Mustangs Nip Green Wave for AAC Title

Sunday, April 23

Orlando, FL

11:00 AM

Tulane University

(4) SMU

Apr 23, 2023 | Men's Tennis

ORLANDO, FL – SMU's Louis Cloud fought back against Tulane's Sam Scherer and registered a come-from-behind 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 6 singles to clinch the American Athletic Conference Championship Sunday afternoon on the USTA National Campus in Orlando.

The Mustangs improved to 18-13 overall in the victory, while the Green Wave dropped to 15-12.

SMU started quickly, taking the doubles point with wins at Nos. 1 and 2.

The first singles point went to Tulane in the form of Rafael de Alba's 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 5. SMU then got a win at No. 1 but the Green Wave's Luc Hoeijmans fought right back with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-0 win at No. 3.

Tulane's Fynn Kuenkler then posted a comeback victory of his own with a 1-6, 6-3, 6-1 win at No. 2 to pull the Olive and Blue within one match of the title.

However, SMU's Pranav Kumar drew the team match level at 3 with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win at No. 4.

That set the stage for the No. 6 contest as the deciding point, one that Scherer started quickly with a 6-4 win in set 1. Cloud took the second set and the match was even at 3-all in the third. Cloud then took control with a service break and never looked back.

The Green Wave was without the services of its No. 3 singles player Billy Suarez, who suffered an injury in the final game of his three-set semifinal victory over UCF on Saturday. Suarez also normally plays on Tulane's No. 2 doubles team.

The Wave will now turn its attention to the NCAA Selection Show on Monday, May 1 at 5:30 p.m. CT.

Singles
1. #65 Adam Neff (SMU) def. Luka Petrovic (Tulane) 6-4, 6-4
2. Fynn Kuenkler (Tulane) def. Liam Krall (SMU) 1-6, 6-3, 6-1
3. Luc Hoeijmans (Tulane) def. Anton Muniz-Hidalgo (SMU) 6-1, 7-6 (4)
4. Pranav Kumar (SMU) def. Alex Bancila (Tulane) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
5. Rafael de Alba (Tulane) def. Julian Steinhausen (SMU) 6-3, 6-2
6. Louis Cloud (SMU) def. Sam Scherer (Tulane) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3

Doubles
1. #68 Neff/Kumar (SMU) def. Petrovic/Scherer (Tulane) 6-3
2. Krall/Callaway Clark (SMU) def. Kuenkler/Hoeijmans (Tulane) 7-5
3. de Alba/Jacobson (Tulane) vs. Muniz-Hidalgo/Steinhausen 5-5 (unfinished)

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