TCU Men’s Tennis Advances To Sweet Sixteen
The No. 1 seed TCU Horned Frogs men’s tennis team (25-4) swept Utah (21-8) 4-0 in the Fort Worth Regional championship dual. The win advances TCU to the third round of the NCAA Tournament. The Sweet Sixteen match will be on Saturday, May 14, on the purple courts at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center in Fort Worth. TCU will face NC State for an opportunity to advance to the quarterfinals in Champaign, Illinois.
The win over Utah extends a streak for the Horned Frogs, who will compete in the Sweet Sixteen round for the seventh straight season and the 15th time in program history.
Once again, TCU won the doubles point. It was their 24th doubles win of the season. The nation’s No. 1 ranked duo of Luc Fomba and Jake Fearnley won the first five games of their match and won 6-1 at No. 1. They improved to 19-5 on the season as a pair. Juan Carlos Aguilar and Pedro Vives then won their set at No. 3, 6-2, to give the Frogs the doubles point. They improved to 9-3 as a pair this season. Sander Jong and Luis Maxted at No. 2 were on serve at 4-5 when the point was won.
Just like the first round on Friday, Tomas Jirousek, at No. 6, got off to a quick start winning 6-1, 6-0, and putting the Frogs up 2-0. Fearnley kept things going for the Frogs, winning in straight sets at No. 4, 6-4, 6-3. Jong, playing at No.3, got a late break in his second set to go up 6-5 and then held serve to win his second set and clinch the dual win for TCU. He won 6-3, 7-5. This was his 20th win of the season, a team-high. His 20-4 dual season record is currently the fourth-highest win percentage in program history. TCU improved to 97-43 in singles matches this season.
"The guys did what we needed to get done,” said head coach David Roditi. “We found out just before the match that their best player was injured, and that put Utah in a tough spot, but our guys didn’t let that distract them. Took care of business at No. 1 doubles, 6-1, and won at three to get the doubles point. Which was huge, considering they needed to get four points without their No. 1 singles player. Tomas did a great job at six, and Jake battled through to win at four. Sander breaks there at the end to get the straight-set victory. I’m happy for these guys. We can use this next week of practice, without having to worry about finals, to get ready for the Sweet 16. We are very fortunate that we get to host it against either Middle Tennessee State or NC State. We really appreciate the support. We love playing in front of our fans, we’ll need the best possible support next Saturday to get to Champaign for the Elite 8. This will be the last home match of the season. We’re looking forward to playing in front of our fans one last time and hopefully get to keep dancing after that. Go Frogs!!”
Postseason Dates
The Fort Worth Regional was one of 16 regionals played this weekend. Winners of each regional advanced to a Super Regional either on May 13 or 14. As the No. 1 overall seed, TCU will host the Super Regional on May 14 at 3 p.m. versus NC State, the winner of the Raleigh Regional.
Winners of the eight Super Regionals will advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals in Champaign, Illinois, on May 19. The semifinals will be held in Champaign on May 21, with the NCAA Championship set for May 22.
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