Men’s Tennis Set to Open Spring Season in Texas for Doubleheader

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Arkansas men’s tennis team travels to Harlingen, Texas to open the spring season against the Rice Owls and the UT – Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros. The Razorbacks will play a pair of matches on Saturday, Jan. 10 with the first being slated for 11 a.m. and the second at 5 p.m.

The Hogs will look to extend their series lead of 11-2 against Rice, with this being the first meeting between Arkansas and UTRGV.

The Razorbacks are coming off an eventful fall season, having added four new players to the roster and a member of the squad entering the NCAA Singles Championships for the first time since 2022. Sophomore No. 18 Jakub Vrba led the team in singles wins (10), including a victory over at the time No. 30 Alexander Bernard (Ohio State) while being the only Hog listed in the latest ITA rankings.

Junior’s Lukas Palovic and Connor Smillie return after posting impressive seasons in 2024-25. Palovic racked up 16 wins during the spring dual season in singles, while Smillie earned an 18-10 dual record in doubles. Senior Eric Padgham joins the roster after three successful seasons at Arizona, accumulating overall records of 63-21 in doubles and 20-12 in singles.

Arkansas also added freshman Dmitry Kopilevich, Charlotte transfer sophomore Arsene Pougault and Florida transfer sophomore Ben Weintraub. Kopilevich comes to Fayetteville with career-high ATP rankings of No. 1608 in singles and No. 1416 in doubles while collecting a combined 12 victories in men’s professional events. Pougault looks to build on his success during the 2024-25 season, where he accumulated a combined record of 6-3 last spring. Weintraub is coming off a freshman year for the Gators where he picked up three dual singles wins, while gaining seven in doubles matches.

Live stats for both matches are available on the men’s tennis schedule page. Live streaming will be available on ESPN+.

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