ORLANDO, Fla. – The lone first-round match of the 2021 American Athletic Conference Women’s Tennis Championship saw No. 8-seeded USF advance to the quarterfinal round with a 4-1 win against No. 9-seeded Cincinnati Thursday morning at the USTA National Campus.
 
The Bulls advance to face top-seeded UCF Friday in the quarterfinals.
 
Complete coverage of The American Tennis Championships, including live scoring of each match, can be found on the conference’s Championship Central site. Live coverage of the women’s and men’s finals will be available on ESPN+.
 
 
USF 4, Cincinnati 1
Records: USF (8-14), Cincinnati (6-10)
 
USF won four singles matches in straight sets after dropping the doubles point as the Bulls rallied past Cincinnati in the first round Thursday.
 
Grace Schumacher and Margriet Timmermans were winners in both singles and doubles for the Bulls. They paired for a 6-3 victory at No. 2 doubles, but Cincinnati claimed the first team point of the match with wins at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles.
 
Laura Pellicer put the Bulls on the board with a quick 6-2, 6-1 victory at No. 1 singles, and Schumacher followed with a 6-3, 6-2 decision at No. 2.
 
Tiermmans scored a 6-2, 6-4 victory at No. 5, putting USF ahead 3-1. Cincinnati’s Alexandria Mjos and Lucia Garrigues won their respective first sets to potentially make things interesting, but USF’s Evelyne Tiron ended the match with a 6-3, 6-4 win at No. 3.
 
USF and UCF will meet Friday at 12:30 p.m. ET in a rematch of the 2019 American Championship Final, won by the Knights.