TULSA, Okla. – The top four seeds held serve in the quarterfinal round of the American Athletic Conference Men’s Tennis Championship as No. 1 SMU, No. 2 Memphis, No. 3 Tulsa and No. 4 South Florida prevailed in their respective opening matches Friday at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center on the Tulsa campus.
 
SMU was a 4-2 winner against Temple, while South Florida edged UCF 4-3 in the first wave of matches Friday morning. Tulsa followed with a 4-0 victory against Tulane, while Memphis scored a 4-1 win against Wichita State.
 
The schedule for Saturday was adjusted in anticipation of another day of strong winds in Tulsa. The South Florida-SMU semifinal will begin a 9 a.m. CT/10 a.m. ET, while the Tulsa-Memphis match will follow at noon CT/11 a.m. ET.
 
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+.
 
 
SMU 4, Temple 2
Records: SMU (20-6), Temple (11-100
 
Julian Steinhausen’s 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 5 singles staved off Temple’s comeback bid and sent top-seeded SMU on to the semifinal round of The American Championship as the Mustangs took a 4-2 quarterfinal victory Friday morning.
 
SMU had built a 3-0 lead after the Mustangs won the doubles point and claimed the first two singles matches. Pranav Kumar and Liam Krall delivered straight-set wins at No. 4 and No. 2 singles, respectively, to give the Mustangs a comfortable lead.
 
Temple got on the board with Marin Delmas’ straight-set victory at No. 1 to make it 3-1, and Thibault Frumholz won a three-set battle at No. 6 to bring the Owls within one at 3-2.
 
Needing only one of the two remaining courts to go its way, SMU got the clinching point when Steinhausen claimed a 6-4, 6-4 win at the No. 5 spot.
 
SMU earned its third consecutive appearance in The American semifinals with the win. The Mustangs will face No. 4-seeded South Florida Saturday at 9 a.m. CT/10 a.m. ET.
 
 
South Florida 4, UCF 3
Records: South Florida (13-9), UCF (8-14)
 
Antonio Muniz battled back from a 1-6 first set to claim a three-set victory at No. 3 singles and send South Florida to The American semifinals for the eighth consecutive season with a 4-3 win against UCF Friday morning.
 
The No. 4-seeded Bulls improved to 20-2 all-time in The American Championship, a stretch that includes five conference titles and two runner-up finishes in the first seven seasons of the tournament.
 
Bruno Oliveira was a winner in both singles and doubles for the Bulls, with a 6-4 decision alongside Rithvik Bollipalli at No. 1 singles and a 6-0, 6-2 victory at No. 6 singles.
 
UCF’s Lleyton Cronje likewise won in both rounds with a 6-3 decision at No. 2 doubles with Alan Rubio and a straight-set win at No. 1 singles that had tied the dual match at 2-2.
 
Chase Ferguson answered by putting a 6-1, 7-5 win at No. 2 in the books for South Florida, giving the Bulls a 3-2 lead, but the Knights’ JC Roddick tied it with a 6-2, 1-6, 6-1 victory at No. 5 to make it 3-3. That set the stage for Muniz, who came back after dropping the first set to take the next two, 6-3, 7-5 against Alan Rubio.
 
South Florida will face top-seeded SMU in its bid for an eighth straight appearance in The American Championship final.
 
 
 
Tulsa 4, Tulane 0
Records: Tulsa (14-10), Tulane (7-14)
 
Adham Gaber won in both singles and doubles play to lead Tulsa to a 4-0 win against Tulane Friday afternoon in The American Championship quarterfinals.
 
Gaber was a 6-3, 6-3 winner at No. 4 singles, while he paired with Ezequiel Santalla for a 6-1 victory at No. 2 doubles, helping No. 3-seeded Tulsa reach the semifinal round of the tournament for the first time since 2016.
 
Kody Pearson, the No. 49-ranked singles player nationally, was a 6-2, 6-2 winner at the No. 1 position, while Connor DiMarco added a straight-set victory at No. 5 after the Golden Hurricane had taken the doubles point. Gaber’s straight-set victory clinched the win.
 
 
Memphis 4, Wichita State 1
Records: Memphis (13-7), Wichita State (11-13)
 
Jeremy Taylor and Alemany Malea picked up wins in both singles and doubles to lead Memphis to a 4-1 win against Wichita State Friday afternoon in an American Championship quarterfinal matchup.
 
The Tigers reached the semifinal round for the sixth time in the tournament’s eight seasons and put themselves in position to advance to the championship final for the first time since The American’s inaugural tournament in 2014.
 
Taylor took a 6-1, 6-1 victory at No. 2 singles and was a winner at No. 1 doubles alongside David Stevenson as the duo won a 6-3 decision. Malea won a straight-set match at no. 4 singles and paired with Oscar Cutting for a 6-4 win at No. 2 doubles.
 
Malea improved to 16-0 in singles play in the 2022 season.
 
The No. 2-seeded Tigers will face No. 3-seeded Tulsa Saturday in the semifinal round.
 
 
 
 
2022 AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE MEN’S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP
April 22-24 | Michael D. Case Tennis Center | Tulsa, Oklahoma
 

Quarterfinals | Friday, April 22
No. 1 SMU 4, No. 8 Temple 2
No. 4 South Florida 4, No, 5 UCF 3
No. 4 Tulsa 4, No. 6 Tulane 0
No. 2 Memphis 4, No. 7 Wichita State 1
Semifinals | Saturday, April 23
South Florida (14-9) vs. SMU (20-6)	10 a.m. ET/9 a.m. CT
Tulsa (15-10) vs. Memphis (14-7)	1 p.m. ET/Noon CT
Final | Sunday, April 24 | ESPN+
Semifinal winners	1 p.m. ET/Noon CT