Ghilea on to Semifinals at ITA Regionals

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Oklahoma men's tennis player Alex Ghilea advanced to the semifinals round of the 2015 ITA Central Region Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., on Saturday.

Ghilea, ranked No. 50 and the tournament's No. 3 overall seed, topped Bayo Phillips of Drake 7-6(4), 6-3 in the round of 32 on Friday and then won a pair of matches on Saturday to earn his semifinal berth.

In the round of 16 Saturday morning, Ghilea drew Tristan Meraut of Oklahoma State, the tournament's No. 13 overall seed. Ghilea took the first set 6-3 but faltered in the second, falling 2-6. The decisive third set would go to a tiebreaker and for the second time in the tournament, Ghilea would come out on top. He took the breaker 7-4 and advanced the afternoon's quarterfinals round.

After a two-hour break, Ghilea squared off with Arjun Kadhe of Oklahoma State. Kadhe is ranked No. 66 by the ITA and was the tournament's No. 5 overall seed. Playing in his second match of the day, Ghilea, known for his stamina, made quick work of Kadhe, winning 6-1, 6-3.

Ghilea has now won four matches in the tournament and is just two wins away from giving Oklahoma its sixth straight Central Region Singles title. He is 7-2 so far this fall.

Ghilea will now face No. 10 seed Michael Redlicki of host school Arkansas on Sunday in the semifinals round at 10 a.m. CT. Live scoring will be available here.

For complete coverage of the 2015 ITA Central Region Championships, click here.