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https://gofrogs.com/news/2020/1/26/mens-tennis-tcu-powers-past-arizona-4-0.aspx
GoFrogs: Men's Tennis Powers Past Arizona, 4-0
FORT WORTH – The No. 8 TCU men's tennis team showed incredible resolve on all courts to out-battle Arizona, 4-0 Sunday afternoon at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center. After convincing wins in doubles, the Horned Frogs engaged in thrilling, high quality bouts in singles where they emerged victorious. Alastair Gray and Tadeas Paroulek each notched wins over ranked opponents with Tomas Jirousek delivering at No. 6 once again.
"What a beautiful day to be out here watching some college tennis," head coach David Roditi said. "It was almost too good of an event for so early in the season. So much respect for what Coach Shields has done at Arizona. He has built a program that revolves around grit and we were ready for that. I was curious to see how our young team would respond. If one of the goals early in the season is to get battle-tested but not beat, that is exactly what happened today. I'm very happy that we were pushed on every court and our guys responded. I'm proud of the way our guys responded in singles and how we showed up in doubles and sent a message from the very first point. We were ready to compete. It's hard not to get too excited. We have such a young squad that just beat a really good and seasoned team. This is a great place to build from for us. The whole team is back next season and I'm so excited to see how much better we can be down the road.
DOUBLES RECAP
The squad came out ready to perform in doubles play as both the No. 1 and No. 3 pairings jumped in front by two breaks to open their matches with 4-0 leads. The No. 29-ranked Gray and Jacob Fearnley finished the job in dominant fashion on court one, 6-0. It was their second win of the weekend and first bagel of 2020. On court three, Luc Fomba and Bertus Kruger held serve for the remainder of the match to win, 6-2, clinching the doubles point. They are now 2-0 as a pair this spring. TCU has yet to lose a doubles match this season, 6-0.
Doubles Results
1. #29 Alastair Gray/Jacob Fearnley (TCU) def. Carlos Hassey/Jonas Ziverts (ARIZ) 6-0
2. Sander Jong/Tadeas Paroulek (TCU) vs. Igor Karpovets/Filip Malbasic (ARIZ) 4-3, unfinished
3. Luc Fomba/Bertus Kruger (TCU) def. Alejandro Reguant/Stewart Block (ARIZ) 6-2
SINGLES RECAP
Singles play featured six intense matches across all courts as each Horned Frog overcame adversity to either win their match or hold a lead by day's end.
At No. 1, Gray faced his second ranked opponent of the season, No. 61 Ziverts. After going down a break on his first serve, Gray responded by immediately breaking back and winning the next five games for good measure, taking the first set, 6-2. In the second, he would once again be broken early to fall behind, 1-3, before breaking back instantly and winning the next four games to win his match, 6-2, 6-3. Gray has now won all four of his games immediately following a broken serve this season.
Jirousek continued his banner weekend on court six. After clinching the duel in his collegiate debut on Saturday, Jirousek delivered again. After trading breaks in the first four games, 2-2, the Czech freshman dug in to win the next four games and take the set, 6-2. In the second set, he secured a break on his opponent's first serve once again but fell behind in the coming games, 2-4. The ever-enthusiastic Jirousek maintained good spirits and broke back to put the match on-serve, 3-4. From there, both players held serve to force a tiebreak. After falling behind 1-2 in the tiebreak, Jirousek found the right formula and won the next six points to claim the set and the match, 6-2 ,7-6(2). He is now 2-0 as a Horned Frog and has broken his opponent's first serve of the set in three of four sets this season.
Finally, on court two, Paroulek was locked in a fierce battle with the No. 36-ranked Malbasic of Arizona. Paroulek dropped the opening set, 3-6, suffering a late break despite many long rallies and difficult shot making. In the second set, his hard work would come to fruition as his consistent defense and devastating drop shots put him up two-breaks, 5-0. He would go on to win the set, 6-1, forcing his second third set of the season. In the third, Paroulek jumped in front, 1-0 off a furious rally to go up a break. He would be broken in the next game before thrilling the TCU crowd with another break to reclaim the lead, 2-1. Both players held serve until Paroulek showed his quality with another break to take a 5-2 lead. Serving for the match, Paroulek endured a gritty performance from the 36th best singles player in college before delivering a blistering forehand across the court to cement the win. It was his first-career ranked win and his first three-set victory as a Horned Frog. By matches end, the TCU freshman won five break points while surrendering just two to the Top-50 opponent. Paroulek is now 1-1 at No. 2 singles with his lone loss coming in a superset, on the road, at No. 25 Arizona State.
