HOUSTON – UTSA players took down the top seeds in both men’s and women’s singles to highlight the first day of competition Thursday at the  2024 American Athletic Conference Individual Tennis Championships at the George R. Brown Tennis Center at Rice University.
 
The Roadrunners’ Danijal Muminovic scored two wins on the men’s side, including a three-set victory against top-seeded Pablo Alemany of Memphis in the second round Thursday, while UTSA’s Ekua Youri delivered a three-set win against Florida Atlantic’s Victoria Gomez O’Hayon, the No. 1 seed on the women’s side, for her second victory of the day.
 
Muminovic opened play in the men’s bracket with a 6-3, 6-4 win against Rice’s Emir Sendogan before moving to face Alemany, who is ranked No. 27 in the ITA preseason rankings. Alemany took the first set before Muminovic rallied to take the next two for a 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 victory.
 
Mumimovic will face No. 8-seeded John Bernard of Florida Atlantic in Friday’s quarterfinal round.
 
Youri, meanwhile, took a straight-set victory against Wichita State’s Kristina Kudryavtseva in the opening round to set up her match with Gomez O’Hayon, who was awarded a first-round bye. Youri dropped the first set 6-3 before turning the match around with a 7-5 second set and closing out a 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory.
 
Youri will take on Charlotte’s Sara Suchankova in Friday’s quarterfinals.
 
The quarterfinals in singles and doubles will be played Friday, Oct. 25, followed by Saturday’s semifinals and Sunday’s championship finals. Consolation rounds in men’s and women’s singles will also begin Friday.
 
Live coverage of the four championship finals begins at 10 a.m. ET/9 a.m. CT on ESPN+. The most up-do-date information on The American Individual Tennis Championships, including links to live streams and scoring, is available on the conference’s Championship Central.