COLLEGE STATION (SMU) – SMU men's tennis defeated No. 18 Texas A&M in College Station 4-3 in dramatic fashion. For the second straight match, Pranav Kumar sealed the win for the Mustangs, this time against his former team. SMU improves its record to 6-3, while the Aggies fall to 6-5. SMU has now won three in a row and are undefeated on the road at 2-0.

This marks SMU's third top 25 win since Coach Chen arrived in 2018 and first since defeating No. 19 Tulane in last year's AAC Championships. It is also the Mustangs' highest ranked win since beating No. 8 Texas Tech in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2016.

The Mustangs got off to a fast start as Adam Neff and Ivan Thamma dominated No. 1 doubles 6-2. The duo improves to 3-2 in dual play for the season. After being down 3-0, Julian Steinhausen and Huntley Allen pulled off a tremendous 6-4 comeback in No. 3 doubles, winning six out of the last seven games to clinch the point for SMU.

The Aggies came storming back, winning singles matches on courts No. 1 and No. 6 to pull ahead 2-1.

Krall leveled the score at 2-2, winning at No. 3 singles 7-6, 6-4. The sophomore has now won four straight dual matches.

Texas A&M took the lead once again, winning at the No. 2 spot 6-4, 6-7, 6-1. Adam Neff fought off three match points in the second set to come back, but could not pull off the victory in the third. This was Neff's first dual match loss of the season.

Ivan Thamma, playing No. 5, brought the match level at 3-3 with a strong comeback victory 0-6, 6-4, 6-4.

The match would come down to the No. 4 spot with Kumar playing against his former team. After splitting the first two sets, Kumar took over in the third, winning 6-3 and clinching the match for the Mustangs 4-3.

Win Streaks
Liam Krall improved his winning streak to four matches and now holds an overall singles dual record of 7-1 on the season. He is 2-0 in the No. 2 position.

Next Time Out
The Mustangs will travel to San Diego, California for the Pacific Coast Doubles Championship, as well as matches against UNLV and San Diego March 3-6.
 
Singles competition
1. Noah Schachter (TAMU) def. Caleb Chakravarthi (SMU) 6-3, 6-2
2. #50 Raphael Perot (TAMU) def. Adam Neff (SMU) 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-1
3. Liam Krall (SMU) def. Pierce Rollins (TAMU) 7-6 (7-4), 6-4
4. Pranav Kumar (SMU) def. Matthis Ross (TAMU) 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 6-3
5. Ivan Thamma (SMU) def. Guido Marson (TAMU) 0-6, 6-4, 6-4
6. Luke Casper (TAMU) def. Louis Cloud (SMU) 6-3, 6-4

Doubles competition
1. Adam Neff/Ivan Thamma (SMU) def. Matthis Ross/Pierce Rollins (TAMU) 6-2
2. Noah Schachter/Kenner Taylor (TAMU) vs. Pranav Kumar/Liam Krall (SMU) 6-6, unfinished
3. Julian Steinhausen/Huntley Allen (SMU) def. Raphael Perot/Giulio Perego (TAMU) 6-4