Alvarez Falls in Round of 32 at Singles Championship

TULSA, Okla. – Senior Oklahoma men's tennis player Axel Alvarez fell to San Diego's Uros Petronijevic in three sets on Thursday afternoon in the round of 32 at the NCAA Singles Championship in Tulsa, Okla. The loss eliminates Alvarez from the tournament.

Alvarez cruised through the first set, stealing Petronijevic's serve twice and pushing him to deuce in two other games. Alvarez won the first set 6-2 and then jumped out to a 4-1, one-break lead in the second. Petronijevic would not go down without a fight though.

San Diego's ace held for 2-4 in the second and then rattled off six consecutive games, including three breaks, to win the second set 6-4 and lead 2-0 in the third. Alvarez snapped the seven-game streak with a hold for 1-2 and then broke Petronijevic in the next game to get back on serve.

Both players held to 5-all, but Petronijevic broke for 6-5 and then held to win the set 7-5 and claim the match.

Alvarez leaves Oklahoma as perhaps the greatest Sooner to ever swing a racquet. He holds the Oklahoma records for career wins and career singles wins, and in 2015 the Asturias, Spain, native became the first Sooner ever to be named the 2015 ITA National Player of the Year and the first ever to be ranked No. 1 in singles by the ITA. Alvarez is a three-time All-American and earned All-Big 12 honors in both singles and doubles in all four years of his career.

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