Elsewhere in singles, all three Horned Frogs held leads when the match was clinched by Paroulek. Fomba overcame a first set loss to lead by a break in his third set. Fearnley withstood a comeback effort from his opponent at No. 4 to lead by a break in his third set and Sander Jong wowed the spectators with a 14-12 first set tiebreak victory. Jong led his third set, 1-0 at duel's end.
With the victory, TCU has qualified for the ITA Indoor National Championships in Madison, Wisc. February 14-17.
Singles Results
1. #51 Alastair Gray (TCU) def. #61 Jonas Ziverts (ARIZ) 6-2, 6-3
2. Tadeas Paroulek (TCU) def. #36 Filip Malbasic (ARIZ) 3-6, 6-1, 6-2
3. #100 Luc Fomba (TCU) vs. #86 Alejandro Reguant (ARIZ) 3-6, 6-4, 4-3, unfinished
4. #119 Jacob Fearnley (TCU) vs. Igor Karpovets (ARIZ) 6-1, 5-7, 5-4, unfinished
5. Sander Jong (TCU) vs. Carlos Hassey (ARIZ) 7-6 (14-12), 1-6, 1-0, unfinished
6. Tomas Jirousek (TCU) def. Nick Lagaev (ARIZ) 6-2, 7-6 (7-2)
Up Next
TCU heads out on the road for a Saturday afternoon duel with No. 20 Michigan at 12 p.m. in Ann Arbor.
For more information on TCU men's tennis, visit gofrogs.com and follow the team on social media: @TCUMensTennis on twitter, Facebook and the all new men's tennis Instagram.
GoFrogs: Men's Tennis Powers Past Arizona, 4-0
FORT WORTH – The No. 8 TCU men's tennis team showed incredible resolve on all courts to out-battle Arizona, 4-0 Sunday afternoon at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center. After convincing wins in doubles, the Horned Frogs engaged in thrilling, high quality bouts in singles where they emerged victorious. Alastair Gray and Tadeas Paroulek each notched wins over ranked opponents with Tomas Jirousek delivering at No. 6 once again.
"What a beautiful day to be out here watching some college tennis," head coach David Roditi said. "It was almost too good of an event for so early in the season. So much respect for what Coach Shields has done at Arizona. He has built a program that revolves around grit and we were ready for that. I was curious to see how our young team would respond. If one of the goals early in the season is to get battle-tested but not beat, that is exactly what happened today. I'm very happy that we were pushed on every court and our guys responded. I'm proud of the way our guys responded in singles and how we showed up in doubles and sent a message from the very first point. We were ready to compete. It's hard not to get too excited. We have such a young squad that just beat a really good and seasoned team. This is a great place to build from for us. The whole team is back next season and I'm so excited to see how much better we can be down the road.
DOUBLES RECAP
The squad came out ready to perform in doubles play as both the No. 1 and No. 3 pairings jumped in front by two breaks to open their matches with 4-0 leads. The No. 29-ranked Gray and Jacob Fearnley finished the job in dominant fashion on court one, 6-0. It was their second win of the weekend and first bagel of 2020. On court three, Luc Fomba and Bertus Kruger held serve for the remainder of the match to win, 6-2, clinching the doubles point. They are now 2-0 as a pair this spring. TCU has yet to lose a doubles match this season, 6-0.
