MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Memphis Tigers (31) knocked off North Carolina (27) 4-3 in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Division I Men’s Tennis Tournament on Friday morning in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Memphis came out of the gate firing, 29th-ranked pair Pablo Alemany and Charlie Barry dispatched of No. 42 ranked team Benjamin Kittay and Phillip Jordan 6-2 on court one for their 20th win of the season. Memphis, however, lost the other two doubles matches and therefore UNC earned the doubles point.
“This was a fantastic win, and there are so many people I am proud of,” Memphis head coach Chris Doerr said. “I felt like we had a great doubles match and was unlucky to not win it, but we had a few seniors in different places, and they brought the fire to keep us going."
The Tigers knew going into singles they would have to win on four of the six courts to go home with the win.
In singles action, UNC maintained its momentum with first-set wins on four courts. Will Peters swept Maxime Dubouch (6-4, 6-3) at the No. 5 position to take a 2-0 advantage.
No. 58 Alemany put the Tigers on the board from court one with a 6-3, 6-4 sweep over Kittay. The American Athletic Conference Player of the Year earned his 23rd singles victory of the season.
North Carolina pushed the match to the brink with a 3-1 lead after No. 89 Karl Poling squeaked out a three-set win over Rock (6-3, 2-6, 6-2).
With its back against the wall, Memphis gutted out victories on the last three courts to get the win.
Moritz Kudernatsch swept 6-4, 6-3 on court six before Gannon came from behind to take a 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 decision on court two over UNC’s Phillip Jordan.
For the Tigers, it all came down to court three where senior Pau Fanlo was locked in a battle after splitting the first two sets 6-7(2), 6-2.
The Barcelona, Catalonia native held a 4-1 advantage in the third set before UNC’s Patrick Schoen battled back to eventually hold match point. Fanlo broke and sent the match into a tiebreaker where he earned the 8-6 win.
Fanlo, the only remaining player in the program from the last NCAA Tournament win, also earned the clinch point for the Tigers in 2021 when they defeated No. 30 Georgia Tech, 4-2.
Court 1: #58 Pablo Alemany (MEM) def. Benjamin Kittay (NC) 6-3, 6-4 Court 2: Conor Gannon (MEM) def. Phillip Jordan (NC) 3-6, 6-2, 6-2
Court 3: Pau Fanlo (MEM) def. Patrick Schoen (NC) 6-7 (2-7), 6-2, 7-6 (8-6)
Court 4: #89 Karl Poling (NC) def. Harry Rock (MEM) 6-3, 2-6, 6-2
Court 5: Will Peters (NC) def. Maxime Dubouch (MEM) 6-4, 6-3
Court 6: Moritz Kudernatsch (MEM) def. Anuj Watane (NC) 6-4, 6-3
“I am incredibly proud of Pau for coming back to win his match. He showed an intense will out there today," Doerr said. "And of course, we wouldn’t be where we are if Conor, Moritz and Pablo hadn’t done what they did, so we are really happy to be playing tomorrow. We are ready to get back out there.”
The win is the Tigers first NCAA Tournament dub since 2021 and just the fourth time the team has ever gone to the second round. They have played in 10 NCAA Tournaments in the last 12 seasons.
The Tigers (19-6) will now face No. 7 seed Tennessee in the second round on Saturday at 3 p.m. CT. The winner advances to the Round of 16 in Stillwater, Oklahoma next weekend (May 10 or 11).