No. 27 SMU (16-6) vs Rice (11-11), UT Dallas (7-5)
Dallas, Texas
April 16, 2022
 
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DALLAS – The 27^th ranked Mustangs host an action-packed Saturday on April 16^th as they take on Rice at 11:00 a.m. CT in the Turpin Cup and UT Dallas at 5:00 p.m. CT. The Rice match will be streamed and covered live on ESPN+, while UT Dallas will be SMU's Senior Day match. The Mustangs enter the weekend at 16-6 overall, 6-0 in AAC play, and 9-4 at home.
 
SMU traveled to New Orleans last weekend where they defeated No. 64 Tulane 5-2. The Green Wave took the doubles point before the Mustangs won five straight matches. Huntley Allen and Julian Steinhausen won their fourth straight doubles match, improving their season record to 10-2.
 
Scouting Rice
The Owls currently stand at 11-11 with notable wins over UTSA, New Mexico, and Abilene Christian. They scored in losing efforts against No. 19 Middle Tennessee (2-5), No. 49 Charlotte (2-5), and No. 73 East Tennessee State (1-4).
 
They are led in singles by Haoyuan Huang, holding a record of 15-5, 11-3 on the top line. He is currently on a two-match winning streak. Emir Sendogan has also made a big impact toward the top of Rice's lineup. He is 7-1 along the top two lines and has won three in a row. The Owls' best doubles record is on their third line, currently at 10-6 this season. Nine different teams have competed on this line.
 
SMU has a rich history against Rice. The Mustangs are 21-16 all-time in the matchup, 9-6 at home. The Owls took the last match in 2019, 6-1 in Dallas.
 
Scouting UT Dallas
The Comets enter the weekend at 7-5. They are 3-0 in the American Southwest Conference with wins over East Texas Baptist, Letourneau, and Belhaven.
 
Currently on a five-match winning streak, John Edwards has been the Comets best singles player this season. He is 9-3, having played all of his matches on the second line. Ritvik Ganesan plays lines three through six and is 7-3 overall with a current two-match winning streak. The Comets have been consistent across all three doubles lines, holding records at or above .500 on each.
 
This will be the first meeting between the two teams.
 
Hot Mustangs
Liam Krall has won three straight singles matches and five of his last six. The sophomore also split sets in an unfinished match with No. 18 ranked singles player Luc Fomba of No. 3 TCU on March 21^st.
 
Huntley Allen and Julian Steinhausen have won four in a row and nine out of their last 10 doubles matches. They are 10-2 in dual play this season.
 
Steinhausen has won his last four singles matches, the last three being in straight sets.

Jordi Redelijk is on a three-match winning streak. He is 4-1 in dual play this season. Sweep 'Stangs
SMU has swept eight opponents so far this season. No. 37 Memphis, No. 60 UTSA, and Temple are on the list.
 
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 top 20 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 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.
 
In a close 4-3 loss to No. 19 Middle Tennessee on March 3^rd, Thamma and Neff defeated the No. 47 ranked doubles team of Francisco Rocha and Oskar Poulsen 6-3. Caleb Chakravarthi also beat No. 101 ranked singles player Chris Edge in straight sets 7-6, 6-1.
 
On March 25^th the Mustangs knocked off No. 57 UCF 4-3 in Orlando, handing them their first AAC loss since April 2019. For the second time this season, Thamma clinched the match. The grad-senior completed the comeback after being down a set and fighting off two match points in the second.
 
SMU notched its sixth ranked win of the season, defeating No. 37 Memphis 4-0 on April 4^th. It was the Mustangs first win over the Tigers since 2011 and second ever sweep.
 
Ranking the 'Stangs
Since February 23^rd, the Mustangs have jumped 31 spots in the ITA national rankings. They currently stand at No. 27. The highest SMU climbed last year was No. 44.
 
Adam Neff and Ivan Thamma came in at No. 59 in the latest ITA national doubles rankings. Neff and Pranav Kumar cracked the rankings for the first time at No. 82. They picked up a signature win over Memphis' No. 18 ranked duo on April 4^th.
 
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.
 
Chen Hits Milestone Wins Mark
The Mustangs defeated UTSA 4-0 on March 13^th, marking Head Coach Grant Chen's 50^th career win. He previously spent six years at UCLA as Assistant Coach/Associate Head Coach before coming to SMU in 2018.
 
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.

Sophomore Adam Neff also received player of the week honors on April 5^th. Neff played at the number one line in all six of his matches that week, going 2-1 in singles and 3-0 in doubles. Neff and Pranav Kumar clinched the doubles point against No. 37 Memphis, battling back from down 2-5 to beat the Tigers' No. 18 ranked pairing 7-5. SMU went 3-0 in the matches, defeating Temple 4-0, Wichita State 4-2, and No. 37 Memphis 4-0.

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.