Miyazaki Advances at Hilton Head

NORMAN -- Oklahoma freshman Lily Miyazaki advanced to the second round of The Shipyard Cup at Van der Meer Shipyard Tennis Resort in Hilton Head, S.C., by defeating Emma Flood of Norway, 6-4, 6-3, Wednesday. The tournament is an event on the ITF Pro Circuit.

Flood currently has an ITF singles ranking of 703, while Miyazaki holds a ranking of 844.

Miyazaki cruised after taking an early 3-0 lead in the first set. She is the only current collegiate player left in the main draw.

“I thought Lily did a great job of staying steady and playing her game today,” said OU assistant coach Boomer Saia. “She got the early lead today and kept the momentum the rest of the match.”

Miyazaki will face Anamika Bhargava of the United States Thursday at 11:30 a.m. Bhargava currently holds an ITF ranking of 672. She defeated Luisa Stefani of Brazil 7-5, 6-1 in the first round.

“Tomorrow, Lily needs to continue to play her game style and dictate right from the first point,” said Saia. “Lily has practiced and played well up to this point and hopefully she can keep it going into tomorrow's match.”

Miyazaki, a native of Tokyo, Japan, has yet to drop a match this season. She began her collegiate career winning all four of her singles matches at the OU Fall Invite.

For more tournament information and live scores, click here.