorbacks' lead to 3-1 after freshman Riccardo Roberto retired in the second set.

Arkansas clinched the match when Alex Reco defeated Ortiz, 6-3, 7-6 (4). After the match was clinched, Nesterov earned a singles win over Pedro Alonso, 7-6 (6), 6-1, while No. 95 Osama earned his fourth win over a nationally-ranked opponent, after defeating No. 65 Jose Salazar, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 1-0 (10-5).

Next up, the Crimson Tide will on Friday, April 6 against No. 20 Georgia at the Alabama Tennis Stadium. The match is set to begin at 6 p.m. CT.

Alabama Results:

Singles vs. Arkansas:

No. 95 Mazen Osama def. No. 65 Jose Salazar, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 1-0 (10-5)

Oscar Mesquida def. Thibault Cancel, 6-2, 6-2

Josh Howard-Tripp def. Patrick Kaukovalta, 6-2, 6-4

Alex Reco def. Edson Ortiz, 6-3, 7-6 (4)

Alexey Nesterov def. Pedro Alonso, 7-6 (6), 6-1

Jose Alonso def. Riccardo Roberto, 6-4, 4-1, retired

Order of Finish: 2, 3, 6, 4, 5, 1

Doubles vs. Arkansas:

Ortiz/Osama def. Mesquida/Sanjurjo, 6-1

No. 71 Cancel/Nesterov def. Salazar/Howard-Tripp, 6-4

Alonso/Alonso vs. Roberto/Kaukovalta, 5-4, unf.

Order of Finish: 1, 2

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