Horned Frogs Open Fall Season at Baylor Intercollegiate
9/23/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Sept. 23, 2004
FORT WORTH, TexasThe TCU men's tennis team opens the 2004 fall season this weekend at the Baylor Intercollegiate in Waco, Texas. The tourney takes place over Sept. 24-26 at the Baylor Tennis Center. Eight of the Horned Frogs' 10-member squad will be action, including Rafael Abreu, Jordan Freitas, Collin Hart, Jacob Martin, Fabrizio Sestini, Craig Stopa, Jacopo Tezza and Andrew Ulrich. A total of 23 different schools will be represented at the tournament, the largest in the history of the event.
In singles play, team representatives will be broken down into two brackets: A and B. Doubles matches will be lumped into one group. The first round of singles play begins Friday, Sept. 24, at 8 a.m. and doubles play commences later in the evening. This format will be consistent through the weekend with singles matches in the morning followed by doubles matches. The championships will be held on Sunday, Sept. 26, in the afternoon. Results will be posted at the end of each day on the official Web site of the United States Tennis Association (USTA), www.usta.com.
Sestini is the lone ranked Frog in singles this fall at No. 73. He and Abreu are rated eighth in doubles, while junior college transfer Freitas and classmate Tezza are tabbed 56th. As a team, TCU ended the spring ranked 18th and reached the NCAA Championship Round of 16.
Sestini posted a 23-8 record for the Horned Frogs last year playing at the Nos. 2 and 3 positions. He was 17-4 overall in dual matches and 11-2 at three singles. The Rome, Italy, native recorded a 4-4 mark versus ranked opponents and ended the year with five consecutive wins, three of which came in the NCAA Tournament. He was named to the Conference USA Second Team for the third year in a row in 2004 and ended the season ranked 34th in doubles with junior Rafael Abreu.
Abreu and Sestini went 22-15 last year and were 13-10 in dual matches. They went 11-9 at one doubles and had four victories versus rated opponents. Their best triumph was against the then-No. 1 tandem of Lester Cook and Ante Matijevic in February when the Horned Frogs downed Texas A&M, 4-3, in Fort Worth. Abreu and Sestini's fall campaign last year was highlighted by their title at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) South Central Regional Championships that allowed them to compete in the National Indoor Championships.
Freitas, a transfer from Tyler Junior College, finished 2004 ranked third in singles and was No. 1 in doubles. His first season saw similar results, as he ended at Nos. 4 and 1 in singles and doubles. Tyler was the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) champions in both of Freitas' two years with the program. Freitas, who is originally from Eastbourne, England, was also named an ITA All-American in singles and doubles in 2003 and 2004.
Tezza won a team-high 26 singles matches in 2003-04 and lost only 10. He was 16-5 in dual match play and 16-4 at No. 4 singles. In doubles action, the Verona, Italy, native went 17-13 overall and was 15-7 in duals playing exclusively with 2004 senior Hector Almada. The duo was used mainly at the No. 2 slot and went 14-5. Tezza earned a spot on last year's C-USA Third Team for his exploits.
Players Mentioned
