TULSA, Okla. – Tulane, Charlotte, Tulsa and South Florida came away with first-round wins Thursday on the opening day of competition at the American Athletic Conference Men’s Tennis Championship at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center.
 
Tulane was the only lower-seeded team to win Thursday as the 10th-seeded Green Wave opened tournament play with a 4-2 win against No. 7-seeded UTSA. No. 5 Tulsa, No. 6 Charlotte and No. 8 South Florida all held true to their seeds with their victories.
 
The top four seeds in the tournament begin play Friday against the four Thursday winners. 
 
Complete coverage of The American Tennis Championships, including live scoring of each match, can be found on the conference’s Championship Central site. 
 
 
Tulane 4, UTSA 2
Records: Tulane (8-14), UTSA (10-10)
 
Luka Petrovic won in both singles and doubles as No. 10-seeded Tulane advanced to the quarterfinal round of The American Championship with a 4-2 win against No. 7-seeded UTSA Thursday.
 
Petrovic paired with Sam Scherer for a 6-3 win at No. 3 doubles to help the Green Wave claim the first team point. He went on to end the match in singles with his 6-3, 2-6, 6-0 victory at the No. 2 position.
 
Tulane added wins in singles from Fynn Kuenkler at No. 5 (6-4, 6-3) and Rafael de Alba at No. 6 (6-0, 6-3).
 
The Green Wave, which reached the championship final of last year’s American Championship, will face No. 2-seeded SMU in Friday’s quarterfinals.
 
 
Charlotte 4, Temple 0
Records: Charlotte (16-7), Temple (7-14)
 
No. 6-seeded Charlotte made its American Athletic Conference Championship debut a success as the 49ers scored three straight-set wins in singles on their way to a 4-0 win against No. 11 Temple Thursday morning.
 
The 49ers won all six first sets in the singles round and closed out the match with wins by Frederic Schlossman at No. 4 (6-2, 6-3), Matias Iturbe at No. 3 (6-3, 6-2) and Ivan Dreycopp at No. 6 (6-4).
 
Iturbe added a 6-1 win with Vasco Prata at No. 1 doubles as Charlotte claimed the early lead by winning the doubles point.
 
Charlotte advances to face No. 3-seeded Florida Atlantic in Friday’s quarterfinal round.
 
 
Tulsa 4, Wichita State 1
Records: Tulsa (15-12), Wichita State (5-18)
 
No. 5-seeded Tulsa won its sixth consecutive match as the Golden Hurricane defended its home courts with a 4-1 win against No. 12-seeded Wichita State Thursday afternoon.
 
Tulsa had to overcome an early deficit as the Shockers claimed the doubles point by winning tiebreakers at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions.
 
The Golden Hurricane made short work of the singles round, however, as Victor Tosetto put Tulsa on the board with a 6-0, 6-1 at No. 6 and Timothy Carisson Seger won 6-4, 6-1 at No. 5. Volodymyr Zakharov was a 6-2, 6-3 winner at No. 4 moments before Pierce Rollins clinched the match with a 6-3, 6-4 win at the No. 1 spot.
 
Tulsa moves on to face No. 4-seeded Rice in Friday’s quarterfinals.
 
 
South Florida 4, UAB 2
Records: South Florida (10-16), UAB (12-11)
 
Alvin Tudorica won a third-set tiebreaker at No. 1 singles as No. 8-seeded South Florida held off No. 9 UAB with a 4-2 win in a four-hour, 10-minute battle to cap Thursday’s first-round matches.
 
Four of the six singles matches were decided in three sets, while the No. 3 singles contest saw both sets decided by tiebreakers. 
 
Tudorica, who is ranked No. 71 in the ITA rankings, fell behind early as he dropped his first set 6-1. But Tudorica rallied to take a 7-5 win in the second set before breaking a 6-6 tie in the third with a 7-4 tiebreaker victory to clinch the match.
 
Tudorica and Erik Grevelius won in both singles and doubles for the Bulls as they took a 6-3 doubles decision before Grevelius put the Bulls on the scoreboard with a 6-1, 6-4 win at No. 2 singles.
 
UAB, which was making its American Athletic Conference Championship debut, got a key win at No. 3 singles when Ondrej Valek won 7-6 (3), 7-6 (3). But South Florida’s Elijah Cham delivered a 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 win at No. 4 singles to set the stage for Tudorica’s clincher.
 
South Florida improved to 22-4 all-time in The American Championship.
 
The Bulls will take on top-seeded Memphis Friday in the quarterfinal round.
 
 
 
2024 AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE MEN’S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP
April 18-21 | Michael D. Case Tennis Center | Tulsa, Oklahoma
 

First Round | Thursday, April 18
Match 1: No. 10 Tulane 4, No. 7 UTSA 2
Match 2: No. 6 Charlotte 4, No. 11 Temple 0
Match 3: No. 5 Tulsa 4, No. 12 Wichita State 1
Match 4: No. 8 South Florida, No. 9 UAB 2
Quarterfinals | Friday, April 19
Match 5: Tulane (8-14) vs. No. 2 SMU (17-9)	10 a.m.
Match 6: Charlotte (16-7) vs. No. 3 Florida Atlantic (16-6)	10 a.m.
Match 7: Tulsa (15-12) vs. No. 4 Rice (16-7)	2 p.m.
Match 8: South Florida (10-16) vs. No. 1 Memphis (16-5)	2 p.m.
Semifinals | Saturday, April 20
Match 9: Match 5 winner vs. Match 6 winner	Noon
Match 10: Match 7 winner vs. Match 8 winner	Noon
Final | Sunday, April 21 | ESPN+
Semifinal winners	Noon
all times Central