PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The American Athletic Conference has announced the winners of its weekly men’s and women’s tennis honors for the week-ending Jan. 20.
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE MEN’S TENNIS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Carles Sarrio • Jr. • SMU • Valencia, Spain
Sarrio went 2-0 in singles play, including a win against the No. 4-ranked player nationally, to help SMU to a 2-1 start to the 2019 spring season. Sarrio was a 6-0, 6-3 winner at No. 1 singles in the season-opening win against Prairie View A&M, and he capped the week by providing SMU’s lone team point in a 6-1 setback to No. 8 Texas. Sarrio scored a 6-4, 6-0 win against the Longhorns’ top player, No. 4-ranked Christian Sigsgaard. A transfer from Auburn, Sarrio improved to 13-5 in singles play and 2-1 against nationally ranked opponents in his first season at SMU.
AROUND THE AMERICAN
Tulane, which won the 2018 American Athletic Conference Men’s Tennis Championship, joins UCF as teams that were receiving votes in the first Oracle/ITA team rankings of the 2019 spring season.
The American in the Oracle/ITA Rankings
Men’s Singles (through November 14)
| |
31 |
Gabriel Decamps |
UCF |
| |
42 |
Luis Erlenbusch |
Tulane |
| |
43 |
Alberto Barroso-Camps |
USF |
| |
51 |
Carles Sarrio |
SMU |
| |
55 |
Majed Kilani |
Tulsa |
| |
57 |
Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi |
UCF |
| |
58 |
Tyler Schick |
Tulane |
| |
79 |
Alan Rubio |
UCF |
| |
88 |
Mikhail Sokolovskiy |
UCF |
| |
107 |
Trey Hilderbrand |
UCF |
| |
120 |
Felix Ewers |
Tulane |
| |
125 |
Tim Ruetzel |
Tulane |
Men’s Doubles (through November 14)
| |
23 |
Alberto Caceres Casas/Mark Wallner |
Temple |
| |
29 |
Akos Kotorman/Tim Ruetzel |
Tulane |
The 2019 American Athletic Conference Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championships will be held in April at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida. The women’s championship takes place April 17-20, while the men’s championship will be played April 18-21.
UCF (0-1) opened its spring season with a 4-3 setback at Arkansas. The Knights claimed the doubles point against the Razorbacks, and built a 2-0 lead by capturing the first singles match to be completed, but Arkansas reeled off the next four singles victories to clinch it. Five players on UCF’s singles ladder are ranked in the ITA top 125, including No. 31 Gabriel Decamps, who is the highest-ranked player in The American. The Knights have six top-25 teams on their 2019 schedule, including three top-10 opponents. UCF will face No. 10 Stanford Saturday in Palo Atlo, California, as part of the ITA Kickoff Weekend. The Knights will take on either Oregon or Minnesota Sunday.
UConn (3-0) begins its 2019 spring season Jan. 29 against Boston College. The Huskies scored three dual match wins in the fall with victories against Merrimack (6-1), Holy Cross (4-0) and Franklin Pierce (7-0).
ECU’s (2-0) won its first two dual matches of the spring season as the Pirates edged James Madison 4-3 before rolling to a 7-0 win against The Citadel. The Pirates head to Annapolis, Maryland, Saturday for a pair of matches. ECU will face Navy at 9 a.m. before taking on Mount St. Mary’s at 5 p.m.
Memphis (4-0) is off to a 4-0 start for the first time since 2012. The Tigers opened the season with a 5-2 win against Northwestern before registering a 6-1 victory against Belmont and 5-0 and 4-0 wins against Jackson State. Freshman Patrick Sydow registered a pair of straight-set singles wins in the doubleheader sweep of Jackson State and was a combined 4-0 in singles and doubles last week. The Tigers will take part in the ITA Kickoff Weekend in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, with a Saturday match against Old Dominion and a Sunday contest against either BYU or No. 1 Wake Forest.
