Siegel Leads Sooners to Six More Wins

ATLANTA, Ga. – The Oklahoma men's tennis team continued its strong season-opening play with six more wins on the second day of play at the MLK Invitational in Atlanta, Ga.

Playing in hidden dual format, the second-ranked Sooners won five of their seven singles matches and added another win in doubles on Sunday. While all play will count towards players' individual records and rankings, the results will not count towards the teams' records.

“Our one through five are as good as anybody's one. As long as we go out and do what we know how to do, and take care of business, we don't really care how we matchup."
- Asst. Coach Bobby Reynolds

Senior Austin Siegel had a great day for the Sooners, picking up a 7-5, 7-5 win over Ricardo Jorge in singles and pairing with junior Florin Bragusi in doubles to knock off Gustav Hansson and Stefan Lindmark, 7-5.

“If I had to give out an MVP it would definitely have to go to Siegel,” Oklahoma assistant coach Bobby Reynolds said. “He came out and took over doubles and did the same thing in singles. He served unbelievably well and waited for his opportunities. He just played lights out.”

Siegel played sparingly in 2015 but the Tarrytown, N.Y., native might be one of the Sooners' best options to fill the void left by the graduation of OU's all-time wins leader, Dane Webb.

“He realizes that this is his last semester and his last chance to really make a name for himself,” Reynolds said. “He has really put in some good work over the break. I would love nothing more than see him in the lineup and contributing day in and day out.”

Fellow senior Axel Alvarez, the reigning national and Big 12 player of the year, grabbed his first win of the spring on Sunday. After dropping the first set, Alvarez rallied to take down Gustav Hansson 5-7, 6-2, 6-3.

“He is such a rhythm player,” Reynolds said. “He is still trying to find his form from last year. From talking to John (Roddick) and seeing his results from the past years, he is kind of playing true to form. He's playing-not shaky, but not lights out—and by the end of the year he is just seeing the ball like a watermelon. I don't worry about him at all. He is finding his way.”

The Sooners also got a pair of dominant wins from Bragusi and sophomore Spencer Papa. Bragusi knocked off Grey Hamilton 6-1, 6-3 and Papa took down Filip Kraljevic by the same score. Freshman Andre Biro rounded out the Sooners winning tally with a three-set triumph over Fabian Fallert. It was the second win in as many days for the Biro, who is seeing his first collegiate action at the tournament.

“Our one through five are as good as anybody's one,” Reynolds said. “As long as we go out and do what we know how to do, and take care of business, we don't really care how we matchup. Florin and Spencer came out really hot and took the first set really quickly, and then stayed on top of them.”

The Sooners are back on the court on Monday morning as they take on the seventh-ranked Bulldogs of Georgia. The Sooners last saw UGA in the 2015 NCAA quarterfinals. OU took that match 4-2 to advance to the national semifinals.

MLK INVITATIONAL DAY TWO RESULTS

DOUBLES

Filip Kraljevic/Zvonimir Babic def. Axel Alvarez Llamas/Spencer Papa - 7-5
Fabian Fallert/Grey Hamilton def. Alex Ghilea/Andre Biro - 6-1
Florin Bragusi/Austin Siegel def. Gustav Hansson/Stefan Lindmark - 7-5

SINGLES

^#60Axel Alvarez Llamas def. Gustav Hansson - 5-7, 6-2, 6-3
Spencer Papa def. Filip Kraljevic - 6-1, 6-3
^#36Stefan Lindmark - def. ^#92Alex Ghilea - 7-5, 6-3
Florin Bragusi def. Grey Hamilton - 6-1, 6-3
Andre Biro def. Fabian Fallert - 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
Austin Siegel def. Ricardo Jorge - 7-5, 7-5
Vinod Gowda def. John Milstead - 6-1, 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.

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

MLK INVITATIONAL DAY TWO RESULTS

DOUBLES

SINGLES

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Axel Alvarez Llamas

Florin Bragusi

Florin Bragusi

Alex Ghilea

John Milstead

John Milstead

Spencer Papa

Dane Webb

Dane Webb

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics