TCU
Rice
Men's Tennis Knocks Off Rice, 4-1
3/30/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
March 30, 2002
FORT WORTH, Texas -- The 24th-ranked TCU men's tennis team (9-6) knocked off No. 45 Rice (11-9) in a 4-1 decision on a windy, cloudy Saturday afternoon on the Bernard J. "Tut" Bartzen Varsity Tennis Courts at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center in Fort Worth, Texas. The win gave the Horned Frogs their 16th straight versus the Owls dating back to March 10, 1990.
TCU began the match by dropping the doubles point for the sixth consecutive match, giving Rice 8-4 victories at one and three doubles. The match between TCU sophomore Alex Menichini and freshman Chris Brandi, and Rice's Fabien Giraud and Take Morita at two was suspended with the Frogs up a break at 6-5.
TCU freshman Fabrizio Sestini, ranked No. 70, tied the match at 1-1 when he made short work of Matthias Mathaes at two singles 6-3, 6-1. The win snapped Sestini's three-match losing streak and improved his record to 10-9 this spring.
The Horned Frogs took the lead 2-1 when freshman Daniel Scholten defeated Prakash Venkataraman 7-5, 6-0 at four. Scholten actually found himself down a break at 3-5 in the first set, but then proceeded to win the next 10 games for his 15th victory this spring.
The Frogs gained a 3-1 advantage when senior Daniel Wajnberg picked up a 6-4, 6-4 win over Cody Jackson at six. The win improved Wajnberg's record to 16-10 this season and 7-7 in dual matches.
Less than a minute after Wajnberg's victory, 99th-ranked Menichini sealed the win for TCU by defeating Giraud 6-4, 6-3 at three. The Calabasas, California-native has now won eight of his last nine matches and is 10-5 since joining TCU this spring after transferring from Fresno State.
The matches at one and five singles between TCU junior Toni Gordon and the Owls' William Barker, and TCU freshman Jacob Martin and Rice's Vuk Rajevac were suspended following Menichini's win.
TCU will hit the road for its next two matches against No. 16 Duke on April 6 and No. 15 Virginia Commonwealth on April 7. The Duke match is scheduled to begin at 12:00 p.m. (CT), while the Frogs' match with VCU will start at 10:00 a.m. (CT).
Singles
No. 1 #44 Toni Gordon (TCU) vs. #81 William Barker (RU) 2-6, 6-2, 0-3, susp.
No. 2 #70 Fabrizio Sestini (TCU) def. Matthias Mathaes (RU) 6-3, 6-1
No. 3 #99 Alex Menichini (TCU) def. Fabien Giraud (RU) 6-4, 6-3
No. 4 Daniel Scholten (TCU) def. Prakash Venkataraman (RU) 7-5, 6-0
No. 5 Jacob Martin (TCU) vs. Vuk Rajevac (RU) 7-6, 6-6, susp.
No. 6 Daniel Wajnberg (TCU) def. Cody Jackson (RU) 6-4, 6-4
Doubles
No. 1 Mathaes/Venkataraman (RU) def. Scholten/Sestini (TCU) 8-4
No. 2 Menichini/Chris Brandi (TCU) vs. Giraud/Take Morita (RU) 6-5, susp.
No. 3 Barker/Jackson (RU) def. Gordon/Martin (TCU) 8-4
Players Mentioned
