Brighiu, Price Open NCAA Doubles Action Thursday
5/25/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
May 25, 2010
NCAA DOUBLES BRACKET 
| LIVE RESULTS/STREAMING VIDEO
FORT WORTH—The TCU doubles team of juniors Emanuel Brighiu and Christopher Price will open its run at the 2010 NCAA Men's Individual Tennis Championships Thursday at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga. The NCAA announced Tuesday morning that the two Horned Frogs will square off against USC's second-ranked tandem of Robert Farah and Steve Johnson to begin competition in the Round of 32.
The NCAA Individual Championships will feature at least one Frog entry for the 31st time in the last 35 years. This is the third straight season a TCU doubles team will be among the national field and the second straight for Brighiu, who paired with former teammate Adrian Simon a season ago. Brighiu and Simon also faced USC's Farah and Johnson in last season's opening round, dropping a 6-2, 6-4 decision.
The lone TCU men still alive in competition this season, Brighiu and Price earned the Mountain West Conference's automatic selection for the NCAA doubles field after posting a 13-8 overall record in 2009-10, including earning four victories against nationally ranked opponents. They were rated No. 42 in the most recent release of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) national rankings.
The Frog pairing caught fire midway through the season before finishing the year with nine wins in its last 10 outings. Included in the stretch was a nine-match winning streak that helped TCU claim the Mountain West Conference tournament team championship. The highlight of the spring for Brighiu and Price was a 9-7 victory on April 23 over Texas A&M's Jeff Dadamo and Austin Krajicek, who entered the match ranked third nationally.
Farah and Johnson, ranked No. 2 nationally by the ITA, enter the NCAA Doubles Championships as the No. 3 overall seed. The squad helped USC reach the final match of the NCAA team championships during the Trojan's semifinal-round victory over Virginia Monday. A win over the Cavaliers' top pairing of Courtney/Shabaz (UVA), the 17th straight for the USC duo, moved its season record to 30-3. Farah won the 2008 NCAA Doubles Championship playing alongside former partner Kaes Van't Hof.
In addition to their positions in the national doubles field, both Trojans also will compete in the NCAA Singles Championships, which begin Wednesday. Farah, the Pac-10 Player of the Year, is a No. 9-16 seed in the bracket.
Fans looking to follow the action at the NCAA Championships will be able to find live results at NCAAsports.com.
