INDIAN WELLS, Calif. – The top-ranked Oklahoma men’s tennis team added another title to its resume Sunday afternoon, beating Baylor 4-1 in the finals of the BNP Paribas Open Collegiate Challenge presented by Oracle and played in Indian Wells, Calif.
"Today was a great team effort to put up four points on a really good team like Baylor to win," head coach John Roddick said. "Even after winning an intense doubles point, we were able to focus for singles.
The win is the Sooners’ (17-1) second this season against the third-ranked Bears. OU also topped Baylor 4-2 in the semifinals round at the ITA National Indoor Championship en route to claiming the title.
OU now boasts six wins over teams currently ranked in the ITA top-10 with two wins over both Baylor and No. 10 North Carolina. The Sooners have 11 total wins over teams in the top-25.
Oklahoma started the match strong, winning at one and three doubles to jump out to a 1-0 lead. The top Sooner pair of junior Axel Alvarez and senior Dane Webb grabbed the first win for OU. The duo improved to 13-3 with a 6-4 win over the 40th ranked pair of Mate Zsiga and Tony Lupieri. Alvarez and Webb trailed 3-1 early but won five of the next six games to take match.
Freshman Spencer Papa and sophomore Florin Bragusi paired at No. 3 doubles for the Sooners. The duo bested Vince Schneider and Felipe Rios 6-4 to clinch the point.
"We played much better at number three doubles, and we started to execute some of the things we have been practicing," Roddick said. "It really paid off today"
The Sooners are the first team this season to take doubles from Baylor.
With the doubles point in hand, Oklahoma needed just three wins in singles to take the match and the title. The Sooners have only given up more than two singles losses once this season, when No. 7 Texas A&M took three from OU back in February.
The Sooners rode the momentum from doubles into singles, taking three first sets. Alvarez, ranked No. 7, continued his dominant play, topping No. 29 Tony Lupieri 6-1, 6-2 at No. 2 singles to put OU up 2-0. Alvarez is now a perfect 15-0 in dual play and has dropped just one set all season.
"Axel was very solid today," Roddick said. "He did a good job of getting early leads and capitalized on first opportunities to close out each set."
Playing in the number four spot, Alex Ghilea took the first set from Scneider 6-2 and made it a clean straight-sets win when he took the second 6-3. Ghilea improves to 11-2 in dual play and 3-0 at number four singles.
Ghilea’s win stretched the Sooner lead to 3-0, and with four matches remaining, the Sooners needed just one more win to take the title. Baylor cut the lead to 3-1 when OU sophomore Andrew Harris fell at number one singles, but a familiar name was closing in on a clinching win for OU.
Playing in the six spot, Bragusi delivered the clinching point for the fourth time in the last five matches. The sophomore took the first set from Rios in a tiebreak and then finished the match with a 6-4 win in the second to give OU the dual and the title.
The nation’s toughest schedule won’t get any easier as the Sooners return home this weekend to host a pair of conference matches inside the friendly confines of the Headington Family Tennis Center. Oklahoma takes on No. 18 TCU Friday, March 27 at 5:30 p.m. and then No. 8 Texas Sunday, March 29 at 1 p.m.
For more information on Oklahoma Men’s Tennis, follow the team on Twitter at @OU_MTennis.
RESULTS
DOUBLES
#6 Webb/Alvarez def. #40 Lupieri/Zsiga 6-4
#77 Lenz/Galeano def. #69 Harris/Ghilea 6-2
Papa/Bragusi vs. Rios/Schneider 6-4
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3
SINGLES
#4 Julian Lenz def. #19 Andrew Harris 6-3, 6-2
#7 Axel Alvarez def. #29 Tony Lupieri 6-1, 6-2
#26 Dane Webb vs. #36 Max Tchoutakian 3-6, 7-5, 1-0 DNF
#53 Alex Ghilea def. Vince Schneider 6-2, 6-3
Spencer Papa vs. Mate Zsiga 5-7, 2-4 DNF
Florin Bragusi def. Felipe Rios 7-5, 6-4
Order of finish: 2, 4, 1, 6
