No. 24 Kentucky Falls to No. 50 Arkansas, 4-3

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Will Bushamuka earned another ranked win, but the No. 24 Kentucky men’s tennis comeback came up just short as Arkansas defeated UK, 4-3 on Friday at the Billingsley Tennis Center. The Wildcats fall to 14-10 overall and 5-6 in the Southeastern Conference while the Razorbacks improve to 14-11 and 5-6 in the league. 

“Tonight was a great college match with a great atmosphere,” assistant coach Matt Emery said. “We have a lot of respect for Arkansas. They are clearly underranked, well-coached and have as good of a 1-2 singles punch as any single team in the country. I couldn’t be more proud of the heart and fight our guys showed tonight. We’re itching to go to battle again on Sunday against a tough Ole Miss team.”

In the battle for the doubles point, the No. 32 ranked duo of Beck Pennington and Enzo Wallart were the first to finish. Pennington/Wallart dropped 6-3 to No. 7 Mike Redliciki and Jose Salazar, 6-3. Kentucky battled back and tied the doubles fight at 1-1 when Trey Yates ad Gus Benson gave UK a 7-5 victory over Oscar Mesquida. Arkansas won the doubles point when Will Bushamuka and Nils Ellefsen fell in a hard fought 7-6 (7-4) battle to Adam Sanjurjo and Johan den Toom. 

Kentucky tied the match at 1-1 when No. 19 Bushamuka earned his fifth ranked victory of the season. Bushamuka defeated No. 11 Mike Redlicki, 7-5, 6-2. The Princeton, New Jersey native is 12-5 this season. 

Shortly after Bushamuka won, Arkansas regained the lead. Trey Yates was defeated by Johan den Toom, 6-3, 7-5 to give the Razorbacks a 2-1 advantage. Arkansas scored again when Oscar Mesquida beat Nils Ellefsen, 6-2, 3-6, 6-0. 

The Wildcats punched back with an Enzo Wallart victory. Wallart beat Adam Sanjurjo, 6-4, 6-4 to cut the UA advantage to 3-2. The Windermere, Florida native improved to 10-6 this season.

Alex Dominguez, making his Kentucky debut, made huge impact for the Cats. He earned a clutch 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory over Juan Marino to even the match at 3-3. 

Arkansas clinched the match when Pennington fell to No. 29 Jose Salazar, 7-6, 4-6, 6-2. 

Kentucky will wrap up the regular season on Sunday when UK heads to Oxford, Mississippi to take on Ole Miss at 2 p.m.