USF (1-0) scored a 4-2 win against Florida Gulf Coast in the Bulls’ lone match of the spring season to date. Junior Alberto Barroso-Campos, who is ranked No. 43 nationally, registered a straight-set win at No. 1 singles and was a winner at No. 1 doubles against Florida Gulf Coast. USF heads to Baton Rouge, La., this weekend for the Jerry Simmons Invitational.
SMU (2-1) opened the spring season with a doubleheader sweep of Prairie View A&M, giving first-year head coach Grant Chen his first two coaching victories. Junior Carles Sarrio, a transfer from Auburn, scored a straight-set win against the nation’s No. 4-ranked player to provide the only team point in a 6-1 setback to No. 8 Texas. Sarrio was ranked No. 51 in the final ITA fall list. The Mustangs host Northern Colorado and Nebraska Saturday.
Temple (1-1) dropped a 5-2 decision to Old Dominion in its spring opener, but the Owls bounced back to score a 6-1 victory against South Carolina State. The Owls’ tandem of Alberto Caceres Casas/Mark Wallner is The American’s highest-ranked doubles pair (No. 23). The duo is off to a 2-0 start at No. 1 doubles in the spring. Temple hosts Cleveland State Saturday in its home opener.
Tulane (2-0), which won the 2018 American Athletic Conference title, began its 2019 season with a pair of 7-0 wins against Alcorn State Monday in New Orleans. Eric Wagner, Luis Erlenbusch and Hamish Stewart were all straight-set winners singles in both matches. The Green Wave has four players among the ITA’s top 125, including Erlenbusch, who finished the fall ranked No. 42. Tulane takes part in the ITA Kickoff Weekend as the Green Wave heads to Tallahassee, Florida, to face No. 19 Tennessee Saturday and either Texas Tech or No. 20 Florida State Sunday.
Tulsa (3-1) has won three of its first four dual matches, including a 4-2 victory against No. 14 TCU. The Golden Hurricane added wins against Bryant (7-0) and Mercer (6-1) and saw a 4-3 setback to Texas Tech keep Tulsa from a perfect start to the season. Majed Kilani is ranked No. 55 in the ITA singles rankings. The Golden Hurricane hosts a pair of matches Saturday as Tulsa faces Abilene Christian and Omaha.
Wichita State (1-1) opened the spring season with a 4-0 setback to No. 13 Oklahoma, but the Shockers bounced back to score a 5-2 decision against Denver to even their record. Wichita State will head to Starkville, Mississippi, this weekend to face No. 4 Mississippi State in the first round of the ITA Kickoff Weekend. The Shockers will face either Arizona or UNC Wilimington in Sunday’s second day of competition.
This Week In The American
| Saturday, January 26 |
ECU at Navy |
9 a.m. |
| |
Northern Colorado at SMU |
10 a.m. |
| |
Tulane vs. Tennessee (Tallahassee, Fla.) |
11 a.m. |
| |
UCF at Stanford |
2 p.m. |
| |
Nebraska at SMU |
2 p.m. |
| |
Wichita State at Mississippi State |
2 p.m. |
| |
Memphis vs. Old Dominion (Winston-Salem, N.C.) |
3 p.m. |
| |
ECU vs. Mount St. Mary’s (Annapolis, Md.) |
5 p.m. |
| |
Cleveland State at Temple |
7 p.m. |
| |
Tulane vs. Texas Tech/Florida State (Tallahassee, Fla.) |
TBD |
| |
USF at Jerry Simmons Invitational (Baton Rouge, La.) |
TBD |
| |
|
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| Sunday, January 27 |
Abilene Christian at Tulsa |
10 a.m. |
| |
Omaha at Tulsa |
4 p.m. |
| |
USF at Jerry Simmons Invitational (Baton Rouge, La.) |
TBD |
| |
Memphis vs. BYU/Wake Forest (Winston-Salem, N.C.) |
TBD |
| |
UCF vs. Oregon/Minnesota (Palo Alto, Calif.) |
TBD |
| |
Wichita State vs. Arizona/UNC Wilmington (Starkville, Miss.) |
TBD |
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all times Eastern