Tulane University Green Wave fans witnessed an eventful weekend of tennis action as the men’s and women’s teams faced tough competition at the outdoor City Park Tennis Center and the indoor Hilton New Orleans Riverside Downtown Hotel. The Tulane men’s tennis team struggled in their weekend matchups, falling 5-2 to the Liberty University Flames and 4-1 to the No. 49 University of Memphis Tigers. Meanwhile, the women’s squad split their matches, dropping a tight contest to No. 29 Florida Atlantic University before bouncing back with an impressive 4-2 victory over No. 43 University of Tulsa on senior day.

The Green Wave men began their weekend with a hard-fought match against the Liberty Flames on Friday afternoon. Despite securing a doubles win on court two from the team of AJ Mercer and Asaf Friedler, Tulane ultimately lost the doubles point to the Flames, unable to secure another win. In singles, Hady El Kordy battled to a three-set victory on court two, while Alec Gaudin added another point with a commanding 6-1, 6-2 win on court three. However, Liberty proved too strong overall, claiming victories on the remaining courts to secure a 5-2 win.

Sunday’s conference matchup saw Tulane fall 4-1 to No. 49 Memphis in a time-constrained singles-only contest. Luka Petrovic delivered the lone point for the Wave with an impressive three-set victory over No. 119 Conor Gannon on court one. The back-to-back losses dropped Tulane to 5-15 overall and 1-6 in American Athletic Conference play.

On the women’s side, Tulane women’s tennis opened their weekend against undefeated and No. 29 FAU on Friday. After being unable to secure the doubles point, the Green Wave fought back in singles play. Campbell Ricci continued her exceptional play on court one with a 6-2, 6-3 victory, while Summer Chandler secured a three-set win on court two. However, the Owls claimed victories on courts four, five and six to edge Tulane 4-2, keeping their perfect 13-0 record intact, while the Green Wave moved to 10-10.

The Green Wave women rebounded spectacularly on Sunday, defeating No. 43 Tulsa 4-2 at the indoor courts in the Hilton Riverside. It is in a clinch-clinch format that only features singles matches. Chandler and Ricci put the Wave up 2-0 with hard-fought three-set victories on courts two and one, respectively. After Tulsa leveled the match with wins on courts three and five, Micah Pierce reclaimed the lead for Tulane with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 win on court four.

Freshman Natalia Fantini delivered the match-clinching point with a 7-6 (9-7), 6-2 victory on court six. Following the victory, the team honored seniors Brooke Theis and Jiayun Zhu for their contributions to the program.

Capping off an impressive weekend, freshman Ricci was named the AAC women’s tennis player of the week. The Las Vegas native earned the honor after going 2-0 at the No. 1 singles position, including a three-set victory over the top-ranked singles player in the conference.

Ricci improved to 14-2 in the season on the top singles court and maintained a perfect 10-0 record at home in completed singles matches. She has won her last 14 competitive matches and is the first Green Wave player to earn AAC player of the week honors since April 2017 by Sade Atkinson.

The men’s team will close its regular season with a doubleheader against No. 29 Auburn University and Southern University on Friday, April 11, at City Park Tennis Center. The women’s team will next compete in the 2025 AAC Women’s Tennis Championship in Memphis, Tennessee, beginning Thursday, April 17.