Championship Central
 
Updated Bracket

MEMPHIS, Tenn. –The semifinals are set after the first day of action at the American Athletic Conference Men’s Tennis Championship, with No. 2 USF, No. 3 Louisville and No. 5 SMU winning matches on the day. The two higher seeds, USF and Louisville, won in shutouts, while SMU knocked off the No. 4 seed UCF by a 4-1 margin.  
 
In the opening match of the Championship, No. 2 seed USF cruised to a 4-0 victory over No. 7 seed UConn. The Bulls picked up the doubles point with an 8-2 win by No. 81 Oliver Pramming and Ignacio Gonzalez-Muniz and an 8-4 victory by Vadym Kalyuzhnyy and Finn Meinecki. In singles play, Sasha Gozun (6-0, 6-1), Ignacio Gonzalez-Muniz (6-0, 6-0) and No. 43 Robert Cid (6-1, 6-2) all handled their opponents to clinch the shutout victory for the Bulls.
 
The Cardinals took the doubles point, as they received wins from Albert Wagner/Chris Simich (8-2) and Alex Gornet and Van Damrongsri (8-4). Louisville completed the sweep with three singles victories at No. 2, No. 4 and No. 5. Michael Lippens started the Cardinals off with a 6-1, 6-1 victory, followed by a 6-0, 6-0 win for Chris Simich and a 6-2, 6-2 win for Albert Wagner.
 
In the final match of the day, SMU prevailed in the day’s longest match. SMU took the doubles point by winning at No.1 and No. 2 doubles. Misch Nowick and Arkidjas Slobodkins topped Amar Hromic and Jesse Flores 8-5, while Alex Sanders and Nate Lammons prevailed 8-2. UCF even the score with a win by Inaki Espindola at No. 4 singles, but nationally-ranked No. 115 Arturs Kazijevs quickly answered with a win at No. 1 singles. The Mustangs built their lead with an Arkidjas Slobodkins win at No. 6 singles, with the remaining three matches heading to a third set. Senior Alex Sanders came through for the Mustangs, winning the third set in a tiebreak to clinch the 4-1 victory.
 
Two semifinals will take place on Saturday. No. 2 seed Louisville will face No. 3 seed USF in the first match at 11 a.m. (CT), while top-seeded Memphis will play their first match against SMU at 2 p.m. (CT).
 
Team Results - Day One
 
No. 2 USF 4, No. 7 UConn 0
No. 3 Louisville 4, No. 6 Temple 0
No. 5 SMU 4, No. 4 UCF 1