Sooners Finish Up Qualifying Round Play

TULSA, Okla. – The Oklahoma men's tennis team finished 2-2 in qualifying round singles play on Tuesday at the 2016 ITA All-American Championships.

Senior Florin Bragusi started on a strong note Tuesday morning in qualifying-round action at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center. After defeating Alex Sendegaya of Texas Tech in straight sets Monday, 6-2, 6-4, Bragusi defeated Alex Cozbinov of UNLV 6-2, 6-3, to advance to the third round of qualifying.

Bragusi then squared off against Texas' Christian Sigsgaard for a trip to the main draw of singles. After a competitive 7-5 first-set defeat, Bragusi fell to Sigsgaard, 6-2, in set two. The loss dropped Bragusi to 4-2 in singles play in the fall season.

Sigsgaard, a freshman for the Longhorns, has represented Denmark twice at the Davis Cup, which included a win over the world's No. 86 player, Nikoloz Basilashvili, in 2015. In addition, he reached the second round of the Australian Open Junior Championships in 2015.

The Sooners also had junior Spencer Papa on the courts of the University of Tulsa on Tuesday thanks to a 7-5, 6-1, victory in the first round of qualifiers on Monday over Zvonimir Babic of Ole Miss. Papa, who was the runner-up at the Southern Intercollegiate Championships in Athens, Ga., in his first fall tournament of the year, fell to Thomas Laurent of Oregon 5-7, 4-6 in a tough second-round matchup.

Last year, as a freshman for the Ducks, Laurent went 14-1 in doubles and 17-6 in singles in dual play.

Oklahoma still has two players in contention in the All-American Championships, including Papa. Senior Alex Ghilea begins his tournament on Thursday, Oct. 6, in the main draw of singles. He will take the court against Yuya Ito of Texas at 9 a.m. CT. Ito worked his way into the main draw via three consecutive victories in the qualifying draw.

Ghilea and Papa will also begin in the main draw of doubles on Thursday. The two, who went 9-5 in doubles dual play last year, will play Jack Findel-Hawkins and Lasse Muscheites of North Florida, who also earned a bid for the main draw after three wins in the qualifying draw.

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