#1 SMU (19-6) vs #8 Temple (12-9)
Tulsa, Oklahoma
April 22, 2022
 
SMU Season Stats | Live Stream & Stats
American | Championships Central | Bracket
Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
 
TULSA, Okla. (SMU) – No. 1 seed SMU begins the AAC Championships against No. 8 seed Temple on Friday at 8:00 a.m. CT. The Mustangs enter the match with an overall record of 19-6, having won their last eight. They are also currently ranked No. 26 in the nation. SMU defeated Temple 4-0 in Dallas in the two teams' only matchup this season.

The Mustangs won 4-1 in their final regular season match at No. 49 Tulsa on Monday. Along with partner Huntley Allen, Julian Steinhausen won 6-2 in doubles before winning his sixth singles match in row in straight sets. Pranav Kumar clinched the match for SMU, winning 6-4, 6-4 on the fourth line for his fifth straight victory.
 
Scouting Temple
Temple has won three of its last four matches. Their only loss during this streak was a hard-fought 2-4 defeat at No. 49 Tulsa. Throughout the season, the Owls have beaten St. John's 4-2, George Mason 4-0, Navy 4-3, and Delaware 4-3. As previously mentioned, they lost to SMU on April 1^st 0-4 on the road. Their win over St. John's on April 13^th secured the Owls' ninth straight season with an unbeaten home record.
 
Marin Delmas leads the temple lineup with a 17-4 singles record. He is 12-5 in dual play, having played all of his matches on the top line. Delmas and his doubles partner Louis Gorregues are 19-6 overall and 9-4 in dual matches. They have played on lines one and two throughout the season.
 
In 2018, the Mustangs lost 3-4 to Temple in the opening round of the AAC tournament. SMU is 2-1 all-time versus the Owls.
 
Hot Mustangs
Huntley Allen and Julian Steinhausen have won six in a row and 11 out of their last 12 doubles matches. They are 11-2 in dual play this season.
 
Steinhausen has won his last six singles matches, the last five being in straight sets.
 
Pranav Kumar is unbeaten in his last five matches, and has won seven of his last eight. He has been a force for the Mustangs all season long on the fourth line, currently holding a record of 9-2 at the position.
 
Liam Krall has won four straight singles matches and six of his last seven. The sophomore also split sets in an unfinished match with No. 18 ranked singles player Luc Fomba of current No. 1 TCU on March 21^st.
 
SMU Conference Championships History
After upsetting the second seed and No. 19 team in the country, Tulane, 4-1 in last year's quarterfinals, SMU lost to three seed and No. 29 ranked South Florida 2-4 in the semifinals.
 
For the first time in program history, SMU will be the No. 1 overall seed entering the AAC Championships. The Mustangs' previous highest seeding was No. 3 in 2016. They have yet to win an AAC title since the conference formed ahead of the 2013-14 season. SMU has won 9 conference championships in program history, two during its time in the WAC (1998, 2002) and seven during its time in the SWC ('78, '79, '82, '83, '85, '86, '87).
 
Full Conference Championships Schedule

Quarterfinals | Friday, April 22
No. 8 Temple vs. No. 1 SMU	10 a.m. ET/9 a.m. CT
No, 5 UCF vs. No. 4 South Florida	10 a.m. ET/9 a.m. CT
No. 6 Tulane vs. No. 3 Tulsa	1 p.m. ET/Noon CT
No. 7 Wichita State vs. No. 2 Memphis	1 p.m. ET/Noon CT
Semifinals | Saturday, April 23
Temple/SMU winner vs. UCF/South Florida winner	1 p.m. ET/Noon CT
Tulane/Tulsa winner vs. Wichita State/Memphis winner	1 p.m. ET/Noon CT
Final | Sunday, April 24 | ESPN+
Semifinal winners	1 p.m. ET/Noon CT

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­UNDEFEATED
SMU concluded its regular season with undefeated conference and road records, each at 7-0. The achievement marked the Mustangs' first undefeated road record since 1999 and first undefeated conference record since 2008.
 
Sweep 'Stangs & Ranked Record
SMU has swept eight opponents so far this season. No. 37 Memphis, No. 60 UTSA, and Temple are included on this list. The Mustangs also hold an 8-3 record versus ranked opponents. These eight ranked wins are the most in a single season for the program since 2016 when they won nine.
 
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 32 spots in the ITA national rankings. They currently stand at No. 26. This is the highest SMU has been ranked since February 28^th, 2017. The highest SMU climbed last year was No. 44.
 
Adam Neff and Ivan Thamma came in at No. 58 in the latest ITA national doubles rankings. Neff and Pranav Kumar have also cracked the rankings this season 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.