LAWRENCE, Kan. – The No. 25 Oklahoma men's tennis team advanced to the Big 12 Championship semifinal with a 4-0 sweep of No. 18 Texas Tech Friday.
The Sooners (15-9, 2-4 Big 12) are set for a Red River rematch with No. 2 Texas Saturday at noon CT.
OU used the doubles point and singles wins from Stefano Tsorotiotis, Jake Van Emburgh and Mason Beiler to shut out the Red Raiders.
Oklahoma opened the match with the doubles point via wins on courts one and two. At the top spot, No. 53 Tsorotiotis and Alex Bakshi tallied their third straight win over a ranked opponent when they took out No. 4 Bjorn Thomson and Parker Wynn 6-3. The duo led the entire match.
Van Emburgh and Ferran Calvo sealed the point for OU on court two with a comeback victory over Jackson Cobb and Tommy Mylnikov 7-5. The Sooners trailed 5-3 before tying the match at 5-all, breaking at deuce point. Van Emburgh and Calvo took control from there to win the next two games and capture the doubles point.
When play was halted, Spencer Papa and Max Stewart were locked in at 5-all with Matheus Leite and Ilgiz Valiev on court three.
Tsorotiotis struck first in singles with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Kapshuk on court six. The sophomore trailed 5-3 in the first set before winning four straight games to take the opening set. Tsorotiotis kept the momentum going into the second, giving up just one game to claim the match.
No. 80 Van Emburgh defeated Valiev 7-6 (6), 6-2 on court three. After winning a tight first set, Van Emburgh jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second and held Valiev to two games.
Freshman Beiler clinched the win for the Sooners with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Ribero on court five.
When play was halted, No. 36 Papa led No. 79 Wynn 4-3 in the third set on court one. Papa took the first set 6-1 before Wynn won the second 7-5 to force a breaker.
No. 62 Bakshi was also in a third set on court two, where he trailed Mylnikov 4-3-. Bakshi won set one 6-3 but Mylnikov took the second 6-2.
On court four, Calvo was in a second-set tiebreaker with Thomson, leading 6-4. Calvo gave up just one game to win set one 6-1 but Thomson took the Sooner to the wire in the second.
OU is set to face No. 2 Texas in tomorrow's semifinal. The match will be played at the Jayhawk Tennis Center at noon CT. Live stats and video will be available.
Results
Singles Results
1. #79 Parker Wynn (TTU) vs. #36 Spencer Papa (OU) 1-6, 7-5, 3-4, unfinished
2. #108 Tommy Mylnikov (TTU) vs. #62 Alex Bakshi (OU) 3-6, 6-2, 4-3, unfinished
3. #80 Jake Van Emburgh (OU) def. Ilgiz Valiev (TTU) 7-6 (6), 6-2
4. Bjorn Thomson (TTU) vs. Ferran Calvo (OU) 1-6, 6-6 (5-4), unfinished
5. Mason Beiler (OU) def. Franco Ribero (TTU) 6-4, 6-3
6. Stefano Tsorotiotis (OU) def. Artem Kapshuk (TTU) 7-5, 6-1
Doubles Results
1. #53 Alex Bakshi/Stefano Tsorotiotis (OU) def. #4 Bjorn Thomson/Parker Wynn (TTU) 6-3
2. Jake Van Emburgh/Ferran Calvo (OU) def. Jackson Cobb/Tommy Mylnikov (TTU) 7-5
3. Spencer Papa/Max Stewart (OU) vs. Matheus Leite/Ilgiz Valiev (TTU) no result
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (6,3,5)
More information on the Big 12 Tennis Championship can be found here.
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