Feb. 9, 2014
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Freshman Ricky Medinilla clinched the 75th-ranked Purdue men's tennis team's 6-1 upset of No. 64 Arkansas Sunday at the George M. Billingsley Center. The win gives the Boilermakers a 2-1, 0-0 Big Ten record while taking down their first ranked opponent of the young season and their first since defeating No. 58 Nebraska on April 5, 2013. It was the first home loss for Razorbacks, who are now 6-4, 0-0 SEC.
Purdue's upset bid started at doubles with the veteran and rookie tandem of Szymon Tatarczyk and Medinilla at the No. 1 spot, as they derailed the nation's 39th-ranked duo from Arkansas, Mike Nott and Manfred Jeske, 6-2. The Razorbacks responded by taking the No. 2 doubles with a 6-4 win by Hall Fess and Pete Thomason over Mark Kovacs and Aaron Dujovne.
The doubles point rested on the No. 3 doubles match between Boilermakers Mateus Silva and Diego Acosta versus Santiago Munoz and Johan den Toom. Pushed into the breaker, Silva and Acosta surged past the Razorback duo, 6-5 (7-4), to give Purdue the 1-0 edge going into singles.
Momentum carried into singles as the Boilermakers quickly won the first three matches in straight sets to secure the upset. Dujovne had no trouble getting past Lee, blanking the No. 4 Arkansas singles player, 6-0, 6-0. Silva followed with a 6-2, 6-4, decision over Munoz at the No. 6 spot, giving Purdue a 3-0 edge. Ranked 96th nationally, Medinilla closed the door on any Razorback comeback, cruising past Fess, 6-4, 6-3, for his first win of the spring season.
Tatarczyk and Kovacs added wins in the Nos. 1 and 2 positions, respectively, rallying to close out the Boilermakers' scoring efforts. Nott took the first set from Tatarczyk, 6-0. The senior from Gorzyczki, Poland, battled to a 6-5 win in the second and followed by a score of 6-4 in the third. Kovacs won 6-1, 6-5 (10-8) against Jovan Parlic.
The dual match was played under the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's mandated experimental format. The three doubles matches each consisted of one set to six, with no-ad scoring and a tiebreaker at 5-all. Once a team had won two doubles matches, the remaining doubles match shall not be completed. Six singles matches followed the doubles. Each singles match was two out of three sets, with each set using no-ad scoring and a tiebreaker at 5-all in each set. For more information on the experimental format, please click here.
Purdue will return to its home to the Basham Courts of the Schwartz Tennis Center for a Feb. 15 doubleheader against IUPUI and Valparaiso starting at 10 a.m. ET.
No. 75 Purdue 6, No. 64 Arkansas 1 | Box Score
Doubles
1: Szymon Tatarczyk/Ricky Medinilla (Purdue) def. No. 39 Mike Nott/Manfred Jeske (Arkansas), 6-2
2: Hall Fess/Pete Thomason (Arkansas) def. Mark Kovacs/Aaron Dujovne (Purdue), 6-4
3: Mateus Silva/Diego Acosta (Purdue) def. Santiago Munoz/Johan den Toom (Arkansas), 6-5 (7-4)
Singles
1: Szymon Tatarczyk (Purdue) def. Mike Nott (Arkansas), 0-6, 6-5, 6-4
2: Mark Kovacs (Purdue) def. Jovan Parlic (Arkansas), 6-1, 6-5 (10-8)
3: No. 96 Ricky Medinilla (Purdue) def. Hall Fess (Arkansas), 6-4, 6-3
4: Aaron Dujovne (Purdue) def. Christian Lee (Arkansas), 6-0, 6-0
5: Johan den Toom (Arkansas) def. Diego Acosta (Purdue), 6-3, 5-6 (10-7)
6: Mateus Silva (Purdue) def. Santiago Munoz (Arkansas), 6-2, 6-4