Friday, March 14
Tulsa, Okla.
6:00 p.m.
Tulsa
vs
Charlotte
Tulsa Men’s Tennis to Host Charlotte, Rice in First AAC Tests of the Year
3/13/2025 2:36:00 PM | Men's Tennis
TULSA, Okla. — The Tulsa men's tennis team (7-11) welcomes a pair of fellow American Athletic Conference foes to the Michael D. Case Tennis Center this weekend for the Golden Hurricane's first conference matches of the 2025 season. First, TU will take on Charlotte (7-5) on Friday, March 14, at 6 p.m., and ends the weekend against Rice (10-5) on Sunday, March 16, at 11 a.m.
Streaming vs. Charlotte: ESPN+
Streaming vs. Rice: Tulsa Track.Tennis
Tulsa's Probable Lineups (Based on Previous Match Lineup):
Doubles
1. Alex Okonkwo/Timothy Carlsson Seger (8-9 Overall, 7-8 Dual)
2. Luis Felipe Miguel/Gus Tettamble (8-7 Overall, 8-7 Dual)
3. Calum Jestin/Will Pellegrini (11-11 Overall, 7-5 Dual)
Singles
1. #102 Alex Okonkwo (17-11 Overall, 7-7 Dual)
2. Luis Felipe Miguel (10-9 Overall, 7-4 Dual)
3. Timothy Carlsson Seger (7-13 Overall, 3-7 Dual)
4. Nikola Puntaric (2-8 Overall, 2-8 Dual)
5. Reiya Komagata (12-15 Overall, 5-9 Dual)
6. Gus Tettamble (8-10 Overall, 4-5 Dual)
Scouting the 49ers
- Friday will be the first-ever matchup between Tulsa and Charlotte.
- This is the just the third year the two schools have shared the same conference. The 49ers rejoined Conference USA in 2013-14 – the final year of Tulsa's tenure in C-USA before departing for The American in 2014-15. Then, Charlotte was one of six schools to join the AAC last year in 2023-24.
- Charlotte won The American Championship last year as the No. 6 seed, winning four straight matches, including a reverse sweep of top-seeded Memphis for the title.
- The Niners are winners of four of their last five matches, including the last three contests, all on their home courts. After falling 4-3 to Tulane on Feb. 16, Charlotte dismantled Louisiana (6-1), Youngstown State (5-2) and DePaul (6-1).
- Charlotte's top two singles players are a combined 28-17, with Vasco Prata (13-9) holding down the No. 1 spot and Matias Iturbe playing in the two-spot with a team-leading 15-8 overall record.
- In doubles, the pair form the premier doubles tandem for the 49ers, going 18-9 together and 7-5 in dual matches at the No. 1 position.
Scouting the Owls
- Sunday will be the 26th meeting between Tulsa and Rice since the turn of the century, with TU leading 16-9.
- The Hurricane has won five of the last six meetings.
- Tulsa will be looking for some revenge after Rice spoiled the Hurricane's AAC tournament hopes in the quarterfinal round last spring, escaping 4-1 in the first match between the two programs since April 19, 2014.
- Rice is 10-5 on the year with wins in three of their last four outings. Their biggest wins so far have come against LSU (4-3), Texas Tech (4-2) and Florida Atlantic (4-0).
- Petro Kuzmenok is far and away the team's leader in wins with a 16-7 overall record and an 8-3 tally in dual matches spanning the first and second positions. Emir Sendogan is the next-closest at 13-11 and 6-4 in spring action.
- Kabeer Kapasi and Arthus de la Bassetiere form the nation's 76th-ranked doubles team. Together, they are 6-7 with a 3-4 mark at the No. 1 position.
Tulsa in the ITA Rankings
- Tulsa's No. 1 singles player Alex Okonkwo, a sophomore, has cracked the nation's top 125 in the latest ITA singles rankings poll (March 4), coming in at No. 102. A thrilling 6-1, 7-6 (10-8) tiebreak win against No. 26 Paul Inchauspe on the road against Princeton, helping send Okonkwo back to the nation's premier list of singles players.
- Okonkwo also earned a decisive straight set (6-3, 6-4) in the following match against Oklahoma State's Isaac Becroft, who was No. 67 in the land.
- At 17-11 overall and 7-7 in dual matches, Okonkwo came just a few games shy of upending the No. 1 player in the country, Michael Zheng of Columbia. He forced a third set with a tiebreaker win in the second stanza, but would fall 4-6, 7-6 (7-1), 2-6.
- Tuesday, March 18 will be the next team, singles and doubles rankings release by the ITA.
Last Time Out
- Tulsa's losing streak extended to four after falling 5-2 at No. 8 Arizona, preceded by a 4-3 heartbreaker against Oklahoma State. Three of the last four dual matches for the Hurricane were against national top-20 programs.
Up Next
- After this weekend, Tulsa's remaining four matches will be against American Athletic Conference opponents, including South Florida, Tulane, Wichita State and Memphis, as the Hurricane prepares for the AAC Championship in Memphis (April 17-20).
- Tulsa's final home match will be against Wichita State on Sunday, April 6.
On the Roster
- Among the 11-member roster, Tulsa features six returning letterwinners and welcomed five newcomers for the 2024-25 season.
- Returning from last year's championship squad are redshirt freshman Calum Jestin, redshirt junior Will Pellegrini, junior Timothy Carlsson Seger, redshirt sophomore Gus Tettamble, sophomore Victor Tosetto and American Athletic Conference individual champion Alex Okonkwo, a sophomore.
- The three newcomers are freshmen Adam Bojkovic (Randolph, N.J.), Connor Doig (Johannesburg, South Africa) and Nikola Puntaric (Ljubljana, Slovenia). They are joined by junior transfers Reiya Komagata (Cowley College) and Luis Felipe Miguel (Liberty).
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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