Seven Wins on Day One in Atlanta

Atlanta, Ga. -- The University of Oklahoma men's tennis team opened its 2015 season on Saturday with seven individual wins over host school Georgia Tech at the MLK Invitational in Atlanta, Ga.

Playing in hidden dual format, the No. 2 ranked Sooners picked up two wins in doubles and five more in singles over the 75^th ranked Yellow Jackets. While all play will count towards players' individual records and rankings, the results will not count towards the teams' records.

The Sooners started the day in doubles. The 38^th ranked duo of senior Dane Webb and junior Axel Alvarez took down Carlos Benito and Carlos Segura 7-6 (7-3) to give Oklahoma its first win of the day. Sophomore Jose Salazar and freshman Spencer Papa paired to beat Casey and Michael Kay 6-4 in the Sooners' second doubles win. Sophomores Florin Bragusi and Alex Ghilea dropped their match with Nathan Rakitt and Christopher Eubanks, 1-6.

In singles, Webb, ranked 33^rd, finished first for OU. The senior picked up a top-50 win by quickly beating No. 49 Rakitt in straight sets 6-2, 6-2. Ghilea, ranked 50th, picked up the Sooners' second singles win holding off Michael Kay 7-5, 6-4. Alvarez, the highest ranked Sooner at No. 14, dropped the first set of his match with Christopher Eubanks before cruising in the second and third frames to win 6-7, 6-3, 6-1.

We had a good start to the year today. Dane played as well as I've seen out of him this year.
Head Coach John Roddick

“We had a good start to the year today,” head coach John Roddick said. “Dane played as well as well as I've seen out of him this year. Axel did a great job competing and finding a way to win.”

Oklahoma also got wins from junior Austin Siegel and Bragusi. Siegel topped Casey Kay with a convincing 6-4, 6-1 victory and Bragusi outlasted Cole Fiegel to win 6-7, 6-1, 6-4.

Salazar won the first set of his match with Benito, but dropped the last two sets to fall 6-4, 4-6, 3-6. In his first match as a Sooner, Papa fell to Eduardo Segura 4-6, 6-7.

“Our new players all played well and fought hard,” Roddick said. “Their level was high and we are looking forward to more opportunities this weekend.”

The Sooners will be back in action on Sunday at 8 a.m. CT when they face the eighth ranked Bulldogs of Georgia in the same format. Georgia rosters holds three players ranked in the top-100. The Sooners' roster features four such players. Oklahoma will face the 16^th ranked Columbia Lions on Monday.

MLK INVITATIONAL - OKLAHOMA DAY 1 RESULTS

DOUBLES

No. 38 Axel Alvarez/Dane Webb def. Carlos Benito/Eduardo Segura 7-6 (7-3)
Spencer Papa/Jose Salazar def. Casey Kay/Michael Kay 6-4
Christopher Eubanks/Nathan Rakitt def. Florin Bragusi/Alex Ghilea 1-6

SINGLES

No. 33 Dane Webb def. #49 Nathan Rakitt 6-2, 6-2
No. 14 Axel Alvarez Llamas def. Christopher Eubanks 6-7, 6-3, 6-1
Eduardo Segura def. Spencer Papa 6-4, 7-6 (9-7)
No. 50 Alex Ghilea def. Michael Kay 7-5, 6-4
Carlos Benito def. Jose Antonio Salazar 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
Florin Bragusi def. Cole Fiegel 6-7, 6-1, 6-4
Austin Siegel def. Casey Kay 6-4, 6-1

The MLK Invitational is a three-day tournament featuring host school Georgia Tech, Georgia, Columbia and Oklahoma. Each match is played in hidden dual format, meaning individual matches count towards a player's record, but no team result will be given. At the conclusion of the tournament an individual champion will be crowned in both singles and doubles.

Live scoring is available here.

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

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Players Mentioned

Axel Alvarez Llamas

Florin Bragusi

Alex Ghilea

Spencer Papa

Dane Webb

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics