Feb. 10, 2012
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The No. 67 Purdue men's tennis team pulled out a road victory over the No. 72 Arkansas Razorbacks on Friday night, winning five of the six singles matches en route to a 5-2 triumph.
Purdue (4-2) started off well in doubles as Diego Acosta and Mark Kovacs won at No. 3, 8-3. However, that was all the Boilermakers could muster up as Arkansas took the top two matches. Gregoire Lehmann and Nikolas Zogaj evened the doubles score with an 8-3 win of their own at No. 2. With the doubles point on the line, the No. 1 match went back and forth. In the end, it was Hall Fess and Matt Walters that pulled out the win for Arkansas, 9-7.
Arkansas (5-1) built its lead to 2-0 with a win at No. 3 singles. Walters knocked off Dujovne, 6-3, 6-2. Things looked a bit grim for the Boilermakers as they trailed 2-0 and were down a set in two other matches. However, Purdue rallied. It started with Acosta at No. 4. The freshman upset the No. 109 ranked singles player in the nation, 6-3, 6-4.
Krisztian Krockso even the score with a comeback win at No. 5. Krocsko dropped the first set, 6-3, but rallied to win the last two sets, 6-2 each. Kovacs gave Purdue its first lead with a win at No. 1. The sophomore won the first set, 6-3, but then struggled to get anything going in the second set as he lost it, 6-0. In the third, though, he found his rhythm and won, 6-1.
Evan Hawkins clinched the match again this week as the freshman needed three sets at No. 6. Hawkins won the first set, 6-4, but fell in the second, 6-2. In the third, he pulled away with a 6-1 win. Szymon Tatarczyk wrapped up the day's action with a win at No. 2, 1-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5.
The Boilermakers improve to 1-2 all-time against Arkansas and snap a four match losing streak against teams from the Southeastern Conference.
Purdue will be off from dual action until March 2 when the Boilermakers return home to face Denver.