Strong Day One In the Books

TULSA, Okla -- The Oklahoma men's tennis team picked up two wins in the first round of the main singles draw at the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla., on Thursday.

Sophomore Andrew Harris, ranked No. 40, picked up the first win of the day for the Sooners. He defeated the 29th ranked player in the country, Leonard Stakhovsky of Penn State 7-5, 7-6(8), after rain delayed the match by almost four hours.

Junior Axel Alvarez, ranked No. 3, also notched a win for Oklahoma, defeating Adrien Berkowicz of Texas 7-5, 4-6, 6-2. Berkowicz had earned his spot in the main draw by virtue of three win the qualifying draw.

"Andrew and Axel did a great job of competing today," head coach John Roddick said. "They got through some tough spots and played aggresively."

The second round will feature a pair of top 20 opponents for the Sooners. Harris will lead off for OU, facing No. 15 Shane Vinsant of Texas A&M at 9 a.m. Friday. Alvarez is slated to see 20th ranked Romain Bogaerts of Wake Forest at 10 a.m.

Senior Dane Webb was also in action for the Sooners on Thursday. Webb was eliminated from singles play when he dropped a tough three-set match with No. 34 Nick Chappell of TCU 3-6, 6-1, 3-6.

In the main doubles draw, Alvarez and Webb, the nation's 40th ranked doubles pair, fell to Kevin Metka and Ralf Steinbach of Ohio State, ranked No. 16, and were eliminated from doubles competition.

For more tournament information, including draws and live scoring, visit: http://bit.ly/1uNbgiM

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