ORLANDO, Fla. – The top four seeds in the American Athletic Conference Men's Tennis Championship all advanced to the semifinal round with quarterfinal wins Friday, but all four teams endured stiff competition to get there.
 
No. 1-seeded Memphis and No. 4-seeded SMU held off challenges from Tulsa and Temple, respectively to win 4-2, while No. 2 Tulane and No. 3 UCF were 4-3 winners after sitting through a brief rain delay.
 
This year's tournament marks the third time in the nine-year history of the event that the top four seeds all advanced to the semifinals (2016, 2022). 
 
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, Tulsa 2
Records: SMU (16-13), Tulsa (11-13)
 
Julian Steinhausen's three-set win at No. 5 singles clinched No. 4-seeded SMU's 4-2 win against No. 5-seeded Tulsa in a quarterfinal match Friday.
 
Steinhausen helped the Mustangs battle back from a 2-1 deficit as he capped a run of three straight Mustang points with his 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory.
 
Steinhausen also paired with Anton Muniz-Hidalgo for a 7-5 win at No. 3 doubles to give the Mustangs the first point after the teams split the No. 1 and No. 2 positions.
 
Tulsa built an early lead in singles as Callum Gale won in straight sets at No. 6 and Kody Pearson won a battle of nationally ranked players at No. 1 with a 7-5, 6-4 decision against the Mustangs' Adam Neff.
 
The four remaining courts were competitive throughout. Muniz-Hidalgo capped a straight-set with with a 9-7 tiebreaker victory in the second set at No. 3 to make it 2-2, and Pranav Kumar put the Mustangs on the precipice of the team win with a 7-5, 7-5 victory at No. 4.
 
Tulsa's Stefan Hampe had won a second-set tiebreaker to force a third set at No. 2 singles, while Steinhausen battled back after dropping the first set to send SMU to the semifinals for the fourth consecutive American Championship.
 
SMU, which won the 2022 American title, will face top-seeded Memphis in the semifinals Saturday at noon ET. 
 
 
Memphis 4, Temple 2
Records: Memphis (13-6), Temple (19-5)
 
Top-seeded Memphis took straight-set wins at the Nos. 4, 5 and 6 singles positions and won four of the five completed singles matches to claim a 4-2 win against No. 8-seeded Temple in a quarterfinal match Friday morning.
 
Pau Fanlo clinched it for the Tigers as he edged Hussein El Tawil 9-7 in a second-set tiebreaker at No. 6 singles.
 
Temple had gained an early lead by taking two of the three doubles sets, but Memphis tied it in singles when Jeremy Taylor turned in a 6-3, 6-1 win at No. 5.
 
The Owls reclaimed the lead on Leo Raquin's 6-3, 6-4 win at No. 2, but the Tigers quickly answered when Pablo Alemany claimed a 6-4, 6-2 decision at the No. 1 spot.
 
Harry Rock followed with a 6-2, 6-4 win at No. 4 to set the stage for Fanlo, who trailed 5-2 in the tiebreaker before battling back for a 6-1, 7-6 (7) victory.
 
The Tigers, who are playing as the tournament's No. 1 seed for the first time, face No. 4-seeded SMU Saturday at noon ET in the semifinals. Temple finished its season at 19-5.
 
 
Tulane 4, Wichita State 3
Records: Tulane (14-10), Wichita State (10-16)
 
Tulane's Luka Petrovic delivered back-to-back points after a one-hour, five-minute rain delay to close out a 4-3 win for the Green Wave against Wichita State in the quarterfinal round Friday afternoon.
 
Petrovic was locked in a three-set battle with the Shockers' Kristof Minarik at No. 1 singles a sudden rain shower suspended play. Petrovic held a 6-5 (30-15) lead in the third set when the rain came, leaving him two points away from ending the match. Once play resumed, Petrovic won the next two points in less than a minute to send Tulane on to the semifinals.
 
Wichita State's Alejandro Jacome had extended the match with a 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-0 win at No. 4 singles to even the team score at 3-3 shortly before the rain fell.
 
Tulane gained its first lead when Rafael de Alba scored a straight-set win at No. 6 singles and Alex Bancila followed with a three-set decision at No, 5 to build a 3-2 lead.
 
The Shockers had claimed the early advantage by taking the doubles point and led 2-1 on Misha Kvantaliani's 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 2 singles.
 
Tulane will make its first appearance in the semifinal round of The American Championship since 2018, when the Green Wave won the title. Tulane will face No. 3-seeded UCF in Saturday's semifinal round at noon ET.
 
 
UCF 4, South Florida 3
Records: UCF (11-11), South Florida (12-13)
 
Bogdan Pavel won in both singles and doubles to lead No. 3-seeded UCF past No. 6-seeded South Florida Saturday afternoon in a quarterfinal matchup.
 
Pavel took a 6-4, 7-5 win at No. 1 singles and paired with Lleyton Cronje for a 6-3 decision at No. 1 doubles to help put the Knights on the scoreboard.
 
Erik Grevelius closed the match at No. 3 singles with a three-set victory. Grevelius dropped the first set 6-0 to the Bulls' Yassine Dlimi, but rallied to win the next two sets by 6-4 counts to send the Knights to the semifinal round.
 
Bruno Oliveira was a 6-2, 6-2 winner at No. 4 and Mehdi Benchakroun won 6-1, 7-5 at No. 5 for the Knights as well.
 
The Bulls won three of the six singles matches, including a 7-5, 7-6 (4) victory at No. 6 by Thomas Pavlekovich-Smith that gave South Florida a 3-2 lead. 
 
The match was delayed by rain for an hour and 22 minutes.
 
UCF advances in The American Championship to face No. 2-seeded Tulane Saturday at noon. It will be the Knights' fifth semifinal appearance in the last six tournaments.