TULSA, Okla. – Top-seeded Memphis and No. 6-seeded Charlotte will meet in the championship final of the 2024 American Athletic Conference Men’s Tennis Championship Sunday after both teams came away with semifinal victories Saturday at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center.
 
The Tigers rallied from a 3-2 deficit to close out a pair of three-set wins and take a 4-3 victory against Rice, while the 49ers held off Tulane 4-2 to reach the championship match in their first American Athletic Conference Championship.
 
Saturday’s results assure The American of a first-time champion in men’s tennis. Charlotte is in its first year in The American and is looking for its first conference tournament title since 2007, when the 49ers won the Atlantic-10 title. Memphis has reached the championship final in The American in 2014 and 2022, but the Tigers seek their first tournament title since 2013 in Conference USA.
 
Memphis and Charlotte did not meet in the regular season. The 49ers lead the all-time series 3-2.
 
Sunday’s championship final will be televised on ESPN+, with Bryan Fenley, Mark Bey and Michelle Montaine on the call.
 
Complete coverage of The American Tennis Championship can be found on the conference’s Championship Central site. 
 
 
Charlotte 4, Tulane 2
Records: Charlotte (17-7), Tulane (9-15)
 
Frederic Schlossman’s third win in as many days sent Charlotte to The American’s championship final as the 49ers were 4-2 winners against Tulane Saturday.
 
Schlossman took a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 4 singles to clinch the match for Charlotte, which took four of the five completed singles matches after Tulane had claimed the doubles point.
 
Tulane had built a 2-0 lead as the No. 10-seeded Green Wave looked for a third consecutive win against a higher-seeded team.  The Green Wave took the first point by winning the doubles round and saw Fynn Kenkler take a straight-set victory at No. 5 singles to gain the 2-0 advantage.
 
Charlotte answered with three consecutive straight-set victories, however, as Matias Iturbe, Vasco Prata and Ivay Dreycopp all won set-tiebreakers as part of their decisions. Iturbe was a 6-1, 7-6 (5) winner at No. 3 singles to give the 49ers a 3-2 lead, setting the stage for Sclossman’s closeout victory.
 
Iturbe and Prata won in both singles and doubles as they paired for a 6-1 decision at the No. 1 doubles position. 
 
 
Memphis 4, Rice 3
Records: Memphis (18-5), Rice (17-8)
 
Conor Gannon and Mortiz Kudernatsch won three-set victories in singles to rally Memphis from a 3-2 deficit to a 4-3 win against Rice in a four-hour, three-minute battle Saturday.
 
Gannon and Kudnernatsch dropped their respective first sets, but both won second-set tiebreakers to extend the match after the Owls had built a 3-2 lead. 
 
Needing both courts to claim the match, Memphis saw Gannon close out his third set quickly at No. 2 singles for a 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2 victory to tie the team score at 3-3.
 
That brought all eyes to the No. 5 spot, where Kudernatsch and Rice’s Petro Kuzmenok were tied at 4-4 in the third set before Kudernatsch took the final two games for a 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4 win.
 
Rice had built the early lead by gaining the doubles point and getting a win at No. 4 singles from Emir Sendogan to take the first two team points. Memphis claimed the No. 1 singles win with Pablo Alemany’s 6-2, 6-3 decision and tied it at 2-2 on Harry Rock’s 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 3, but Rice reclaimed the lead with Kabeer Kapasi’s three-set win at No. 6.
 
Memphis’ strength at the top of the singles ladder proved to be the difference as the Tigers (18-5) took the top three positions.
 
Kapasi was a winner in both singles and doubles for Rice, which fell to 17-8.
 
Memphis advances to the American Athletic Conference Championship final for the third time (2014, 2022) as the Tigers look for their first American title. 
 
 
 
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 4, No. 2 SMU 2
Match 6: Charlotte 4, Florida Atlantic 3
Match 7: No. 4 Rice 4, Tulsa 1
Match 8: No. 1 Memphis 4, South Florida 1
Semifinals | Saturday, April 20
Match 9: Charlotte 4, Tulane 2
Match 10: Memphis 4, Rice 3
Final | Sunday, April 21 | ESPN+
Match 11: Charlotte (18-7) vs. Memphis (18-5)	Noon
all times Central