Alvarez and Webb Advance to Round of 16

FLUSHING, N.Y. – Oklahoma men's tennis players Axel Alvarez and Dane Webb both won their first round matches at the 2014 USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate at the USTA Billy Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y. on Thursday.

Alvarez, a junior and the tournament's No. 6 seed, started things off Thursday morning with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Fernando Bergajo of Armstrong State. This was the 10^th singles win of the fall for Alvarez and his seventh consecutive win.

“Axel played well today,” volunteer assistant coach Jon Reeves said. “He took control of the match right from the start, and kept the pressure on until the finish.”

Senior Dane Webb followed his teammate's lead in the afternoon with a hard fought 5-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory over Andrew Watson of Memphis.

“Dane had a tough match physically and mentally,” Reeves said. “The courts are quick and it turned into a serving dual. To pull out the match, Dane stepped up his level in the latter part of the second and third sets.”

Oklahoma is one of five schools to advance two players to the round of 16, joining Georgia, North Carolina, USC and Virginia.

Alvarez and Webb, ranked No. 3 and No. 14 respectively, will now play in the round of 16 Friday morning. Alvarez will face Jason Tahir of Duke and Webb will see Dominik Koepfer of Tulane. Koepfer knocked off Cameron Norrie of TCU, the tournament's No. 7 seed, in the first round.

“Dane and Axel have tough opponents tomorrow,” Reeves said. “The experience and competitiveness of their opponents is high. Physically they are ready to go. Mentally Dane and Axel will need to prepare to play a high level of tennis for the duration of the match.”

For more information on the 2014 USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championship visit: http://bit.ly/10xnzoH

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