2018 TCU Tennis Thread
- Thread starter Longfrog
- Start date
Not going to lie, I can’t imagine watching a tennis match that’s 4 hours. Saying that though, that’s freaking awesome seeing the reaction of everyone. Good for Norrie
Longfrog
Active Member
Norrie post-match. You don't often see the #114 say this about a top-ranked player. What an assassin.
"Thanks to my team they gave me great energy. I looked to my forehand the whole match and I thought I was tougher than the guy. I played it point by point. I managed to put it together and keep GB in the tie. This is my first match on clay so I’m stoked. I backed myself physically and mentally."
"Thanks to my team they gave me great energy. I looked to my forehand the whole match and I thought I was tougher than the guy. I played it point by point. I managed to put it together and keep GB in the tie. This is my first match on clay so I’m stoked. I backed myself physically and mentally."
Moose Stuff
Active Member
The “first match on clay” part makes the whole thing beyond unbelievable.
Longfrog
Active Member
Frogs are set to take on #3 UNC in Chapel Hill in a little over an hour. They're really good, but they did just scrape past Illinois 4-3 over the weekend. They're the defending NCAA runners-up as a team, and are led by Will Blumberg, who was the runner-up in last year's singles competition as a freshman. They also got the top-ranked North American recruit this year, who's playing at the #2 spot.
I'm really hoping Alastair Gray is back healthy... it will take all hands on deck to pull off the upset. And we'd be well advised to win the doubles point. Video link below.
I'm really hoping Alastair Gray is back healthy... it will take all hands on deck to pull off the upset. And we'd be well advised to win the doubles point. Video link below.
Longfrog
Active Member
It's been interesting as the Frogs lost the doubles point without much of a fight and then dropped the first set in all 6 singles matches. Courts 5 & 6 lost in lopsided fashion, meaning we had to reel off 8 sets in a row on courts 1-4. But we've managed to claw our way back in some of these. Trevor Johnson looks like he's about to win at #2, and we're headed to 3rd sets at #3 & 4. Still a huge task but at least we're fighting.
Longfrog
Active Member
That'll do it as Rybakov goes down 7-6, 7-5. They're going to let the other 2 matches finish, but it's just window dressing. If you're being generous, you'd say we were without one of our best players and we're better suited to playing outdoors. But I think this match exposes us in a couple areas: (1) we're not a very good doubles team, and (2) like last year, we are paper thin. If any of our top 5 guys gets hurt, we're just not good enough to overcome it.
jake102
Active Member
Yep. Also our #1 player isnt Norrie. Rybo is good but he isnt best player in nation.
Disappointed about the severe drop in talent after #5. Like you said, one injury and we are screwed. Altho i would argue that even without an injury we are going to lose majority of matches on #6. Roditi has to do better filling out the team
Longfrog
Active Member
Yeah, as compared to last year, we're definitely weaker at the top. But Rybo is very good and we're lucky to have him. A guy like Norrie doesn't come around every year.
I've been hesitant to criticize the recruiting, but you're right. When you see a team like UNC able to pull in a freshman that can beat our top player, it shows how short we fell in recruiting the last couple years. Gray is good but he's not nearly enough. One or two others might be decent in a year or two, but we need help now. And i shudder to think about next year after we lose nunez, johnson, and stalder.
But we were playing one of the top teams in the nation at their place indoors. I think we can still be pretty good this year, even if we do lose too many doubles points and #6 singles matches. The big 12 looks less impressive than previous years so far. I doubt we're good enough to make a run at nationals like we have in recent years, but we could still win a conference title.
jake102
Active Member
Yeah I think that's all correct. Just surprising we went on such a hot streak recruiting Norrie, Nunez, and Rybo (plus Johnson, Nava) and then have slid backwards hard.
Speaking of Nava, its part of my disappointment because I saw that he joined the stacked Wake Forest team. We could REALLY use him right now, wonder what happened.
Longfrog
Active Member
Yeah, I think I saw Nava has only gotten into one match with Wake so far, and he took the only loss in a 6-1 win. It was a weird move... don't really get it. Maybe he never got right with Roditi again after retiring in his singles match of our loss to Cal at nationals. He'd surely be our #6 right now.
Seems like we ought to be able to attract some transfers of our own. I know next to nothing about recruiting, especially the rules on contacting other teams' players. But there's gotta be somebody out there who could really help us, like when we got Jerry Lopez to transfer from Kentucky.
I am holding out a sliver of hope that Juan Martin turns out to be good. There's nothing on his bio and I think he's the only guy to not see any action this year. It reminds me of Gray's situation last year. Maybe it's a similar deal with eligibility issues. I know I'm grasping, but I just hope we're not totally in the lurch next year.
Seems like we ought to be able to attract some transfers of our own. I know next to nothing about recruiting, especially the rules on contacting other teams' players. But there's gotta be somebody out there who could really help us, like when we got Jerry Lopez to transfer from Kentucky.
I am holding out a sliver of hope that Juan Martin turns out to be good. There's nothing on his bio and I think he's the only guy to not see any action this year. It reminds me of Gray's situation last year. Maybe it's a similar deal with eligibility issues. I know I'm grasping, but I just hope we're not totally in the lurch next year.
Longfrog
Active Member
The Frogs downed Tulsa last night in their first action in a couple weeks. Since the disaster against San Diego, they're 4-1... all the wins have been routine and the only loss was a close one to #6 UNC.
So they're playing well, but now the schedule ramps up in a hurry. During the month of March the Frogs will face:
#5 Columbia
#7 Texas A&M
#9 Illinois
#10 Duke
#18 Florida
#22 Tulane
Since the Big 12 is down this year, these matches take on added importance. They really need to win at least 4 if they want a decent ranking by year end. First up is Illinois on Friday.
So they're playing well, but now the schedule ramps up in a hurry. During the month of March the Frogs will face:
#5 Columbia
#7 Texas A&M
#9 Illinois
#10 Duke
#18 Florida
#22 Tulane
Since the Big 12 is down this year, these matches take on added importance. They really need to win at least 4 if they want a decent ranking by year end. First up is Illinois on Friday.
Longfrog
Active Member
One other note, it looks like Cam Norrie is going to try to make it on the main ATP tour this year. Last year he played primarily on the Challenger tour, which is like AAA. He'll probably have to get through a few qualifier rounds to even get to the main tournament most weeks. If you can go deep in a tournament or two, you can rack up ranking points in a hurry, but there's going to be a lot of weeks where he comes away with nothing. So it's a bit more risky.
Case in point his past week in Acapulco. He got through qualifying but was drawn against world #6 Dominic Thiem in the 1st round. Norrie looked headed for a pretty routine defeat as Thiem was serving for the match at 6-3, 5-4. But Norrie broke serve, won the second set, and put a pretty good scare into Thiem before falling 7-5 in the 3rd. He's playing well and hopefully he'll start to get some big results soon.
Case in point his past week in Acapulco. He got through qualifying but was drawn against world #6 Dominic Thiem in the 1st round. Norrie looked headed for a pretty routine defeat as Thiem was serving for the match at 6-3, 5-4. But Norrie broke serve, won the second set, and put a pretty good scare into Thiem before falling 7-5 in the 3rd. He's playing well and hopefully he'll start to get some big results soon.
Longfrog
Active Member
It's a little stale now, but the Frogs lost their match with Illinois 5-2. It was more of a rout than it sounds, as Illinois got to 4 points in a hurry, and then TCU won a few at the end after things had been decided. It's the same old story... lose the doubles point and the #6 singles spot without much of a fight, and then you have to win 4 of the other 5 singles matches. Fortunately we're good enough to compete at every spot, but it's a tall task against a good team. We also have a couple of guys in Gray and Nunez who have been dealing with injuries, and on that day Nunez had to retire during his match, although he looked like he was headed for defeat anyways. Gray also lost his match at #3. Rybakov and Stalder won close matches against good opponents. I was bummed that Trevor Johnson - who got to play at the #1 spot - couldn't pull out a win. He was playing a guy who has been there forever and who is always ranked as one of the top players in the country. TJ lost in a 3rd set tiebreaker.
Last night the Frogs beat Penn 6-1. They aren't good and so it was a little concerning just to see us struggle in a few spots. Once again, we lost at #6 singles. Next week things get interesting again as we play #12 Duke on Tuesday and #9 Florida on Wednesday.
Last night the Frogs beat Penn 6-1. They aren't good and so it was a little concerning just to see us struggle in a few spots. Once again, we lost at #6 singles. Next week things get interesting again as we play #12 Duke on Tuesday and #9 Florida on Wednesday.
