Strong Sooner Showing on Singles Saturday

We had a solid day today. Nick fought through a match and Axel played very well at times. Dane was really solid and didn't get himself into any trouble all day. There will be some tough matches tomorrow.
Head Coach John Roddick

NORMAN, Okla. – Three Oklahoma men's tennis players advanced to the third round of the main singles draw at the USTA/ITA Central Region Championships at the Headington Family Tennis Center on Saturday.

Junior Axel Alvarez, senior Dane Webb, and redshirt senior Nick Papac all won two matches inside the Gregg Wadley Indoor Pavilion to give the Sooners three players in the round of 16.

“We had a solid day today,” head coach John Roddick said. “Nick fought through a tough match and Axel played very well at times. Dane was really solid and didn't get himself into any trouble all day. There will be some tough matches tomorrow.”

Top seeded Alvarez made quick work of his first round opponent, toppling Quinn Dippel of Creighton, 6-0, 6-2. He then knocked off Santiago Munoz of Arkansas in his afternoon, second round match, 6-2, 7-6(5). Alvarez got down early in the second set but rallied with a pair of breaks late to win in a tiebreaker.

Alvarez, the nation's 3^rd ranked player, is slated to face No. 10 seed Tin Ostojic of Wichita State in the third round Sunday.

Webb, the tournament's second seed, was dominant on Saturday. He beat his first round opponent, Will Albanese of Arkansas, 6-0, 6-1 then took down Dominic Patrick of Iowa 6-2, 6-4 in round two.

Ranked No. 14 nationally, Webb will face No. 14 seed Felix Corwin of Minnesota in the round of 16 on Sunday.

Papac, seeded No. 15, battled through a pair of tough matches. He bested Ben Mullis of Drake in round one, 6-4,6-4, then outlasted Jonny Rigby of SIU Carbondale, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the second round.

Papac will see the tournament's third seeded player, Leonard Toledo of Minnesota in the round of 16 on Sunday.

Sophomore and No. 11 seed, Alex Ghilea also saw action on Saturday. Ghilea was strong in his opening match, taking down Tucker Saxon of Minnesota, 6-2, 6-1, but dropped his second round match with Matt Hagan of Iowa, 3-6, 3-6.

Play will resume on Sunday with the quarterfinals of main doubles draw. The Sooners' third-seeded duo of Axel Alvarez and Dane Webb will square off with second-seeded pair Jack Hamburg and Mathieu Frohment of Minnesota at 9 a.m.

The championship match of the main draw doubles will be contested on Monday.

Singles play will also resume on Sunday with play in the round of 16 and quarterfinals. Singles will begin at the conclusion of doubles play.

For more tournament information, including updated draws and live video, visit our tournament hub here.

For more information on OU Men's Tennis, follow the team on Twitter at @OU_MTennis.