IRVING, Texas – South Florida senior Hugo Car has been chosen as the 2025 American Athletic Conference Men’s Tennis Players of the Year by the league’s head coaches.
 
The Bulls’ Gughi Verdese was named as The American’s Freshman of the Year. Rice head coach Efe Ustundag was chosen by his counterparts as The American Coach of the Year.
 
A native of Marseille, France, Car becomes the sixth South Florida player to be named as The American Player of the Year and the first since Alberto Barroso-Campos won in 2019. Ranked No. 68 by the ITA in singles and No. 84 in doubles, Car had a 20-6 singles record in the 2024-25 season, including a 15-match winning streak through February and March and a 16-2 record in spring dual matches. 
 
Verdese, who is from Genova, Italy, went 18-5 in dual matches and was 23-11 overall in his first year of competition in 2024-25. He finished the regular season with 11 wins in his last 12 completed singles matches, including a pair of straight-set victories in the American Athletic Conference Championship. Verdese becomes the second South Florida player to win Freshman of the Year honors in The American, joining 2019 winner Chase Ferguson.
 
Ustundag earned American Coach of the Year honors for the first time after he led Rice to a 16-9 regular season, capped by the Owls’ first American Athletic Conference Championship title. Rice, which is ranked No. 47 by the ITA, won four matches in four days in the tournament and earned an NCAA Championship appearance for the second consecutive year. Ustundag was a two-time Conference USA Coach of the Year (2016, 2017) before the Owls joined The American.
 
Car is one of two players to be named to The American’s all-conference team in both singles and doubles, along with Petro Kuzmenok of Rice.  
 
 
2025 AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE MEN’S TENNIS POSTSEASON HONORS
 
Player of the Year
Hugo Car, Sr., South Florida
 
Freshman of the Year
Gughi Verdese, South Florida
 
Coach of the Year
Efe Ustundag, Rice
 
All-Conference Team
Singles
John Bernard, Sr., Florida Atlantic
Pablo Alemany, Sr., Memphis
Conor Gannon, Sr., Memphis
Petro Kuzmenok, So., Rice
Hugo Car, Sr., South Florida
Tiago Torres, Sr., UTSA
Alex Okonkwo, So., Tulsa
 
Doubles
Santiago Navarro (Jr.)/Petro Kuzmenok (So.), Rice
Vasco Prata (Jr.)/Matias Iturbe (Sr.), Charlotte
Hugo Car (Sr.)/Ettore Danesi (Fr.), South Florida