TCU Men’s Tennis: Three Frogs Eliminated At The Championships, Wimbledon

Three former and current Horned Frogs were invited to play in The Championships, Wimbledon this year – Cam Norrie, Jake Fearnley, and Reese Stadler. All three, though, lost in either the second or third rounds.

Three Horned Frogs Play at The Championships, Wimbledon 2023

Cam Norrie

Norrie, the No. 13 singles player in the world and last year’s semifinalist at Wimbledon, was the only Horned Frog playing in the Gentlemen’s Singles tournament. He, unfortunately, was eliminated in the second round this season and did not even make it to the second week of the fortnight.

He is the British No. 1 seed and was seeded 12th in the tournament. He defeated Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic in the first round, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4. In the second round, he lost to American Christopher Eubanks, 3-6, 6-3, 2-6, 6-7 (3-7).

A three-time TCU All-American from 2015-2017, this was Norrie’s sixth career Wimbledon main draw appearance. He holds an 8-7 career record at Wimbledon. Norrie memorably advanced to the semifinals of the 2022 Championships before falling to eventual champion Novak Djokovic. The return to Wimbledon marks Norrie's 23rd Grand Slam appearance. He is 26-24 all-time in major championships.

Norrie is the highest-ranked former collegian tennis player competing in the tournament.

Jake Fearnley

Fearnley, a soon-to-be fifth-year senior at TCU, earned a wild card onto the main doubles draw alongside Johannus Monday of Tennessee. Their storybook run to the sport's most storied event began last week with an opening-round win over Andre Goransson and Ben McLachlan, 1-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4. Their run at Wimbledon ended with a second-round loss to Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden, 5-7. 3-6.

Fearnley becomes just the second active Horned Frog in program history to compete in a Wimbledon main draw. He and Monday, who were classmates at Merchiston Castle School in Scotland, won the Rothesay Open men's doubles title to secure their Wimbledon wild card.

Fearnley was one of four active college players to garner a wildcard onto the Wimbledon doubles main draw. With Fearnley's wild card, TCU joined Tennessee and South Carolina as one of three colleges with an active player competing in a Wimbledon main draw.

Reese Stalder

Stalder, a 2017 All-American, received a spot in the main doubles draw late last week after a breakthrough season on the ATP tournament.

Stalder has rapidly risen through the ATP doubles rankings in 2023. He ascended to a career-high world No. 79 ranking after winning the Caribbean Open doubles championship on June 12 on the ATP Challenger Tour. He cracked the ATP top-100 for the first time on May 8 on the heels of a doubles title at the ATP Challenger Busan Open.

Since January 2022, Stalder has won five doubles championships and been a semifinalist on nine occasions.

In the first round, he and his partner David Pel won in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2. In the second round, it took three sets, but they won 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (10-7). The duo was eliminated in the third round to Bopana and Ebden, 5-7, 6-4, 6-7 (10-5).

Had Fearnley and Monday won their second-round match, they would have faced Stadler and Pel in the third round.

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