FORT WORTH, Texas -- The No. 35 Cornell men's tennis team (19-6) went on cruise control early and never let up in a 4-0 sweep of the No. 28 Arkansas Razorbacks (21-12) in the opening round of the NCAA Team Championships on Friday afternoon from Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center. Cornell's victory over the Hogs is the second straight season it has faced an SEC opponent in the first round, as it took down Auburn in the Durham Regional hosted by Duke University in 2023.
The swing of momentum began in doubles. Arkansas took advantage early on court three and No. 3 position battle, as Connor Smillie and Karlo Kajin raced out a 4-0 lead and never turned back in a 6-1 decision over Radu Papoe and Samuel Paquette. Cornell countered from the No. 1 spot battle between No. 30 Bozo Barun / Jared Horwood and Nathan Mao / Adit Sinha on court one. Mao and Sinha came into Friday's match looking for its first victory over a ranked duo since a 6-2 win over VCU's Oscar Pinto Sansano / German Samofalov on March 22 in Virginia. The pressure was no problem for the junior tandem, jumping ahead by two before sealing the deal with a 6-2 decision to put the Big Red back into contention. Mao's and Sinha's victory extended the Razorback's top doubles team losing streak to four consecutive matches. The attention turned to court two for the decisive No. 2 battle of Melvin Manuel / Alan Sau Franco and Petar Teodorovic / Eric Verdes. The fight came down to a tiebreaker, as both sides split the first 12 points. And with the pressure on, Teodorovic and Verdes delivered a 7-4 victory to secure the first point and its first win with a tiebreaker since March 2 against Hobart.
Cornell's roll continued immediately in singles. Sinha was the first winner for Cornell, as the No. 103 ranked player cruised to a 6-0, 6-2 victory over No. 93 Gerard Planelles to put the Big Red up 2-0. The junior's victory over Planelles is his second in the last three matches and his fifth victory over a ranked opponent this season. Nathan Mao was next in line for Cornell, matching up against Karlo Kajin in the No. 5 spot. Mao also set the tone early with a 6-3 decision in the first set before closing it out with a 6-1 victory and a straight-sets sweep. Mao's victory also puts him into double digits for wins this year at 10-5 overall and extends his winning streak to five.
With the Big Red up 3-0, Arkansas needed a lifeline to try and get back into the match. The focus immediately turned to the No. 1 and No. 4 positions, as it looked like both would end simultaneously. Eric Verdes, who was making his first appearance in the singles lineup since a three-set victory over Indiana's Jagger Saylor on March 24, met Benedikt Emesz. The freshman had to fight for the first set, battling back to tie things at six and force a tiebreaker. Despite having to rally, Verdes kept his foot on the pedal in the decider with a 7-0 sweep to clinch the opening game. Radu Papoe had a similar trajectory from the No. 1 spot, needing an 8-6 tiebreaker in the opener to take set one over Bozo Barun. It was a race against the clock to see who would be the clincher for the Big Red. And Verdes got the honor, taking the second set over Emesz, 6-3, to push Cornell to the second round of the tournament for the second consecutive season.
Cornell's sweep of the Razorbacks is the second time in program history it has swept an opponent in the first round, as it knocked out the Rice Owls by that same mark in the first round of the 2017 tournament in Waco, Texas. The Big Red also evens the record in the series at one apiece, as the Razorbacks took the previous match by a 4-3 score during the 2019 ITA Kickoff Weekend in Columbus, Ohio.
UP NEXT
The Big Red will play the winner of UC Irvine/TCU on Saturday, May 4 at 4 p.m. CT from Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center. Cornell has matched up against the Anteaters once, taking a 5-1 decision in California in 2010. TCU has never been on Cornell's schedule.
