TCU Men's Tennis 2021-2022

[Jared7]

Gray's opening round match at EllisPark will be against Julian Cash, who we know from his days at Oklahoma State, but who is also a Brit with an ATP ranking of #1018.

Jong's first round main draw match at Fayetteville will be against Finn Bass, a Tulane grad, also a Brit (and Alastair's former juniors doubles partner) with an ATP ranking of #1123 and who has now transferred to Baylor. Jirousek will face Bangoura, who is the top seed at Fayetteville, with an ATP ranking of #423. Vives Marcos isn't listed so I now don't think he's in Arkansas at all.

 

[Jared7]

Bad news in Fayetteville as all Frogs have now lost. Tomas Jirousek lost to Sekou Bangoura 3 and 3 and Sander Jong lost to Finn Bass 1 and 4. So they got some action in but didn't get good results. Next up for some of them will be next week in Lubbock.

Gray will play Cash (probably) tomorrow in Joburg but the time remains TBD.

 

[MathFrog]

Vives Marcos isn't listed so I now don't think he's in Arkansas at all.... Bad news in Fayetteville as all Frogs have now lost. Tomas Jirousek lost to Sekou Bangoura 3 and 3 and Sander Jong lost to Finn Bass 1 and 4. So they got some action in but didn't get good results. Next up for some of them will be next week in Lubbock.

It looks to me that the Fayetteville ITF tournament page shows Vives Marcos is seeded 8th in the main draw and will play Blu Baker, who beat Juan Carlos Aguilar in the qualies, in the first round. Sander Jong must have gotten through as a lucky loser, as he is also listed in the main draw, and he's scheduled to play Illinois' Karlis Ozolins in the first round.

All four Frogs in Fayetteville are also scheduled to play doubles. Aguilar/Jong are seeded fourth, and Jirousek/Vives Marcos are unseeded.

 

[Jared7]

It looks to me that the Fayetteville ITF tournament page shows Vives Marcos is seeded 8th in the main draw and will play Blu Baker, who beat Juan Carlos Aguilar in the qualies, in the first round. Sander Jong must have gotten through as a lucky loser, as he is also listed in the main draw, and he's scheduled to play Illinois' Karlis Ozolins in the first round.

All four Frogs in Fayetteville are also scheduled to play doubles. Aguilar/Jong are seeded fourth, and Jirousek/Vives Marcos are unseeded.

Indeed, Frogs are still alive in Arkansas! Sander Jong is now playing Ozolins and is currently trailing after losing the first set 4-6. And Vives Marcos will play Baker later.

And Alastair Gray beat Julian Cash 3 and 3 in Joburg in his first rounder and will next play Sebastian Prechtel in the 2nd round.

 

[Longfrog]

Unlike a year ago, there's a clear favorite in Florida, which I believe only lost their #6 player to graduation.

This claim now in jeopardy as last year's #4 singles player Blaise Bicknell has reportedly entered the portal. He went 32-0 in singles last year.

 

[Jared7]

Whoa! Sander Jong was trailing, down a set, but then won in a walkover over Ozolins 4-6, 6-0. So, he's into the Round of 16 after losing his qualie match and trailing significantly in his first round of the main draw. Vives Marcos v. Blu Baker next...

 

[Jared7]

This claim now in jeopardy as last year's #4 singles player Blaise Bicknell has reportedly entered the portal. He went 32-0 in singles last year.

Well, I think they'll still be favored. They annihilated us last year 7-0. Losing Bicknell reminds me of what Sam Baugh said about the dropped pass against the Bears in the NFL championship in 1940, which the Redskins lost 73-0. If it had been caught, "it would have been 73-7." Maybe we'll get a point off the Gators now...

 

[Longfrog]

Well, I think they'll still be favored.

Yeah I just meant the claim that they were only losing their #6 guy was in jeopardy. They're still the favorite til they show otherwise.

Jong did take a set off Bicknell last year, so we have that going for us.

 

[Jared7]

Yeah I just meant the claim that they were only losing their #6 guy was in jeopardy. They're still the favorite til they show otherwise.

Jong did take a set off Bicknell last year, so we have that going for us.

I just looked up their schedule. Their first match in January will be against the Frogs and then they'll go to Austin to face Texas. So they won't get an earlier match
prior to coming to Ft. Worth. This week, they're going to Boston for the Crimson Chowdah Fest - we'll get an early look at how good they are there. With Riffice and Vale and Goodjer and Shelton (the coach's son), they still look formidable.

Vives Marcos and Blu Baker tied at 3-all in the first...
4-all.
5-4. (And former Frog Tadeas Paroulek just dropped his first set - I'm so used to rooting for him, but now that he's at Baylor, I'm beginning to regard him as Benedict Paroulek).
Pedro falls in the first set 6-7 in a breaker (sigh)...

 

[Jared7]

Vives Marcos now leads 4-1 in the 2nd set against Blu Baker.
Pedro takes the 2nd set 6-1! On to the 3rd and deciding set...
2-love in the 3rd.
3-love (barely - Pedro fell behind love-40 and fought back to hold).
3-1.
4-1. Up two breaks. Looking good.
Pedro Vives Marcos advances to the Round of 16 with a 6-7 (0-7), 6-1, 6-1 W.

