Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Continue Tournament Action in Tulsa
October 03, 2012 | Cowboy Tennis
Oct. 3, 2012
TULSA, Okla. - The qualifying rounds of the ITA Men's All-American Championships in Tulsa began Monday, with multiple Cowboys in action at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center.
Junior Rifat Biktyakovmatched up with Ohio State's Connor Smith, the tournament's eighth overall seed. Biktyakov took Smith deep in both sets, but eventually fell 6-4, 7-5.
Sophomore Chris Haworth's qualifying round matchup also ended in a loss, coming at the hands of Northwestern's Spencer Wolf, 6-1, 7-6(4). Wolf is the 12th overall seed in the tournament.
Freshman Richard Del Nunzio was awarded a bonus match after falling short in the pre-qualifying round. Del Nunzio recorded his first career victory against Wichita State's Alvaro Gutierrez, winning in straight sets 6-3, 7-5.
Both Biktyakov and Haworth moved on to the qualifying consolation round, where they hit the courts again Tuesday morning.
Biktyakov recorded his first win of the season by defeating Florida State's Jordan Kelly-Houston 6-4, 6-3. However, Haworth came up empty, losing to Virginia's Justin Shane 6-0,6-4.
In the qualifying doubles round, Biktyakov and Del Nunzio earned a bye in the first round, setting up a second-round pairing with Sudanwa Sitaram and Daniel Whitehead from the University of Texas. The duo battled in one of the closest matches of the tournament, but fell in a tiebreaker 9-8(8).
