2020 Tennis Thread
- Thread starter Longfrog
- Start date
Longfrog
Active Member
Last 6 matches...
#9 NC State W 4-0
#13 TX A&M W 4-0
SMU W 4-0
USF W 6-1
#14 Ole Miss W 4-0
#8 Stanford W 4-1
What's going well right now? It starts at the top with Alastair Gray, who had a terrific weekend with straight-set wins over two opponents ranked in the top 60. I said at the start of the season that the bottom of our order would be our bread and butter, but he and Fomba have proven to be really solid at #1/2. That's covered over a few more wobbles than I would have expected from the others, but guys like Paroulek and Kruger are starting to come around.
What is not going well? Our #1 doubles team has lost four matches in a row. The #2/3 teams have been great, but those doubles points will be precious against Baylor and UT, so Gray and Fearnley need to figure it out. The other issue is Jirousek has been MIA for almost a month now. I believe Roditi said it he missed indoors due to illness, so hopefully it's nothing too serious and he's working his way back as we speak.
So after a dreadful stretch, I would say the Frogs are exactly where I thought they would be. They're ranked #12, but that should improve a little with the latest results. I agree with Jake that they are probably in the range of #6 to #8 in the country. They have a couple of tricky matches later in the month playing at Illinois and against Columbia at home. Then the meat grinder of the Big 12 starts with five tough matches in a row.
Meanwhile, UT and Baylor, the preseason favorites for the Big 12, continue to struggle. UT lost to NC State over the weekend (see our scoreline with them above). They are very good at the top but young and unpredictable at the bottom. Baylor has been in a funk for a while, and Brooksby still has not played for them. I listened to a podcast where they said he is still progressing and it's only a matter of time. They are probably just going to hold him until conference play.
#9 NC State W 4-0
#13 TX A&M W 4-0
SMU W 4-0
USF W 6-1
#14 Ole Miss W 4-0
#8 Stanford W 4-1
What's going well right now? It starts at the top with Alastair Gray, who had a terrific weekend with straight-set wins over two opponents ranked in the top 60. I said at the start of the season that the bottom of our order would be our bread and butter, but he and Fomba have proven to be really solid at #1/2. That's covered over a few more wobbles than I would have expected from the others, but guys like Paroulek and Kruger are starting to come around.
What is not going well? Our #1 doubles team has lost four matches in a row. The #2/3 teams have been great, but those doubles points will be precious against Baylor and UT, so Gray and Fearnley need to figure it out. The other issue is Jirousek has been MIA for almost a month now. I believe Roditi said it he missed indoors due to illness, so hopefully it's nothing too serious and he's working his way back as we speak.
So after a dreadful stretch, I would say the Frogs are exactly where I thought they would be. They're ranked #12, but that should improve a little with the latest results. I agree with Jake that they are probably in the range of #6 to #8 in the country. They have a couple of tricky matches later in the month playing at Illinois and against Columbia at home. Then the meat grinder of the Big 12 starts with five tough matches in a row.
Meanwhile, UT and Baylor, the preseason favorites for the Big 12, continue to struggle. UT lost to NC State over the weekend (see our scoreline with them above). They are very good at the top but young and unpredictable at the bottom. Baylor has been in a funk for a while, and Brooksby still has not played for them. I listened to a podcast where they said he is still progressing and it's only a matter of time. They are probably just going to hold him until conference play.
