Tennis Sweeps American Player of the Month Honors for October

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The American Athletic Conference announced its monthly honors for tennis on Tuesday, and Tulsa picked up both accolades. Martina Okalova (5-1 singles, 1-1 doubles) earned the Women's Player of the Month and Majed Kilani (6-2 singles, 2-1 doubles) secured the Men's Player of the Month.

Martina Okalova posted a 5-1 record in singles play and went 1-1 in doubles action. Okalova started the ITA Central Regionals with a victory over Yana Grechkina of UMKC, 6-0 and 6-1. She followed that up with back-to-back wins on the second day of the ITA Central Regionals with wins against Wichita State's Marta Bellucco (6-1, 6-1) and Arkansas' Jackie Carr (6-2, 6-0). In the round of 16, Okalova faced the No. 1 seed from Arkansas Ana Oparenovic, who is currently the No. 36 women's player in the country. Okalova knocked off the No. 1 seed Oparenovic in two sets, 6-3 and 6-4. In the quarterfinals, Okalova defeated Marina Guinart of OSU in straight sets, 6-1 and 6-3. Her only loss in singles action came in the ITA Central Regional Semifinals against Kansas' Despoina Vogasari, 6-0 and 6-1. In doubles action, Okalova was paired with teammate Vera Ploner and the duo notched a 1-1 record. They defeated Elly Hartnett and Carmen Palumbo of North Dakota (8-3), before they lost to Arkansas' Mia Jurasic and Ana Oparenovic (8-3).

On the men's side, Majed Kilani recorded a singles mark of 6-2 and a doubles mark of 2-1. Kilani started October off with a win in the Main Draw of the Saint Francis Health System ITA All-American Champions, as he knocked off the No. 54 player in the nation, Logan Smith of USC, in straight sets, 6-4 and 6-2. Kilani suffered his first loss in the second round of the Saint Francis Health System ITA All-American Championships, against the No. 43 ranked player, N. C. State's Alexis Galarneau, 6-2 and 6-2. Kilani bounced back at the ITA Central Regionals, where he started off with a victory over Minnesota's Justyn Levin in three sets (6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-2). In the second round of regionals, Kilani defeated North Dakota's Lukas Buth in straight sets, 6-1 and 6-2. In the round of 16, Kilani faced the No. 1 seed and No. 18 ranked player in the country, Julian Cash from OSU. After Cash took the first set, 6-1, Kilani responded with back-to-back set wins, 7-5 and 6-3, to advance to the round of eight. Kilani then knocked off Oscar Mesquida of Arkansas, 6-4 and 6-2, to advance to the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, Kilani defeated Oklahoma's Alexander Bakshi, 6-3 and 6-4. Kilani suffered his second loss in the semifinals of the ITA Central Regionals against Nebraska's Toby Boyer, 7-6 (4) and 7-6 (4). In doubles play, Kilani and partner Jarod Hing went 2-1 on the month. They started the ITA Central Regionals off with a victory over UMKC's Amaury Navette and Tom Kruse, 8-4, followed by a win against Jake Jacoby and Jonas Larsen of Iowa, 8-4. The only doubles loss for Kilani came against Minnesota's Matic Spec and Felix Corwin, who are the No. 55 doubles team in the country, by a score of 8-7 (2).

Tennis Sweeps American Player of the Month Honors for October

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Majed Kilani

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