No. 2 OU Sweeps Singles, Bests Bulls

Guys serve so well, so it's going to be close. You have to win those 4-all or 5-all games and tiebreakers. We did a lot of that today.
Head Coach John Roddick

NORMAN – The second-ranked Oklahoma men's tennis team remained perfect in 2015 with a 6-1 win over No. 25 South Florida Friday night inside the Gregg Wadley Indoor Pavilion at the Headington Family Tennis Center. The Sooners are now 5-0 for the season with two wins over top-25 opponents.

The Sooners started off doubles with a win from the 38^th-ranked pair of senior Dane Webb and junior Axel Alvarez at No. 1 doubles. The duo bested No. 44 Oliver Pramming and Justin Roberts 6-3. Alvarez and Webb are now 8-0 on the season and have four wins over ranked opponents.

Oklahoma would come up short on the remaining two matches to lose the point. At No. 3 doubles sophomore Andrew Harris and freshman Spencer Papa got down a break early and dropped their match with Sasha Gozun and Vadym Kalyuzhnyy 3-6. Harris and Papa are now .500 on the year (2-2).

Having split the first two doubles matches, OU needed a win at No. 3 to take the point. Sophomores Alex Ghilea and Florin Bragusi pushed their match to a tiebreak, but ultimately fell to Roberto Cid and Ignacio Gonzalez 6-7. The duo fell to 1-2 on the year.

“I'd like to see us play a little better in doubles at No. 2 and No. 3,” head coach John Roddick said. “Our No. 1 team is playing great; I don't think they've lost a match. We're not playing bad at the other spots, we just have to play a little bit better.”

Trailing 0-1 after doubles, Oklahoma needed to win four of the six singles matches to win the dual. The Sooners did better than that, taking all six matches to win 6-1.

“Singles was great,” Roddick said. “We won five first sets which is great and the level was high. Winning those 4-all, 5-all games regularly--we won a bunch of those. That's what we have to do and that's what men's tennis is all about. Guys serve so well so it's going to be close. You have to win those 4-all, 5-all or tiebreakers. We did a lot of that today and that's what we really focus on so it's good to see that.”

Webb was the first to strike for OU. Ranked No. 33 in the nation, Webb faced Gonzalez in the three spot. The senior got down a break early in the first set to trail 1-3. Webb wasn't down long however. He won five of the next six games and took the set 6-4. The Richardson, Texas native carried that momentum into the second set and cruised to a 6-2 win to tie the match at 1-all. Webb's record improves to 6-1 for the year, including 4-0 in dual play.

The tie wouldn't last long. Mere seconds after Webb's win Ghilea added another for Oklahoma. Facing Justin Roberts in the No. 5 spot, the 50^th-ranked sophomore for Neamt, Romania cruised to a 6-0 win the first set, and then gave the Sooners a 2-1 lead – a lead they would not relinquish - with a 6-3 win in set two. Ghilea is an unbeaten 3-0 in dual play for the spring.

It's nice from a coaching stand point to have a guy that experienced and playing probably the best tennis of his life right now.
Head Coach John Roddick

“I can tell you the other guys coming out at five realize he's top-50 in the country right now,” Roddick said. “It speaks to our depth and it's nice from a coaching stand point to have a guy that experienced and playing probably the best tennis of his life right now. If he just keeps that going and plays well I feel like we have a point right there.

In the No. 2 spot, Alvarez continued his dominant play. The junior topped Gozun 7-5, 6-4 to claim his team-high seventh win of the year in singles, and put the Sooners up 3-1.

Needing just one point to clinch the dual, Papa was the next Sooner to finish. Playing in the No. 4 spot, the Edmond, Okla. took the first set over Pramming 6-4. Leading 5-4 in the second and with Pramming serving, Papa had match point at 30-40. The freshman could not seal the deal at that point and was pushed to 5-5. Papa held his serve in the next game and with Pramming back to serve, once again had a break point to win the dual. Papa would not allow the opportunity to pass twice. He took the second set 5-7 and clinched the match for OU 4-1. It was the first collegiate victory for Papa, who has had just one other match completed during dual play this season.

“He did a lot of the things we have been working on and he did them better,” Roddick said. “It wasn't perfect but it's good to see him trying to do that. It means he is coachable and he is going to get a lot better very quickly. It was nice to see him finish that one very well.”

With the outcome decided, play continued on the remaining two courts.

Playing in the No. 1 spot against 19^th-ranked Cid, Harris dropped set one in a tiebreaker 6-7(8). Harris would rally to take the next two sets 6-3, 6-4 to claim the match. The win gave Harris his first over a ranked opponent and moved his record to 4-1 for the year.

Playing in the six spot, sophomore Jose Salazar was the last Sooner to finish. The young Spaniard won a marathon over Kalyuzhnyy 7-6, 3-6, 7-5. Salazar is now 4-1 in dual play and is 2-0 at No. 6 singles.

Friday's match marks the second time the Sooners have lost the doubles point. OU dropped the first point against No. 28 Northwestern in the championship match of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend. The Sooners went on to win all four singles matches that finished, and topped the Wildcats 4-1 to earn a birth in next weekend's National Indoor Championships.

The Sooners will be back in action Sunday afternoon when they host No. T45 Alabama at noon. The match will be one of five televised matches this season for OU. The dual will be streamed live on SoonerSports.tv and will be aired on Fox Sports Oklahoma Monday at 5 p.m. Toby Rowland and former Oklahoma head coach Paul Lockwood will be on the call. As always admission is free.

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

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Players Mentioned

Axel Alvarez Llamas

Florin Bragusi

Florin Bragusi

Alex Ghilea

Alex Ghilea

Andrew Harris

Andrew Harris

Dane Webb

Dane Webb

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