Komagata Caps Tulsa’s Dramatic 4-3 Comeback Win over Arkansas

Sunday, January 19

Fayetteville, Ark.

12:00 p.m.

Tulsa

Arkansas

Photo by: Joshua Rogers

Komagata Caps Tulsa’s Dramatic 4-3 Comeback Win over Arkansas

1/19/2025 4:02:00 PM | Men's Tennis

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Stellar play by junior transfer Reiya Komagata helped Tulsa complete a 4-3 comeback victory at Arkansas (3-1) Sunday in Fayetteville. The Golden Hurricane was down 3-0 at one point before TU's top three singles players rattled off consecutive straight-set wins and Komagata escaped a gritty back-and-forth three-set battle in the No. 5 position.

Tulsa improved to 2-1 on the young spring season.

Doubles action was all Arkansas as the Razorbacks grabbed a 6-3 victory in the third line and followed with the 7-5 clincher at No. 1 to nab the coveted doubles point. Court two was left unfinished with Arkansas up 6-5.

Arkansas then went ahead 3-0 in the dual match after running away with two-set wins in the fourth and sixth slots. Although the score looked bleak, the four remaining Tulsa players were all up by one set against their Hog opponents when the deficit reached three.

Sophomore Alex Okonkwo was the first to convert his second set and put TU on the board with consecutive 6-3 set wins at Singles No. 1. A few seconds later, his sophomore teammate Timothy Carlsson Seger closed out the No. 3 position with 6-3, 6-4 result.

Equalizing the dual match at 3-3 was junior Luis Felipe Miguel in the two-slot. He overcame Lukas Palovic 6-2, 7-5 to put TU within striking distance.

It all came down to TU's Reiya Komagata against Benni Emesz in the No. 5 position. It was the only singles match to reach a third set on the day after the two players traded 6-3 set wins in the first and second stanzas. In the third frame, Komagata erased a 4-2 deficit and pushed the match to a 5-5 tie. After Emesz got away with sending the match into a seven-point tiebreaker at six games all, Komagata kept his composure and stamina to escape with a 7-2 win to give Tulsa its second 4-3 nailbiter season.

Up next for the Tulsa men is ITA Kickoff Weekend. The Hurricane will head across the state to Norman face 10^th-ranked Oklahoma on Friday, Jan. 24. The winner will take on the victor of the No. 17 Stanford-Oregon match in Norman for a ticket to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship in February.

Singles
1. Alex Okonkwo (Tulsa) def. Bozo Barun (ARK) 6-3, 6-3
2. Luis Felipe Miguel (Tulsa) def. Lukas Palovic (ARK) 6-2, 7-5
3. Timothy Carlsson Seger (Tulsa) def. Marino Jakic (ARK) 6-3, 6-4
4. #85 Jakub Vrba (ARK) def. Will Pellegrini (Tulsa) 6-2, 6-3
5. Reiya Komagata (Tulsa) def. Benni Emesz (ARK) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-2)
6. Arthur Bellegy (ARK) def. Connor Doig (Tulsa) vs. 6-2, 6-2

Doubles
1. Barun/Jakic (ARK) def. Okonkwo/Seger (Tulsa) 7-5
2. Smillie/Vrba (ARK) vs. Tettamble/Miguel (Tulsa) 6-5
3. Emesz/Palovic (ARK) def. Pellegrini/Jestin (Tulsa) 6-3

Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (4,6,1,3,2,5)