TCU Men’s Tennis: Frogs win Indoor National Championship
TCU’s men’s tennis (12-1) served up the program’s first-ever national championship after beating No. 3 Tennessee on Monday by a score of 4-1 in the ITA Team Indoor National Championship.
Even TCU veteran Cam Norrie was impressed:
The win avenged the team’s only loss of the season. Tennessee played TCU in Fort Worth on January 16. The Volunteers won that dual 4-3.
Monday’s matches were all very competitive, and though the Horned Frogs took the early lead, and were up 3-1, the remaining matches were all close. Any of those matches could have swung in favor of Tennessee. Freshman Pedro Vives won his third set in the singles match to clinch the victory for the Frogs.
The win over Tennessee was the 10th win in a row for the Horned Frogs and seventh straight over ranked opponents, dating back to a home win over Ole Miss on February 6. This is the longest streak against ranked opponents since 2018. This was also the fourth win of the season over teams ranked in the Top 5.
“Special day,” head coach David Roditi said. “Not just for our players, but our alumni, our Frog Family, this title means a lot. I’m super excited that our players were actually able to get that title. I feel very fortunate as a coach and very thankful to be in this situation.
TCU won their 12th doubles point of the season, winning on courts one and two. Sander Jong and Lui Maxted won their set 6-3 at No. 2. This pairing has a team-best 9-1 doubles record this season and is 2-0 against ranked opponents. Tennessee then won the next set at No. 3 beating the TCU duo of Juan Carlos Aguilar and Tim Ruehl. That left the doubles competition up to the top pairing of Luc Fomba and Jake Fearnley at No. 1. They were up 5-4 then broke Tennessee’s serve to win the match 6-4 and clinch the doubles point for the Frogs. Fomba and Fearnley are now 4-0 against ranked opponents.
TCU came out fast and strong in the singles matches, winning four of the first sets. Fearnley was the first to complete his match, winning in straight sets 6-1, 6-3 at No. 5, giving TCU a 2-0 lead in the dual.
Jong moved the Frogs to 3-0 in the dual with another straight-set victory at No. 3, winning 6-2, 6-4. Jong was also named Big 12 Player of the Week on Tuesday after his impressive performance in the last three rounds of the Indoor Nationals. Tennessee got the next point with a straight-set victory of their own, defeating Aguilar 6-4, 6-1. This put TCU up 3-1, with three remaining matches.
TCU had won two of the first sets in those remaining matches, but it was the match at No. 4 with Vives that became the tense one to watch. Vives had lost his first set 3-6 but battled back to win his second set 6-4. Vives had his serve broken in his first service game of the third set, falling behind, 2-0, before immediately breaking back and then finally securing a second break to go in front, 5-4. He would serve an ace on championship point to give TCU the 4-1 clinch. Vives is now 6-1 this season, 3-1 against ranked opponents, and a perfect 3-0 in three-set matches.
TCU is now 25-6 in doubles matches, outscoring opponents 199-146, and 43-17 in singles matches.
Final Stats – 2022 Indoor Nationals
- Luc Fomba: 4-1 Overall (1-0 singles | 3-1 doubles)
- Juan Carlos Aguilar: 3-4 Overall (2-2 singles | 1-2 doubles)
- Sander Jong: 6-2 Overall (3-1 singles | 3-1 doubles)
- Pedro Vives: 3-1 Overall (3-1 singles)
- Jake Fearnley: 5-2 Overall (2-1 singles | 3-1 doubles)
- Lui Maxted: 5-1 Overall (2-0 singles | 3-1 doubles)
- Tim Ruehl: 1-2 Overall (1-2 doubles)
- Tomas Jirousek – 0-0 (unfinished at No. 6 singles vs. UT in quarterfinals)
Next up: TCU opens the outdoor season as they host Michigan on March 2.
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
March 5 at Illinois
March 10 at UCLA
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 Champion
May 19 NCAA Championship
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