Doubles Results
1. #29 Alastair Gray/Jacob Fearnley (TCU) def. Carlos Hassey/Jonas Ziverts (ARIZ) 6-0
2. Sander Jong/Tadeas Paroulek (TCU) vs. Igor Karpovets/Filip Malbasic (ARIZ) 4-3, unfinished
3. Luc Fomba/Bertus Kruger (TCU) def. Alejandro Reguant/Stewart Block (ARIZ) 6-2
SINGLES RECAP
Singles play featured six intense matches across all courts as each Horned Frog overcame adversity to either win their match or hold a lead by day's end.
At No. 1, Gray faced his second ranked opponent of the season, No. 61 Ziverts. After going down a break on his first serve, Gray responded by immediately breaking back and winning the next five games for good measure, taking the first set, 6-2. In the second, he would once again be broken early to fall behind, 1-3, before breaking back instantly and winning the next four games to win his match, 6-2, 6-3. Gray has now won all four of his games immediately following a broken serve this season.
Jirousek continued his banner weekend on court six. After clinching the duel in his collegiate debut on Saturday, Jirousek delivered again. After trading breaks in the first four games, 2-2, the Czech freshman dug in to win the next four games and take the set, 6-2. In the second set, he secured a break on his opponent's first serve once again but fell behind in the coming games, 2-4. The ever-enthusiastic Jirousek maintained good spirits and broke back to put the match on-serve, 3-4. From there, both players held serve to force a tiebreak. After falling behind 1-2 in the tiebreak, Jirousek found the right formula and won the next six points to claim the set and the match, 6-2 ,7-6(2). He is now 2-0 as a Horned Frog and has broken his opponent's first serve of the set in three of four sets this season.
Finally, on court two, Paroulek was locked in a fierce battle with the No. 36-ranked Malbasic of Arizona. Paroulek dropped the opening set, 3-6, suffering a late break despite many long rallies and difficult shot making. In the second set, his hard work would come to fruition as his consistent defense and devastating drop shots put him up two-breaks, 5-0. He would go on to win the set, 6-1, forcing his second third set of the season. In the third, Paroulek jumped in front, 1-0 off a furious rally to go up a break. He would be broken in the next game before thrilling the TCU crowd with another break to reclaim the lead, 2-1. Both players held serve until Paroulek showed his quality with another break to take a 5-2 lead. Serving for the match, Paroulek endured a gritty performance from the 36th best singles player in college before delivering a blistering forehand across the court to cement the win. It was his first-career ranked win and his first three-set victory as a Horned Frog. By matches end, the TCU freshman won five break points while surrendering just two to the Top-50 opponent. Paroulek is now 1-1 at No. 2 singles with his lone loss coming in a superset, on the road, at No. 25 Arizona State.
Elsewhere in singles, all three Horned Frogs held leads when the match was clinched by Paroulek. Fomba overcame a first set loss to lead by a break in his third set. Fearnley withstood a comeback effort from his opponent at No. 4 to lead by a break in his third set and Sander Jong wowed the spectators with a 14-12 first set tiebreak victory. Jong led his third set, 1-0 at duel's end.
With the victory, TCU has qualified for the ITA Indoor National Championships in Madison, Wisc. February 14-17.
Singles Results
1. #51 Alastair Gray (TCU) def. #61 Jonas Ziverts (ARIZ) 6-2, 6-3
2. Tadeas Paroulek (TCU) def. #36 Filip Malbasic (ARIZ) 3-6, 6-1, 6-2
3. #100 Luc Fomba (TCU) vs. #86 Alejandro Reguant (ARIZ) 3-6, 6-4, 4-3, unfinished
4. #119 Jacob Fearnley (TCU) vs. Igor Karpovets (ARIZ) 6-1, 5-7, 5-4, unfinished
5. Sander Jong (TCU) vs. Carlos Hassey (ARIZ) 7-6 (14-12), 1-6, 1-0, unfinished
6. Tomas Jirousek (TCU) def. Nick Lagaev (ARIZ) 6-2, 7-6 (7-2)
Up Next
TCU heads out on the road for a Saturday afternoon duel with No. 20 Michigan at 12 p.m. in Ann Arbor.
For more information on TCU men's tennis, visit gofrogs.com and follow the team on social media: @TCUMensTennis on twitter, Facebook and the all new men's tennis Instagram.
