TULSA, Okla. – Vasco Prata fought off a championship point in the second set and went on to clinch Charlotte’s first American Athletic Conference title as the No. 6-seeded 49ers took a 4-3 win against top-seeded Memphis Sunday afternoon at the Case Tennis Center.
 
Prata trailed Memphis’ Conor Gannon 5-4 in the second set as the 49ers were behind 3-0 in the team scoring. Facing a 40-40 point that would have given Memphis the conference title, Prata held Gannon off to instead tie the set at 5-5, opening the door for Prata’s teammates to start the 49ers’ comeback.
 
Ivan Dreycopp put the 49ers on the board with a 6-1, 7-5 win at No. 6 singles, and Coy Simon quickly followed with a 7-6 (7), 6-2 decision at No. 5, closing Charlotte’s deficit to 3-2. After Matias Iturbe took a 7-6 (6), 6-4 win at No. 3 to tie the score, the focus turned back to the No. 2 court, where Prata and Gannon were playing a third set.
 
Prata won the first two games of the third, capping a streak of five consecutive games won straddling the second and third sets. He built a 4-1 lead in the third before Gannon was able to close within 4-3, but Prata got a break to go ahead 5-3 before holding serve to clinch it. 
 
Prata’s 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 win was his third singles victory of the tournament on his way to tournament Most Outstanding Player honors. Prata went 3-0 in singles and 2-1 in doubles during Charlotte’s four tournament victories.
 
Memphis, which was looking for its first American Athletic Conference title, had built the 3-0 lead by taking the doubles point in short order and getting straight-set singles wins from Pau Fanlo at No. 4 and Pablo Alemany at No. 1. But the Tigers dropped a pair of first-set tiebreakers, which proved costly after Prata staved off championship point to extend the match.
 
Charlotte earns The American’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championship. 
 
 
 
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 4, Memphis 3
Most Outstanding Player
Vasco Prata, Charlotte