BATON ROUGE, La. – No. 7 LSU defended its home courts on Friday night against Arkansas, posting a commanding 6-1 result. On court four, Matias Ponce de Leon clinched the match for the Tigers, defeating Dmitry Kopilevich 6-2, 6-4.
With today’s win, LSU improves to 20-3 and 6-2 in SEC play. Notably, this is the first time since 2005 that LSU men’s tennis has earned 20 wins in a season. Furthermore, through 23 games, the Tigers’ 20-3 start is the best since 1998, when they began 22-1.
Arkansas falls to 14-8, going 2-6 in conference play.
“It was a very solid performance from the team today,” said head coach Danny Bryan. “We knew Arkansas had really good doubles, and I think we did a great job getting early leads on courts two and three. In singles, we thought it was going to be important to get off to good starts, and we did just that, getting six first sets. Erik [Arutiunian] and Andrej [Loncarevic] were great at the one and two singles, beating very good opponents in straight sets. The team is really looking forward to a top-10 matchup against a very tough Mississippi State team.”
In their first match with their highest ranking of the season, No. 42 Arutiunian and Matias Ponce de Leon entered court two to face off in a ranked dual with No. 64 Connor Smillie and Jakub Vrba. After settling in early with a service hold to gain a 1-0 edge, they broke at their first opportunity to continue their run to a 3-0 lead. The Razorbacks were able to get on the board, bringing the score to 3-1; however, it did not alter Arutiunian and Ponce de Leon’s rhythm, as they fired right back, making it 4-1. The Tigers continued to apply pressure, breaking Smillie and Vrba once more before closing out the set, 6-1. The LSU duo earned their first ranked win of the season, improving their overall record to 14-3, 6-2 in SEC play.
Rudy Ceccon re-entered the third spot with his partner from the beginning of the season, Enzo Kohlmann, as they matched up against Brendan Boland and Dmitry Kopilevich. The match began tense, each team finding its rhythm as they held their opening two service games. Midway through, the set became unpredictable, as the Tigers were able to claim their first break of the match to make it 4-2, right before the Razorbacks struck back immediately to bring it to a 4-3 contest. Undeterred, Ceccon and Kohlmann upped their game to regain the two-game cushion at 5-3, following it up with a strong service game to close it out, 6-3. They won the decisive match for LSU, clinching the doubles point for the Tigers as they took a 1-0 lead over Arkansas.
Fresh off his Co-SEC Freshman of the Week honors, No. 24 Arutiunian made a return to the top court today in a ranked battle with No. 18 Jakub Vrba. The match opened with swings in momentum, as each player tried to find their groove, trading a mix of holds and breaks until a 2-2 stalemate ensued. Each player got comfortable as the match approached 3-3, until Arutiunian broke again to take a 4-3 advantage. In stride, he confidently served out the remainder of the set to take the opener, 6-4. The next set was not much of a challenge as Arutiunian was an absolute force from the jump, opening with consecutive breaks to put Vrba on his heels at 3-0. The freshman never let up, pitching a second-set shutout at 6-0. With this win, he earned the highest-ranked victory of his collegiate career, extending his win streak to 10 matches. Furthermore, he pushes his overall record to a notable 15-2, with an undefeated 6-0 record in conference play and going 6-1 on the top court. LSU led Arkansas, 2-0.
At the second spot, Loncarevic shared the court with Lucas Palovic. The opening set began tight, with very little separating the two as they confidently held their service games to reach a 3-3 scoreline. From here, Loncarevic gained the upper hand, backing up another strong hold with his first break of the match to take a 5-3 lead. He completed his three-game stretch after sealing the first set, 6-3. Palovic was able to bounce back in the second set, stealing a break off Loncarevic at his first opportunity to quickly take a 2-0 lead. However, Loncarevic responded right away to bring the set to a level 2-2. The Tiger remained on fire, notching two more games to build substantial separation at 4-2. He completely overwhelmed Palovic in the second set, never giving him a chance to gain his footing as he reeled off six games in a row to take it, 6-2. Loncarevic put the Tigers up 3-0 over the Razorbacks. He earned his way back into the win column, logging his fourth win in SEC play and pushing his season mark to 11-5.
Ponce de Leon set the tone early on the No. 5 court against Kopilevich. After opening with a hold, he applied early pressure and secured a break to move ahead 2-0. He followed that up with another strong string of games to go up 4-1. Ponce de Leon maintained control through the remainder of the set, keeping Kopilevich on the defensive to close out the opener, 6-2. Kopilevich was able to battle back in the second set, though, responding to Ponce de Leon’s opening 2-0 lead with back-to-back breaks of his own, improving his lead to 4-2 following an impressive run. Ponce de Leon rediscovered his mojo and worked his way back into the set, closing the gap with crucial games to level the score at 4-4. With the energy back on his side, he continued to impose his will en route to taking the final two games, sealing the straight-set victory with a 6-4 second set. Ponce de Leon clinched the match for the Tigers as he advanced the scoreline to 4-0 over the Razorbacks. He extended his singles mark to 13-6, going 3-3 in conference play and pushing his win streak to two.
Alessio Vasquez stepped onto the No. 3 court against Weintraub in a match that opened with a tense stretch of games. Both players continued to trade blows, neither able to create much separation. With the score sitting at 3-3, Vasquez upped his game and earned a key break to move ahead 4-3 before defending it with a hold for a 5-3 edge. He capped off his three-game run with another break, closing the opening set in control at 6-3. He remained in rhythm going into the second set, striking fast with a break to take a 2-0 lead. Vasquez continued to dominate as he moved ahead to 4-1. With nothing to lose, Weintraub fought back with a pair of breaks to surprise Vasquez, leveling the set at 5-5. Staying composed, the German native regained control of the set at the right moment, getting back on serve at 6-5. Notching the final break needed, he sealed the match with a 7-5 second set and put LSU up 5-0 over Arkansas. His season mark extends to 7-2, going 4-2 in SEC play.
Sasa Markovic took the fourth spot against Gabriel Elicha Navas in a match that opened on the side of the Razorback. After falling behind 3-1 following an early break, Markovic found his footing and worked his way back to level the score at 3-3. He capitalized on his momentum, continuing to surge and take command of the first set. Markovic wrapped up the opener on a five-game run, taking it 6-3. The second set didn’t shift control back and forth like the previous, as both players remained steady through the opening stages. At 4-3, Markovic looked to notch the decisive break to move ahead 5-3, before Navas answered to even it back up at 5-5. The Tiger did not get rattled, steadily holding his next serve before capitalizing on his next opportunity, securing the second set 7-5 with a break in the final game. He advanced the score to 6-0, LSU leading Arkansas. Markovic moves his season record to 14-4 with a 4-3 conference mark.
Kohlmann returned to the lineup to face his doubles foe Boland at the sixth spot and came out firing in the opening set. He got off to a fast start, stealing an early break to charge to a 3-0 lead. Kohlmann kept control through the middle stages, keeping his cushion even as Boland made his presence felt as he chipped away at the margin. Despite that, Kohlmann held firm and closed out the set, 6-4. The second set proved more challenging for the Brazilian native, as Boland fired first this time and raced to a 4-1 advantage. Kohlmann made his way back into the set to say within reach, but the lead proved too much to overcome as Boland held steady to take the second set, 6-3. In the deciding ten-point tiebreak, Kohlmann fell to an early deficit at 1-3. Boland stayed tough, maintaining a comfortable lead throughout the decider that would eventually have him take the breaker 10-7 and secure the match. LSU defeated Arkansas, 6-1.
For the latest updates, follow @LSUTennis on Instagram, Facebook, and X.