Men’s Tennis: TCU Goes 2-1 Over Top Twenty Programs

The TCU Men’s Tennis team hosted three Top 20 programs - No. 19 Illinois, No. 3 Texas, and No. 10 USC – over six days last week. The Frogs easily beat Illinois 4-1 and shut out USC 7-0. However, in the middle match of those three, TCU stumbled for the first time of the season, losing to Texas 1-4.

As a result, in this week’s ITA college rankings, Texas and TCU swapped places, with the Longhorns now taking over the top spot and TCU dropping down to No. 3. TCU is currently 16-1 and opens Big 12 conference play this weekend, hosting both No. 39 Oklahoma and No. 34 Oklahoma State. The dual with Texas was considered a nonconference matchup. The two will face each other in conference play in Austin later this season.

March 19: TCU 4 – #19 Illinois 1

Doubles Play – Illinois Won

For the first time all season, TCU lost the doubles point. It ended both a program record and nation-leading streak, as the Frogs had won 18 consecutive doubles points, dating back to last season.

Sander Jong and Jack Pinnington, playing on court 3, lost 3-6
Sebastian Gorzny and Pedro Vives, playing on court 2, lost 7-6 (7-5)
Jake Fearnley and Luc Fomba, playing on court 1, were tied 6-6 when Illinois won the point
TCU is now 39-6 in doubles play over the last two seasons; over that time, TCU is 3-3 when losing the doubles point.

Singles Play – TCU won 4-0

Vives got it started for the Frogs winning 6-1, 6-3 on court six
No. 14 Fearnley won 6-2, 6-3 on court one
Gorzny, on court five, won 7-6 (7-1), 6-3
Pinnington secured the win for TCU, winning 7-6 (7-3), 6-1 on court three
Fomba was in his third set when the dual was won
Jong was on the verge of winning in two sets when the dual was won.

March 22: TCU 1 – #3 Texas 4

"Rough day," head coach David Roditi said. "They took it to us. They played better. They deserved the win. They were the better team. It's disappointing. It was a great college match. Clean match absolutely no issues other than that we just got beat. The crowd was awesome. The atmosphere was great. To the fans that came and supported us, thank you so much. We've got to do better than that. We'll get together as a team and discuss and see what we need to do to learn from today. I know our guys are very disappointed, and we must learn from it. Congratulations to Texas. They're a great team, and they deserved to win today. Go Frogs."

Doubles Play – Texas Won

For the second-straight dual, TCU lost the doubles point
Jong and Pinnington, on court two, lost 6-3
Gorzny and Vives, on court three, lost 6-4
Fearnley and Fomba, on court one, lost 7-6 (7-5); it was only their second loss as a duo this season.

Singles Play – Texas won 3-1

Pinnington got the Frogs on the board with a 6-3, 6-1 win on court three
Tomas Jirousek, on court six, lost 6-1, 6-4
Fomba, on court two, lost 5-7, 2-6
Fearnley, on court one, lost 3-6, 6-3, 3-6
Jong and Gorzny were both playing in their third sets when the dual was won.

March 24: TCU 7 – #10 USC 0

Less than 48 hours after that first season loss, TCU returned to their winning ways with a dominating 7-0 sweep of USC. And in doing so, Fomba notched his 100th career singles victory. In the 11 years of being in the Big 12, Fomba is the first player in TCU history to reach this milestone.

Doubles Play – TCU Won

Fearnley and Fomba, on court one and the No. 13 duo in the nation, won 6-4
Jong and Pinnington, on court three, won 6-4
Gorzny and Vives, on court two, were down 4-5 when the point was won

Singles Play – TCU won 6-0

Both coaches agreed to play out all matches in the dual
Fearnley, the No. 21 singles player in the nation, won 6-4, 6-0 on court one
Gorzny, on court five, won 6-3, 6-2
Jong secured the dual win for TCU with a straight-set win on court four – 6-4, 6-1
Vives, on court six, played a 10-point super set for his third set, winning the match 0-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-5)
Fomba, on court three, won that milestone match in straight sets, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3
Pinnington wrapped it up for the Frogs on court two, also playing a super-set, with a 5-7, 7-5, 1-0 (10-8) win.

Next up: The Horned Frogs open Big 12 Conference Play with two duals this weekend. On Friday, March 31, TCU hosts No. 39 Oklahoma at 5:30 pm. Then on Sunday, April 2, TCU hosts No. 34 Oklahoma State at 2:30 pm.

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