 

[Retired Frog]

I just found this thing called twitter

 

[Jared7]

Alastair Gray defeated Sebastian Prechtel today in Joburg 3 and love, so he's advanced to the 3rd round and is looking for his 2nd straight singles title. In doubles, he's once again teaming with Daniel Cukierman (from USC) and they're into the quarters and will play Cash/Caripi.

In Fayetteville, Sander Jong will play Henry Patten and Pedro Vives Marcos will face John McNally. Doubles are just starting today and all Frogs are still in it.

 

[Jared7]

Jong falls to Patten 6-7 (4-7), 2-6.

 

[Retired Frog]

I don’t know how to judge the competition but it seems to my untrained eye that Mr Gray is doing much better in his short time on the Tour then he did in a lot of his big matches here
While I’m sure he is missed. His last minute replacement looks like he is going to be very helpful

 

[Longfrog]

PVM wins another 3 setter today against a very solid opponent in John McNally. He was Ohio State's #1 a year ago and won the Buckeyes' only point against us last year at Outdoors with a 4 & 0 win vs Gray. That sets up a very intriguing match tomorrow vs Baylor's #1 Boitan.

PVM and Jirousek are also into the semis in doubles, as they also won in 3 sets. I was only able to watch the 3rd set breaker, but the thing that stuck out most was Jirousek's serve. It has always been a huge liability, but he seems to have improved that shot considerably. He got a bunch of weak replies, plus an ace, which is about as many aces as I saw from him last year. Jirousek had some really good results this summer, highlighted by a finals appearance at an M15. All of that was on clay, and I was skeptical it would translate back to hardcourts. But having seen him tonight I'm thinking his recent success is the result of finally getting some free points on his serve. His UTR rating jumped to the point he's now the #47 ranked college player.

 

[Jared7]

I don’t know how to judge the competition but it seems to my untrained eye that Mr Gray is doing much better in his short time on the Tour then he did in a lot of his big matches here
While I’m sure he is missed. His last minute replacement looks like he is going to be very helpful

Well, we'll see. My theory is that Alastair made a very good decision to head to the RSA for a month or so early in his full-time pro career. Just looking at the numbers of the rankings of the guys down there, to me, indicates that the competition is a little less stiff than if he were playing European or American tourneys. So he has, arguably, a better chance at success in tourneys which award the same amount of ATP and ITF points as do the others. Plus, the money is a little better ($25,000 as opposed to $15,000). But, as always, at this level, you need to go at least as far as the semis. He's there for at least another week. But you can't argue with 2 doubles titles and 1 singles title already.

PVM is impressing me too. He's a very good Spanish junior, with lots of pro experience already. And rated the #2 recruit and #2 newcomer. if he keeps this up, I'd predict a spot in the regular TCU line-up, possibly as high as 2 or 3. Beating McNally is a top quality W.

 

[Longfrog]

if he keeps this up, I'd predict a spot in the regular TCU line-up, possibly as high as 2 or 3. Beating McNally is a top quality W.

I really think he should start the season at #2. Fomba's the incumbent and should be a beast indoors despite a fairly unimpressive summer (mostly on clay, I assume). No need to get cute... he starts the season at #1. Aguilar has been pretty terrible this summer. Still lots of time before January but after just two matches I'm ready to say I trust PVM more. Maybe Jong is the other candidate, but I also feel way more comfortable with him at 3 or 4 than at 2.

But I reserve the right the change my mind if he gets run off the court by Boitan tomorrow.

 

[Jared7]

Gray and Cukierman lost in the quarters at EllisPark this morning 6-7 (7-9), (retired) to Cash/Caripi - the walkover concerns me. But he's scheduled to play Kholowam Montsi still in the singles quarters.

Yeah, I agree as to the projected line-up: Fomba, Jong and PVM as the top 3, with PVM possibly #2. Then, it's a jumble. Probably Fearnley and Jirousek at 4 and 5 and then one of Ruehl, Aguilar or Maxted at #6. But all that could change based on the Fall performance. Ruehl and Aguilar, though, remain probable for the doubles slots.

Gray beat Montsi 2 and 4 and is into the semis! More ATP points!

 

[Jared7]

Today's matches in Fayetteville will be PVM against Baylor's Boitan (Gabi Adrian Boitan) at 11:30 a.m. (CDT) in the singles quarters and PVM/Jirousek against Bangoura/Asaba in the semis in doubles.at 2:30 p.m. (CDT). Boitan beat Sekou Bangoura, the top seed, yesterday and is ranked at only #1154, but he could well be the favorite now (although Paul Jubb is also still alive). This match could well foreshadow the Big 12 rivalry with Baylor and is therefore somewhat significant for us. How good - really - is PVM?

 

[jake102]

I feel like Jirousek could make a push for #3 spot on the team. Really good summer.

I've got Gray moving up to ~#660 in the world with the semis run. If he's able to win the tournament again, up into the high #500s. Call me a little shocked at his success. That being said - the good college tennis program #1s are probably roughly equivalent to ATP #250-#400 in the world, so competition is actually probably a bit weaker than playing #1 singles in college.