No. 40 USF Men’s Tennis Earns No. 4-Seed in Upcoming AAC Tourney; Face Fifth Seeded Central Florida in The First Round
2022 AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL PAGE: Click
here for the tournament central page.
TOURNAMENT BRACKET: Click
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MATCHUP: No. 4 South Florida (13-9) vs. No. 5 Central Florida (8-14)
WHEN: Friday, April 22, 2022
TIME: 10 a.m. ET
LOCATION: Tulsa, Okla.
SITE: University of Tulsa Michael D. Case Tennis Center
TAMPA (April 18, 2022) – The University of South Florida men's tennis team earned the No. 4-seed in this week's American Athletic Conference Tournament and will face fifth-seeded Central Florida on Friday at 10 a.m. ET at the University of Tulsa's Michael D. Case Tennis Center. The winner will play the winner f the match between No. 1-seeded SMU and No. 8 Temple on Saturday at 1 p.m.
"It's always an exciting time competing in the conference championship," said USF Head Coach
Ashley Fisher. "If the Pandemic taught us anything it's to cherish these opportunities. We will face a very tough, hungry UCF team and will need to be ready. Any way you look at it you have to beat three high-quality teams to earn the championship and we will do it like always. One team at a time"
The most dominant team in AAC Tournament play since the conference's inception in 2014, the Bulls have won five of the previous seven championships in the event, including four straight from 2014-17. South Florida last lifted the trophy in 2019. All-time in the event, the Green and Gold are an impressive 19-2. In addition, the Bulls appeared in two other championship finals in 2018 and 2021.
South Florida All-Time in AAC Tournament Championship Finals
2014 – No. 2 South Florida 4, No. 1 Memphis 3
2015 – No. 1 South Florida 4, No. 2 Tulsa 3
2016 – No. 1 South Florida 4, No. 2 Tulsa 0
2017 – No. 1 South Florida 4, No. 3 Central Florida 1
2018 – No. 2 Tulane 4, No. 5 South Florida 3
2019 – No. 3 South Florida 4, No. 1 Central Florida 3
2021 – No. 1 Central Florida 4, No. 3 South Florida 0
Tournament championships are in
italics.
South Florida has been on fire ending the season on a five-match winning streak with all five coming on the road and against top-75 competition. The Bulls capped the regular season with a thrilling 4-3 win over Central Florida on April 16 in the War on I-4. In addition, South Florida has won 11 of its last 15 matches after starting the season 2-5.
In singles,
Alvin Tudorica is one of four players that have won double-digit matches this season, boasting a stellar 15-3 record, and a 14-1 mark in his last 15 outings. He had his 14-match winning streak ended with a 4-6, 5-7 setback against Central Florida on Sunday. Tudorica is 9-0 on court five and 5-1 on court four.
Joining Tudorica with 10-plus wins is
Sergio Gomez Montesa with a 12-7 record – 5-1 on court five and 2-0 on court three – and
Antonio Muniz with a 12-9 record, including a 10-7 record on court three.
Ivan Yatsuk is 10-10 this season winning five of his 10 matches on court two and has a team-best four-match winning streak entering the tournament.
On the doubles side, Gomez Montesa and Tudorica boast a team-high 14 wins in doubles (14-5) with all 14 victories coming on court three. The tandem is in the midst of a six-match winning streak.
In addition, the No. 37-ranked pair of
Rithvik Bollipalli and
Bruno Oliveira are 9-8 on the year, having played all 17 matches on court one.
About Men's Tennis
Be sure to follow USF men's tennis on social media (Twitter / Facebook / Instagram) and visit GoUSFBulls.com for the most up-to-date information. Head Coach
Ashley Fisher will begin his sixth year at the helm of the program for the 2022 season.
– #GoBulls –
