SMU men’s tennis opens NCAA Championship play against Princeton in Austin, led by No. 2 singles star Trevor Svajda.
DALLAS - SMU men’s tennis is back in the NCAA Championship, and the Mustangs get a ranked first-round test right away.
No. 32 SMU will face No. 37 Princeton on Friday at 10 a.m. CT at the Texas Tennis Center in Austin.
It’s the Mustangs’ fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last five years and another sign of the program’s steady national presence.
SMU enters the postseason at 19-11 overall after going 8-5 in ACC play.
The Mustangs’ regular season included two top-25 wins and five ACC Player of the Week honors, with Trevor Svajda claiming three of them.
Svajda is the clear headliner. The SMU standout is ranked No. 2 nationally in singles and has been one of the most dominant players in college tennis this spring.
He owns a 21-2 singles record and has lost only nine sets across 56 played.
His résumé is loaded. Svajda has nine ranked singles wins this spring, including victories over TCU’s Duncan Chan, Baylor’s Devin Badenhorst, Ohio State’s Aidan Kim and Florida’s Adhitya Ganesan.
He also ranks No. 54 nationally in doubles with Jerry Barton.
The matchup with Princeton brings another elite singles player to Austin.
Paul Inchauspe is ranked No. 6 nationally and forms the No. 27 doubles team with Landon Ardilla, giving the Tigers a dangerous top-of-the-lineup threat.
READ MORE: SMU Tennis Returns To NCAA Tournament Stage
SMU has won both previous meetings with Princeton, including a 7-2 NCAA Tournament victory in 1977 and a 5-2 home win in 1995.
The winner advances to face either No. 2 overall seed Texas or Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. For SMU, the formula starts with Svajda, but moving on will require depth throughout the lineup.
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