Suarez, Wave Knock Off Knights to Make AAC Final

Saturday, April 22

Orlando, FL

11:00 AM

Tulane University

(3) UCF

The Green Wave mobs Billy Suarez after his match-clinching victory at No. 3 singles.

Suarez, Wave Knock Off Knights to Make AAC Final

Apr 22, 2023 | Men's Tennis

ORLANDO, FL – Tulane's No. 3 singles player Billy Suarez gutted out a tough three-set win to send the second-seeded Green Wave to a 4-3 victory over third-seeded UCF Saturday afternoon on the USTA National Campus in Orlando.

The win moved the 43rd-ranked Olive and Blue to 15-11 on the season, while the 48th-ranked Knights fell to 11-12.

Suarez clinched the win 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 moments after Tulane's Luc Hoeijmans secured another three-set triumph (6-4, 3-6, 6-0) at No. 4 with a victory over UCF's Liam Branger, who came in ranked 112th.

The other Tulane singles victory came at No. 6 in the form of Rafael de Alba's 6-1, 7-5 win.

The Knights took the Nos. 1, 2 and 5 singles matches.

The Green Wave needed just three singles victories because it took the doubles point, sweeping the top two spots. Tulane clinched it with a 7-4 tiebreaker victory at No. 1 with Luka Petrovic and Sam Scherer after Petrovic's let serve clipped the top of the net and trickled over on match point. The win came against the Knights' 26th-ranked tandem of Bogdan Pavel and Lleyton Cronje.

Suarez and Benji Jacobson got on the board first with a 6-3 win at the No. 2 position.

The No. 3 match, featuring Fynn Kuenkler and Hoeijmans, went unfinished with the Green Wave trailing 5-6.

Tulane's win over UCF was its first against the Knights since a 4-2 win in the 2018 AAC Semifinals. That year, the Green Wave went on to win the title with a 4-3 victory over USF in the final.

Tulane will now face fourth-seeded SMU (17-13) in Sunday's noon ET/11 a.m. CT final. The Mustangs, ranked 51st nationally, took down top-seeded Memphis, 4-3 Saturday afternoon in the other semifinal. SMU's Adam Neff comes in as the nation's 65th-ranked singles player in the country, while he and Pranav Kumar are 68th in doubles.

That match will be carried live on ESPN+ with Kit McConnico, Mark Bey and Breanna Sorensen on the call. That broadcast may be accessed here: es.pn/3AmNt17.

Tulane and SMU met in Tampa back on April 1 and the Green Wave emergeed with a 4-2 victory.

Singles
1. #85 Bogdan Pavel (UCF) def. Luka Petrovic (Tulane) 7-6 (3), 6-3
2. Lleyton Cronje (UCF) def. Fynn Kuenkler (Tulane) 7-6 (3), 6-3
3. Billy Suarez (Tulane) def. Yassine Dlimi (UCF) 2-6, 7-5, 6-3
4. Luc Hoeijmans (Tulane) def. #112 Liam Branger (UCF) 6-4, 3-6, 6-0
5. Mehdi Benchakroun (UCF) def. Alex Bancila (Tulane) 6-0, 6-3
6. Rafael de Alba (Tulane) def. Francisco Llanes (UCF) 6-1, 7-5

Doubles
1. Petrovic/Sam Scherer (Tulane) def. #26 Pavel/Cronje (UCF) 7-6 (4)
2. Suarez/Benji Jacobson (Tulane) def. Dlimi/Llanes (UCF) 6-3
3. Paul Colin/Copper White (UCF) led Hoeijmans/Kuenkler (Tulane) 6-5 (unfinished)

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