Tulsa’s Or Ram-Harel Advances to Round of 32 at Saint Francis All American

TULSA, Okla. – The University of Tulsa's Or Ram-Harel advanced to the second round of the main draw at the Saint Francis Health System ITA Men's All American Championships on Thursday afternoon, defeating No. 16-nationally ranked Wayne Montgomery in three sets 2-6, 7-6 (7), 7-5. The Hurricane played three matches total on the day, all against competition ranked in the top-20 of the Oracle/ITA Preseason Rankings.

No. 25 Ram-Harel got off to a slow start in the opening set of the match, eventually dropping the first frame to Montgomery 6-2. The senior responded with strong play in the second set, scoring 11 straight points across three games in which he broke Montgomery's serve and eventually held to take a 4-2 lead. After Montgomery broke Ram-Harel's serve, he immediately broke back with a forehand winner in the left corner of the court to take a 5-4 in a set that would eventually reach the tiebreaker. Montgomery took a 4-1 lead in the tiebreaker before Ram-Harel responded with five straight points to grab a 5-4 advantage. Down 7-6 in the tiebreak and facing match point, Ram-Harel made an aggressive play to knot the match at 7-7 before scoring the next two points in a 7-6 (7) second set win.

Ram-Harel's serve was broken in the opening game of the third set and again in the sixth. Down 5-3, Ram-Harel held serve while not allowing a point before breaking the next two Montgomery serves on his way to a 7-5 set win to take the match. Ram-Harel is slated to take on Ohio State's Hugo Di Feo tomorrow at a time to be announced.

Sophomore No. 112 Majed Kilani battled Kentucky's 15-ranked William Bushamuka in his opening match of the main draw, eventually falling in two sets 6-3, 6-3. Kilani fought off two break points to reach deuce in an eventual first game win in the first set before Bushamuka broke Kilani's serve in the third game and again in the sixth. Kilani held stronger in the opening moments of the second set, putting down a well-placed serve on deuce to hold at 2-2 before shutting out Bushamuka in the sixth game at 3-3 before dropping the next three games.

Dominic Bechard and Francois Kellerman took on Ole Miss sixth-ranked pair Zvonimir Babic and Filip Kraljevic in the afternoon in main draw doubles play. Bechard and Kellerman held a lead in the first set before eventually falling 6-4. The TU duo found themselves down two sets to none in the second set, but rallied to force a tiebreak in which they won 7-5 to take the set 7-6 (5). Bechard and Kellerman fought hard in the tiebreak after splitting the first two sets, but dropped the tiebreak 10-7 to Babic and Kraljevic.

Singles and doubles main draw play continues at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center through the weekend and into Monday.

Tulsa’s Or Ram-Harel Advances to Round of 32 at Saint Francis All American

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Players Mentioned

Dominic Bechard

Francois Kellerman

Majed Kilani

Or Ram-Harel

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