Anyone for Tennis? Jake Fearnley Named Big 12 Player of the Week
After defeating No. 1 Florida's Josh Goodger (7-6, 6-4) at No. 6 singles on Friday January 14, posting a 6-0 overall record for the week, and clinching TCU's first-ever home victory over a No. 1 ranked opponent, sophomore Jake Fearnley has been named Big 12 Player of the Week.
Fearnley won all six of his matches last week, winning three doubles matches on the top TCU pairing (playing alongside Luc Fomba) in addition to two victories at No. 6 singles and a win at No. 5 singles.
As with Max Duggan, Fearnley has heart enough to prevail despite an injury that caused him to miss most of the fall season. He cruised to a 6-0 doubles win with Fomba before winning his singles match at No. 5, 6-0, 6-1, the most dominant singles match of his career. He won 12 games while losing only one.
On Friday night, Fearnley started the match against No. 1 Florida playing No. 1 doubles, again with Fomba, and No. 6 singles. In doubles, Fearnley and Fomba triumphed over Florida's top pairing of Sam Riffice and Ben Shelton, 6-4, clinching the doubles point, which would be the difference in the match.
With only four courts in play for singles, TCU was leading 3-1 when the Edinburgh native bested No. 111 Josh Goodger in straight sets (7-6, 6-4) to secure the Horned Frogs' victory. For the first time in his career, Fearnley won a singles match against a ranked opponent.
He performed similarly last Sunday against No. 4 Tennessee, winning his No. 1 doubles match, 6-3, over defending doubles national champions Pat Harper and Adam Walton. With the aid of that victory, TCU won the doubles point for the third time that week. TCU was down, 2-3, when Fearnley came to court to play a miraculous match, overcoming No. 123 Conor Gannon (4-6, 7-5, 6-2) to keep TCU even with Tennessee, at 3-3. Although Tennessee would ultimately prove triumphant, Fearnley collected his second straight ranked singles win, entering the week with none, and solidified his place on the No.5-ranked TCU squad.
The Horned Frogs and Fearnley will be hosting Abilene Christian University on January 27, at 2pm, inside Bayard H Friedman Tennis Center. The match will be open to the public. Free pizza will be provided, compliments of Buffalo Bros.
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