The University of Oklahoma men’s tennis team has risen to the top of the collegiate tennis world.
In his six seasons, coach John Roddick has made the Sooners as formidable an opponent as there is in the nation, but it is time for them to take that next step.
Oklahoma has won three of the last four Big 12 championships, been ranked No. 1 in the nation each of the last two seasons and has lost in the national final in consecutive years.
These accomplishments are remarkable, but the ultimate goal is to win a national championship. The Sooners have gotten close twice, but it is time for the team to put up or shut up.
The pressure is as high as it will ever be for this year’s team. That’s the bad news. The good news is this team is even more experienced than last season, having only lost one player, Dane Webb.
Oklahoma still has last season's ITA National Collegiate Player of the Year, senior Axel Alvarez, as well as a top-10 player in junior Andrew Harris.
In addition, juniors Alex Ghilea and Florin Bragusi and sophomore Spencer Papa all played significant singles and doubles matches for the Sooners last season, and they are all returning.
Not many teams in the nation are this good and returning nearly their entire team. This would make them the team to beat, but the question is whether they can break through that glass ceiling.
The answer is yes, they can.
With a multiple-time coach of the year leading the squad, two top-10 players — one being the best player in the nation — and five of six singles competitors back from the year before, Oklahoma is obviously the team to beat.
The Sooners have an early opportunity to prove it this weekend when they travel to Malibu, California to play in their first tournament of the year, the ITA Masters.
But can they finally win that elusive title and rise to the occasion in that final match?
It would be unfair to suggest that this team chokes. Anything can happen when you are facing another top competitor in one match, but it is time for the Sooners to be on the right side of that chaos.
If John Roddick wants to win OU its first ever NCAA tennis championship, this is the year.
