SMU hosted the Dallas Open beginning Feb. 3, an ATP 250-level tournament showcasing some of the world’s greatest tennis players. The Dallas Open College Night featured the SMU Men’s Tennis team as well as an appearance by the SMU Pom team.

SMU students and alumni showed up to root for SMU senior Adam Neff who took the court against professional Jordan Thompson, currently ranked 44 on the ATP singles list.

The match marked the first official round of the Dallas Open as well as Neff’s ATP singles debut.

Neff has compiled an impressive resume during his career as a Mustang. In his junior year season (2022-2023), Neff played line No. 1 in singles and doubles for the Mustangs, had an 18-6 overall record, a 16-3 dual record, and ultimately earned the AAC Player of the Year award.

Neff entered the match ranked 829th globally. Serving first, he managed to win a competitive game against the much higher-ranked Thompson. Still, Neff held his own against the veteran, exchanging blows as each player won several exciting games.

Neff showcased a powerful serve in this match, though at times struggled with faults. Thompson, with a staggering number of 247 more ATP matches under his belt, played a cleaner game and was ultimately able to take set one 6-3.

“[Neff] played pretty strong, even though he was not really favored to win,” SMU alumni Kristin Mallory said. “He was just outplayed a little bit.”

Set two, unfortunately, presented more challenges for Neff.

Though Neff proved he had the skill to play at the professional level with several savvy returns and powerful slams, Thompson proved to overpower Neff in his first professional singles match.

Though set two was tied up at one all to begin, Thompson had a dominant stretch of five straight game wins to take set two and ultimately the match. With the win, Thompson moved on to the round of 16, where he will have a chance to play for the championship on Sunday, Feb 11.

Though Neff’s tournament run was unfortunately cut short, he will have his senior season to continue to improve and become a force on the professional tennis scene.

“[Neff] had a lot of really great shots, and he really looked like a strong player,” tennis fan and SMU alumni Corinne Carpenter said. “It was just a difference in experience.”

SMU Men’s Tennis, led by Neff, continues its season against Rice University on Sunday, Feb 11.