Rice women and Tulsa men shine in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference Individual Tennis Championships

HOUSTON – Rice placed both of its players in the semifinal round of the women’s division, while Tulsa’s two players advanced to the semifinal round of the men’s division on the second day of competition Friday at the 2024 American Athletic Conference Individual Tennis Championships at the George R. Brown Tennis Center at Rice University.

The Owls picked up women’s quarterfinal wins Friday from No. 4 seed Divna Ratkovic and unseeded Darya Schwartzman, while Tulsa picked up straight-set victories in the men’s race from No. 5 seed Timothy Carlsson Seger and unseeded Alex Okonkwo.

Charlotte’s Sara Suchankova picked up her third straight win of the tournament on Friday, advancing to the semifinals against Ratkovic. Suchankova defeated Ekua Youri of UTSA 6-4, 6-1 in the quarterfinals.

Schwartzman’s path to Sunday’s championship match must go through the highest remaining women’s seed, as No. 2 Leonie Moeller of Memphis earned a straight-sets win over UAB’s Gresi Bajri in the quarterfinals.

Carlsson Seger became the only seeded men’s player to reach the semifinals when he posted a 7-6 (3), 6-0 win over South Florida’s Hugo Car on Friday. Carlsson Seger will face UTSA’s Danijal Muminovic, who defeated No. 8 John Bernard of Florida Atlantic for his third win of the tournament.

Okonkwo won the third straight game in straight sets by defeating Martim Marujo of Temple in the quarterfinals. Okonkwo will face Tulane’s Luka Petrovic, who was a clear winner against No. 2 seed Tiago Torres of UTSA.

Rice also made it to the semifinals on Saturday with his women’s and men’s doubles tandems. The No. 2-seeded women’s duo of Schwartzman and Fernanda Martinez won 8-3 in the professional sets on Friday, while the No. 2-seeded men’s tandem of Arthus de la Bassetiere and Kameer Kapasi earned an 8-1 quarterfinal victory.

The top three seeds in women’s doubles all advanced to the semifinals, where top seeds Millie-Mae Matthews and Malwina Rowinska of Florida Atlantic meet unseeded Theodora Chantava and Giorgia Roselli of Wichita State. On the other side of the bracket, Schwartzman and Martinez of Rice face No. 3 seeds Mariana Manyoma and Ana Naranjo Martinez of Tulsa.

In the men’s doubles, the top four seeds reached the semifinals on Saturday. Charlotte’s Vasco Prata and Matias Iturbe, the No. 9-ranked tandem nationally, will face No. 4 seeds Kristof Minarik and Alejandro Jacome in the semifinals, while de la Bassetiere and Kapasi will face No. 3 seeds Luka Petrovic and Luc Joeijmans of Tulane .

Saturday’s doubles semifinals begin at 9 a.m. CT, while singles matches are scheduled for 12 p.m. CT. The men’s and women’s singles consolation rounds will also conclude on Saturday.

Live coverage of Sunday’s four championship finals begins at 10 a.m. ET/9 a.m. CT on ESPN+. The most up-to-date information on the American Individual Tennis Championships, including links to live streams and scores, is available at the conference’s Championship Central.