No. 16 Men's Tennis to Host Florida, Travel to Mississippi State

NORMAN – The No. 16 Oklahoma men's tennis team is prepped to host Florida before traveling to Mississippi State for its second road match of the year.

The Sooners take on the Gators on Thursday, March 6, at 5 p.m. CT and fans are encouraged to wear white for the first whiteout match of the season.

Following Thursday's competition, the Sooners head to Starkville, Miss., to take on the Bulldogs on Saturday, March 8, at 1 p.m. CT.

MATCH DAY BASICS

The Sooners' 2025 home matches at the Headington Family Tennis Center will be open to the public and free of charge. Due to the elimination of concessions, fans are encouraged to bring their own food and drinks. OU also follows a clear bag policy.

LAST TIME OUT

Oklahoma hosted then-No. 18 Tennessee and then-No. 12 Texas A&M in back-to-back home matches last weekend, splitting the weekend with a win over the Volunteers and a loss to the Aggies.

The Sooners upset the Volunteers on Friday night in a 4-2 victory. After taking the doubles point with 6-1 wins at the two and three spots, Oklahoma shined in singles play. Freshman Alejandro Melero took a straight-set win at the six spot and was closely followed by senior Jordan Hasson winning to put the Sooners ahead in the dual. The clinching point came from freshman Orel Kimhi when he claimed his first ranked win of the season at the four line.

In Sunday's matinee match, OU showed dominance in doubles once again as junior Luis Alvarez and sophomore Kholo Montsi won first for the Sooners, followed by a monumental win for junior Bruno Nhavene and freshman Oscar Lacides at the one line. The Sooner pair upset the No. 24 Aggie pair, 7-5, to clinch the doubles point and send OU into singles with an advantage. The Aggies were first to strike in singles as Melero fell at the six spot. Oklahoma came back with a win from Kimhi at the four line before the dual was tied at 2-2 after Montsi came up short at the two position. Lacides took a straight-set ranked victory at the primary spot to put the Sooners ahead but Alvarez was narrowly defeated to put the score at 3-3. With the match coming down to the final match, Hasson suffered a close loss in three sets and Texas A&M claimed the win.

IN THE RANKINGS

After Oklahoma's successful showing in two ranked conference matchups, the Sooners jumped 10 spots in the ITA team rankings to check in at No. 16.

OU is represented in singles by Lacides who progressed 47 spots to sit at No. 76. Lacides has been ranked all season and boasts a 9-3 record with seven wins at the primary spot.

Sooner doubles pair Nhavene and Lacides sit at No. 39 after being unranked since the ITA preseason doubles rankings were released in December. The duo have an impressive 12-2 record and hold the ITA Central Region doubles title.

PLAYER TO WATCH

Orel Kimhi has shown out in the last three matches for the Sooners, claiming three straight-set wins to kick off conference play. The freshman from Israel earned his first ranked win against Tennessee's Alejandro Moreno to clinch the Sooner win over the Volunteers.

His win over Texas A&M's Luke Casper extended his four-match win streak and improved his record to 6-1 since he arrived in Norman in January.

S-E-C! S-E-C! S-E-C!

Oklahoma heads into its first season in the SEC after joining the conference on July 1, 2025. Seven conference matches will take place on Sooner home courts, including matches against Tennessee, Georgia, Texas and LSU.

The Sooners reunite with their former Big 12 opponents Texas A&M as the teams are once again in the same conference. Last time the Sooners and Aggies faced off, OU came out on top, 5-2.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS

The Florida Gators come to Norman with a No. 24 ranking after falling to No. 4 Texas on Sunday. Before the loss to the Longhorns, the Gators went on a four-match win streak that included victories over Auburn, Alabama and Kentucky.

In the ITA singles rankings, Florida is led by No. 62 Jeremy Jin, followed by No. 90 Henry Jefferson and No. 95 Adhithya Ganesan. The Gators have two doubles pairs ranked in No. 19 Jefferson and Tanapatt Nirundorn and No. 68 Ganesan and Nirundorn.

Mississippi State boasts a No. 22 team ranking after taking down LSU in their last competition. The Bulldogs have a 12-2 record on the season and had a five-match win streak before falling to Kentucky on the road.

Benito Sanchez Martinez leads the Bulldogs in the ITA singles rankings at No. 72 and is accompanied by No. 88 Petar Jovanovic, No. 92 Mario Martinez Serrano and No. 125 Niccolo Baroni. Mississippi State has the No. 4 doubles pairing in the country in Jovanovic and Sanchez Martinez. Martinez Serrano and Baroni follow behind at No. 29.

UP NEXT

The Sooners will stay on the road with trips to Auburn and South Carolina. OU will face Auburn on Thursday, March 13 at noon CT and South Carolina on Saturday, March 15 at 11 a.m. CT.

FOLLOW THE SOONERS

For updates, follow @OU_MTennis on Instagram and X or like Oklahoma Men's Tennis on Facebook.