Tulsa Upsets No. 3 Memphis, Advances to American Conference Semifinals

Friday, April 17

Tulsa, Okla.

2:00 p.m.

Tulsa

Memphis

Photo by: Evert Nelson / The American

Tulsa Upsets No. 3 Memphis, Advances to American Conference Semifinals

4/17/2026 7:22:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

TULSA, Okla. – Tulsa men's tennis knocked off No. 3 seed Memphis (12-12) in a four-hour battle Friday afternoon, punching its ticket to the semifinals of the American Conference Men's Tennis Championship.

The Golden Hurricane (17-12) last reached the semifinals in 2022 and, aside from that run, failed to advance past the quarterfinals over the previous nine seasons.

TU will face No. 2 seed Charlotte tomorrow at noon at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center. The 49ers defeated No. 7 seed FAU, 4-1, in their quarterfinal match.

Tulsa secured the doubles point with two strong wins. Maxime Dubouch and Moritz Kudernatsch defeated Calum Jestin and Connor Doig, 6-2. Victor Tosetto and Gus Tettamble responded with a 6-4 win in the third slot, but Nikita Volonski and Timothy Carlsson Seger clinched the point with a 6-3 victory.

Tulsa carried that momentum into singles and controlled the first sets, winning four of six and pushing the other two to tiebreaks. Tulsa grabbed a point on court one after a Memphis retirement following the first set, while Memphis answered with a straight-set win on court six. Takeshi Taco restored Tulsa's edge with a three-set victory.

With Tulsa holding a 3-1 lead, every remaining match moved into a third set. Memphis rallied with back-to-back wins to even the score at 3-3 and force a deciding match.

The dual came down to the fourth slot, where freshman Ruben Fernandez delivered under pressure, battling back from a 5-1 deficit in the third-set tiebreaker. The Molina, Spain, native fought through three tiebreak sets and secured a 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-1), 7-6 (7-5) win to clinch the match. The victory marked his sixth of the season and his second clinch.

"When we play Memphis, it's going to be a dogfight. The last three or four have been that type of match. Conditions weren't great but both teams fought through it and fought hard," said head coach Vince Westbrook. "At number four, our freshman, Ruben, had highs and lows. He had three or four dual points against, and he came through and won a tiebreaker 7-6 in the third (...) to come back and win it. We're very proud of him."

Tulsa continues semifinal play tomorrow at noon at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center. Admission to the event is free.

Results
Doubles:

Maxime Dubouch / Mortiz Kudernatsch [MEM] def. Calum Jestin / Connor Doig [TULS] 6-2
Nikita Volonski / Timothy Carlsson Seger [TULS] def. Sam Reeve / Lasse Rensing [MEM] 6-3
Victor Tosetto / Gus Tettamble [TULS] def. Obrad Markovski / Marko Milosavljevic [MEM] 6-4

Order of finish: 1, 3, 2

Singles:

Nikita Volonski [TULS] 6-2, win by opponent retirement
Maxime Dubouch [MEM] def. Timothy Carlsson Seger [TULS] 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7-1)
Takeshi Taco [TULS] def. Obrad Markovski [MEM] 6-4, 3-6, 6-1
Ruben Fernandez [TULS] def. Leandro Zgraggen [MEM] 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-1) 7-6 (7-5)
Marco Castro Fabra [MEM] def. Reiya Komagata [TULS] 7-6 (7-3) 3-6 6-2
Marko Milosavljevic [MEM] def. Victor Tosetto [TULS] 6-4 6-4

Order of finish: 1, 6, 3, 2, 5, 4