Mora's Comeback Clinches Win over Longhorns

^#18 Texas

^#10Oklahoma

STILLWATER, Okla. – The 10^th-ranked and 3^rd-seeded Oklahoma men's tennis team bested No. 18 Texas 4-1 on Friday in the first round of play at the 2016 Big 12 Championship in Stillwater, Okla. Senior Axel Alvarez broke the OU school records for career wins and career singles wins in the process.

Due to weather concerns and wet court conditions, play was moved indoors on Friday and began with singles. The Sooners took four of the five completed matches to clinch the 4-1 win. The teams did not play doubles.

“Singles first is probably an advantage for us. We can just come out and start from 0-0 and do our best part which is singles."
- Head Coach John Roddick

“Singles first is probably an advantage for us,” head coach John Roddick said. “We can just come out and start from 0-0 and do our best part which is singles. Our guys did a good job. They were focused and even the point we lost, Alex (Ghilea) fought like crazy and was in a position to win the second set. Max (Mora) came back from 5-2 in the third and Spencer (Papa) kept forcing break points. Even in the matches that were tough there were a lot of good things that you want to see.”

Florin Bragusi earned the Sooners' first win of the day. The junior, known for playing long matches, cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 win over Rodrigo Banzer at No. 4 singles. Bragusi had missed the Sooners' regular season finale against Oklahoma State with injury.

Freshman Andre Biro put the next point on the board for Oklahoma. Biro jumped all over his opponent Julian Zlobinsky at the No. 6 position, winning the first set 6-0. The second set was much closer, but Biro broke Zlobinsky at 5-all and then held serve to win the set 7-5 and take the match.

Playing at No. 1 singles, Axel Alvarez cemented his place in history on Friday. The senior won his match against No. 59 George Goldhoff 6-3, 6-3 to put OU up 3-0 and just a point away from the win. Alvarez' victory was also the 213^th of his career and his 116^th in singles, both OU records. Alvarez was previously tied for the school record in both categories.

“It feels good,” Alvarez said. “Right now maybe I don't appreciate it that much, but it is something that will be there for a long time I hope. I am just proud of it. I've had a good run here.”

Texas grabbed a win at number three singles when junior Alex Ghilea fell to Harrison Scott 6-1, 7-6(6). With the score at 3-1, Texas was up by at least a break in the third set of each of the remaining two matches. Should the Longhorns have won both those matches, the teams would have played doubles to decide the outcome. Freshman Max Mora had other ideas.

Playing at the number five spot, Mora had won his first set 6-2 but dropped the second by the same score. When Alvarez clinched his match, he trailed 5-2 in the third.

Mora would not lose another game.

The freshman from Narbonne, France won five consecutive games to take the set 7-5 and clinch the match and dual for OU.

“He started really sticking with the game plan and didn't get frustrated when things didn't go his way,” Roddick said. “All of a sudden he got on a roll and settled into a rhythm. When your guy is serve-and-volley it's all about rhythm. He started to get what he wanted there and that was nice to see.”

Junior Florin Bragusi celebrates a winning point. Bragusi won his singles match 6-2, 6-2 on Friday.

With the win Oklahoma advances to the semifinals round on Saturday. The Sooners will take on No. 2-seed TCU, which had a first-round bye, at noon CT. OU and TCU squared off on April 8 in the regular season in Fort Worth, Texas. The teams split the singles matches 3-3, but TCU won doubles to take the match 4-3.

“Last time we played it was a coin toss at 4-3,” Alvarez said. “I think we will have opportunities. We are two very good teams so we just have to come out with more intensity and want it more than they do.”

“If we play singles like we did today, and the doubles point is so short, we'll be in position to win a lot of points,” Roddick said. “We'll see how it goes.”

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

RESULTS

SINGLES

1. ^#23 Axel Alvarez def. ^#59 George Goldhoff - 6-3, 6-3
2. ^#81 Spencer Papa vs. Adrian Ortiz - 6-2, 4-6, 2-4, DNF

3. Harrison Scott def. ^#51 Alex Ghilea - 6-1, 7-6(6)

4. Florin Bragusi def. Rodrigo Banzer - 6-2, 6-2

5. Max Mora def. Michael Richmann - 6-2, 2-6, 7-5

6. Andre Biro def. Julian Zlobisnky - 6-0, 7-5

Order of finish: 4, 6, 1, 3, 5