FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The No. 28 Arkansas men’s tennis team is set to take on No. 35 Cornell in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the Fort Worth Regional. The Razorbacks and Big Red will face off on Friday, May 3, at 2 p.m. at Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center to earn their spot in the regional final.
The Hogs are making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2021 and their first under second-year head coach Jay Udwadia. Arkansas will compete in the Fort Worth regional for the third consecutive tournament appearance, while playing only its second match in program history against Cornell. The Razorbacks and Big Red last faced off in 2019, resulting in a 4-3 victory for the Hogs in Columbus, Ohio.
Arkansas produced its best single-season turnaround since 2015-16 after a nine-win improvement from 2023 and its 21 victories are the most in a season since 1986. The Hogs have won seven of their last nine matches, including top-25 victories over No. 8 Texas A&M, No. 25 Auburn, and No. 25 Florida. The Razorbacks have two nationally ranked singles players in No. 93 Gerard Planelles Ripoll and No. 112 Božo Barun. The duo of Barun and Jared Horwood are ranked No. 30 in the latest ITA doubles rankings.
No. 28 Cornell is coming off an 18-6 regular season with seven wins over ranked opponents. The Big Red are making their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history and recently reached the second round last year after a 4-3 victory over Auburn in the opening round.
In its last match, Cornell defeated No. 68 Yale to close the spring with a 5-2 record in Ivy League play. No. 14 Radu Papoe leads the Big Red in singles wins, posting a 15-3 record on court one this dual season. Cornell’s singles lineup also features No. 103 Adit Sinha at the No. 2 position. In doubles, Papoe and Samuel Paquette lead the Big Red with 10 victories on court three.
The winner of the Arkansas-Cornell match will face either No. 4 TCU or UC Irvine on Saturday, May 4, at 5 p.m. to determine who advances to the Super Regionals.
First- and second-round action takes place May 3-4 and features four teams playing in a single-elimination format. The winner of each regional advances to the Super Regionals on May 10 or 11 with each winner moving on to the Greenwood Tennis Center in Stillwater, Okla., where the final eight teams will compete for the national championship from May 16-19.
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