Tulsa Men’s Tennis Has Productive Offseason
9/4/2015 1:02:00 PM | Men's Tennis
TULSA, Okla. – The University of Tulsa men's tennis team returns three gifted players from last year's team, and welcomes a very talented freshman for the 2015-16 season. Key returners are junior Or Ram-Harel, and sophomores Juan Matias Gonzalez and Mitchell Prichard. Incoming freshman and key newcomer Dominic Bechard should make an impact for the Golden Hurricane.
Ram-Harel returns to the roster as the number one player on the team, and he is currently ranked No. 20 in the preseason Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings. This summer Ram-Harel reached the quarterfinals of the USA F19 Future's tournament here in Tulsa. In the tournament he went on to beat former UCLA standout Nick Meister who was currently ranked 300 in the world. This offseason Harel picked up three ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) singles points. Or Ram-Harel should have a major impact in college tennis this year.
"Or's work ethic has continued to get better here at Tulsa and we look forward to seeing that continue," said Men's Tennis Head Coach Vince Westbrook.
Gonzalez came to Tulsa in January of 2015 and he returns to the roster going into his first full season as a Hurricane. Gonzalez started off the summer winning a doubles title at the Egypt F21 Furtures tournament. During the summer he also picked up three ATP singles points.
"We expect Gonzalez to contribute in the top half of our lineup," Westbrook said. "Playing a full year is going to make all the difference in the world. Physically he still needs to do a lot of work, but mentally we feel like he is getting better."
Prichard came to Tulsa in January 2015 and has the ability to lead the team in the near future. Over the summer Prichard won a national tournament in Australia, and beat high-level players, including Darren Polkinghorne who was ranked as high as 900 in the ATP.
"We think the sky is the limit for Prichard," said Westbrook. "He adds much maturity in the younger half of our team. We have no doubt that he is going to be a future leader in our team."
Bechard is a native of Perth, Australia, and comes highly recommended as he was one of the top players in Australia's junior rankings.
"We feel pretty comfortable that he is going to contribute in both our singles and doubles lineup," said Westbrook. "We are looking forward to seeing him compete."
Tulsa travels to Napa, Calif., to open the season in the Napa Invitational on Sept. 10-13.
"The future is looking bright for our team," said Westbrook. "I look forward to seeing what develops as we get ready for the NCAA tournament."
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