TCU Men’s Tennis: Frogs Beat UCLA, Celebrate Natty
Last week, the TCU men’s tennis team traveled to Los Angeles for a dual meet with the UCLA Bruins. The team got another road victory, its second of the season. TCU defeated UCLA 4-2. This year, the Horned Frogs are now 2-0 on the road and 6-0 away from home. TCU is now 1-3 playing at UCLA, having lost matches there in 1977, 1978, and 1980.
Then this week, the team had two more reasons to celebrate. First, a reception was held on Monday afternoon at the Schollmaier Arena with members of the Frog Club to celebrate the team’s ITA National Team Indoor National and, in this week’s USTA rankings, TCU is up to the No. 2 spot.
Barry Lewis
The TCU men's tennis team celebrated their national championship with fans.
This week’s USTA Men’s Tennis rankings have the Frogs up one spot and now are at No. 2, only behind Ohio State, a team that TCU beat in the semifinals of the Indoor Championship. After winning the indoor championship, TCU is on a quest to become part of an elite group of programs to win both the indoor and outdoor titles in the same season. It has happened seven times this century – Stanford (2000), Illinois (2003), Georgia (2007), USC (2012), Virginia (2013, 2017), and Wake Forest (2018).
Here is a recap of the dual match with UCLA
TCU 4 – UCLA 2 – March 10 – Los Angeles, California
Once again, freshman Pedro Vives had a hard-fought singles match that clinched the win for the Frogs. His match included defending five set points and winning five of the last six points to win his tiebreaker 9-7.
Again, TCU won the doubles point, winning at No. 2 and No. 3. This season, it is only the third time that TCU has won the doubles point without winning at No. 1. TCU has won 14 of the 16 doubles points this season.
The No. 4 ranked pairing of Sander Jong and Lui Maxted won their set first at No. 2, 6-1. The duo improved to 11-1 on the season, including five straight. Juan Carlos Aguilar and Vives won their set at No. 3, 6-2. As a duo, they are now 2-1. Individually, Aguilar is 8-4 in doubles, and Vives is 3-1. No. 6 ranked pairing of Luc Fomba and Jake Fearnley, playing at No. 1, did not finish their match.
All five of the completed matches were won in straight sets in the singles matches. Aguilar dominated his match at No.1, quickly winning 6-2, 6-1, putting TCU up 2-0. UCLA struck next, winning two matches to tie the dual, with Fearnley losing 3-6, 4-6 on No. 4, and Fomba losing at No. 2, 2-6, 2-6.
With the dual tied at 2-2, both Maxted and Vives were playing intense sets that would be crucial in the final victory. Maxted held serve for a 6-3, 6-4 victory at No. 6, putting TCU back in front, 3-2. Vives lost his lead and forced the tiebreaker. He was down 4-6 before winning five of the last six points to win the tiebreaker and giving the Frogs the win.
TCU is now 14-2 on the season and 8-2 vs. Top 25 teams.
Next up: TCU hosts USF on the purple courts in Fort Worth on Saturday, March 19.
2022 Men’s Tennis Schedule/Results
January 12 vs. UTRGV – Won 6-1
January 14 vs. Florida – Won 4-3
January 16 vs. Tennessee – Lost 3-4
January 27 vs. Abilene Christian – Won 4-1
January 29 vs. Portland – Won 4-0
January 30 vs. Tulsa – Won 4-0
February 6 vs. Ole Miss – Won 4-3
February 11 at Mississippi State – Won 6-1
February 13 vs. Virginia – Won 4-1
February 18-21 Intercollegiate Tennis Association Indoor Nationals Championship
February 18 vs. Virginia – Won 4-2
February 19 vs. Texas – Won 4-0
February 20 vs. Ohio State – Won 4-3
February 21 vs. Tennessee – Won 4-1
March 2 vs. Michigan – Lost 4-1
March 5 at Illinois – Won 4-2
March 10 at UCLA – Won 4-2
March 19 vs. USF
March 21 at SMU
March 25 vs. Baylor
March 27 at Tulane
April 1 vs. Texas Tech
April 3 at Baylor
April 9 vs. Texas
April 14 at Oklahoma State
April 16 at Oklahoma
April 22 vs. Big 12 Championship
May 19 NCAA Championship
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