Rice University
Arkansas
Rice Drops Tight Match to Arkansas, 4-2
1/26/2025 4:57:00 PM | Men's Tennis
AUSTIN, Texas - Rice men's tennis (3-2) fell in a narrow 4-2 match to the Arkansas Razorbacks (5-2) on Sunday afternoon at the University of Texas Weller Indoor Tennis Center to close out the ITA Kickoff Weekend tournament.
Action opened in the match with doubles action, where the duo of Santiago Navarro and Petro Kuzmenok won their first match of the season as a doubles team, taking down their opponents from Arkansas 6-3. 43rd-ranked tandem Arthus de la Bassetiere and Kabeer Kapasi defeated the Razorback duo at the No. 1 position, 6-2, to add another victory to their belt and take the doubles point over the Razorbacks.
In singles play, court three was the first court to finish, with Emir Sendogan falling 6-1, 6-1, to his opponent. Court four was next, with Kapasi falling to the 85th-ranked player in the nation by a score of 6-1, 6-4. Arkansas took a 3-1 lead after court six finished their match, with Yair Sarouk pushing the second set to a tiebreaker, but ultimately falling 6-2, 7-6 (7-4). Tommy Czaplinski earned his first victory of the season with a three-set win at court five, 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, closing the gap at 3-2 in favor of Arkansas. However, court one finished right after, with de la Bassetiere falling 6-2, 4-6, 6-4, and Arkansas earned the fourth point, clinching the match.
Rice will return to action on Sunday, February 2, as they travel to Waco to take on the Baylor Bears.
RESULTS
DOUBLES
#43 A. de la Bassetiere/K. Kapasi (RICE) def. B. Barun/M. Jakic (ARK), 6-2
S. Navarro/P. Kuzmenok (RICE) def. C. Smillie/J. Vrba (ARK), 6-3
#118 E. Morais/J. Mandelbaum (RICE) vs. B. Emesz/K. Palovic (ARK), 1-5 uf
Order of Finish: 2, 1
SINGLES
B. Barun (ARK) def. A. de la Bassetiere (RICE), 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
P. Kuzmenok (RICE) vs M. Jakic (ARK), 6-4, 3-6, 2-4 uf
L. Palovic (ARK) def. E. Sendogan (RICE), 6-1, 6-1
#85 J. Vrba (ARK) def. K. Kapasi (RICE), 6-1, 6-4
T. Czaplinski (RICE) def. B. Emesz (ARK), 3-6, 7-5, 6-2
A. Bellegy (ARK) def. Y. Sarouk (RICE), 6-2, 7-6 (4)
Order of Finish: 3, 4, 6, 5, 1
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
2,1
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
3,4,6,5,1
Players Mentioned
