Mustangs Return Home To Faceoff With Oklahoma State

SMU (8-3) vs Oklahoma State (7-6)
Dallas, Texas
March 11, 2022

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DALLAS – The Mustangs return home following a successful four match road trip to take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys Friday at 5:00 p.m. in the Match of the Month at the Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex. SMU has won five straight matches including three 4-3 victories and wins against No. 18 Texas A&M and No. 35 San Diego.

For the Match of the Month, the first 100 fans through the doors will receive free Rudy's barbeque.

Scouting Oklahoma State
The Cowboys are 7-6 on the season, having taken all seven of their wins at home. With a 1-0 doubles dual record this season, Sebastian Nothhaft and Tyler Zink are tied for 70^th in the ITA rankings. Oklahoma State has been particularly strong toward the bottom of their lineup, winning a high percentage of matches across lines 4-6. Leighton Allen and Fran Pini have been a big part of this success.

The Mustangs are 2-10 against the Cowboys all-time. They last matched up in 2018, when SMU fell 4-0 on the road.

Hot Mustangs
Pranav Kumar has won four straight singles matches and is 4-0 at the No. 4 line. He has clinched two matches for the Mustangs and has dual records of 6-2 in singles and 4-3 in doubles.

Liam Krall, primarily playing at the No. 2 and No. 3 spots, is 8-2 in singles dual matches and 6-2 in doubles, 3-1 playing with Julian Steinhausen and 2-1 with Kumar.
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Making National Noise
The Mustangs pulled off a dramatic 4-3 road win over No. 18 Texas A&M on February 27^th. This was SMU's highest ranked win since defeating No. 8 Texas Tech in the second round of the 2016 NCAA tournament and third ranked win since head coach Grant Chen took over the program in 2018. Former Aggie, Pranav Kumar clinched the win for SMU.

The Mustangs also defeated No. 35 San Diego 4-3 on the road on March 5^th. San Diego native Ivan Thamma, a graduate transfer from UC Davis, clinched the match for the SMU. He erased a 6-7, 1-4 deficit, winning the final two sets 6-4, 6-4. Thamma and doubles partner Adam Neff also knocked off San Diego's No. 43 ranked doubles team of Holmgren and Osorio 6-3, handing them their first loss of the year.

Ranking the 'Stangs
Over the last two weeks, the Mustangs have jumped 19 spots in the ITA national rankings. They currently stand at No. 39. The highest the Mustangs climbed last year was No. 44.

Mustangs On Tour
Four SMU men's tennis players debuted on the ATP Tour at the Dallas Open in February. Caleb Chakravarthi, Liam Krall, and Adam Neff were all awarded matches in singles, while Adam Neff and Ivan Thamma were given a spot in doubles. The field included three top-30 ranked players in the world including John Isner, Taylor Fritz, and Reilly Opelka. Neff and Thamma came closest to winning their match, as they split sets with Sam Querrey and Jackson Withrow before losing 10-5 on a tiebreak.

AAC Honors
Graduate senior Pranav Kumar was named AAC Men's Tennis player of the week on March 1^st, after clinching the Mustangs' 4-3 win over his former team, the No. 18 ranked Texas A&M Aggies. This was Kumar's second consecutive match clinching win, having lifted SMU to victory over Nebraska 4-3 on February 20^th.

Fall Titles
SMU won a number of tournaments this fall. Former AAC Freshman of the Year Liam Krall took the singles title at the Lakes Collegiate Invitational. Senior captain Caleb Chakravarthi won the singles title, as well as the doubles title with Julian Steinhausen at the Islander Invite. Jordi Redelijk won the singles title at the Ralston/Neufeld Coaches Challenge, while Kyle Sillman and John Zisette took the doubles trophy.

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Players Mentioned

Caleb Chakravarthi

Liam Krall

Pranav Kumar

Adam Neff

Jordi Redelijk

Kyle Sillman

Julian Steinhausen

Ivan Thamma

John Zisette

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