The American Athletic Conference may not return to Memphis with their men's basketball tournament anytime soon, but the American men's tennis tournament kicks off this weekend at the Racquet Club of Memphis.
The action begins Friday at 9 a.m., but the Tigers, who earned the No. 1 seed in the tournament, have a first-round bye. Their first match starts Saturday at 2 p.m.
Memphis head coach Paul Goebel expects spectators to see some great tennis. He hopes fans will show up in droves.
"There's a lot of evenly matched teams," Goebel said. "Every match is going to be a good one. It should be a great tournament to come watch, and hopefully a lot of fans can come out and support the team."
The No. 21 Tigers completed the regular season on Sunday, defeating the then-No. 25 University of South Florida. Memphis, who was ranked 26th at the time, vaulted ahead of the Bulls in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association ranking to earn the No. 1 seed in the tournament-a luxury Memphis is used to living without.
After winning the Conference USA tournament last season, the Blue and Gray (13-4, 3-0 AAC) feel like they're poised to make a similar run this weekend.
"It's obviously great to be hosting again and to be at the Racquet Club and get the home fans out again," senior Joe Salisbury said. "I know last year we obviously had a great time because we won it, but it's great playing in front of the home fans. And being the one seed, that's obviously a first for this program, so we feel really confident going into it."
Memphis wants to ride the momentum they gained with Sunday's win. They've been doing an excellent job all season long securing the doubles point to open their matches. Seniors Johnny Grimal and Ian Chadwell locked up the first doubles win on Sunday, and the dynamic duo of seniors David O'Hare and Joe Salisbury followed with a tiebreak win of their own.
Junior Connor Glennon leads the way for Memphis in singles. He spent most of the season playing in the No. 1 slot, amassing a 15-7 overall record and 4-5 record against ranked opponents.
However, Grimal was the Tiger making headlines last week. The American named Grimal their men's tennis player of the week after he helped the Tigers to a pair of conference wins over the weekend. Grimal was the fourth Memphis player to receive a weekly award this season.
Grimal said he really enjoyed last season's tournament win, and he wants to return to the top of the bracket again this year.
"After last year, that was like the best experience of my life," Grimal said. "It's so good that we can host here in Memphis, and we have the chance to play in front of my family and all the fans. I'm pretty happy because a lot of people are going to come over. It's good to have that feeling to not only play for yourself but play for the team and for the fans. I'm just so proud to be a Tiger right now."
Goebel is confident in his team, and he hopes a lot of fans will show up in support.
"I know today (the fans) made a big difference," Goebel said after the Tigers win over USF. "We had great support, and I think the guys really feed off that. We're hoping to draw a good crowd next week. The guys will play loose and they're excited."
