Men's Tennis Preview: UM & Illinois
3/14/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
FORT WORTH, Texas - Coming off a road trip, the No. 17 TCU men's tennis team will return to the friendly confines of the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center to face two Big 10 opponents in No. 70 Michigan and No. 4 Illinois on March 15 and 16, respectively.
The Horned Frogs (9-5, 0-1) will open with the Wolverines (3-6, 0-0) on Sunday at Noon before hosting the Illini (13-2, 3-0) on Monday at 11 a.m. Admission to both matches is free with those in attendance able to enjoy free pizza courtesy of Buffalo Bros., in between the doubles and singles portion of both matches. Fans can are also able to participate in a prize court during the break.
TCU Notables
TCU is returning home after going 1-1 on its recent road trip during spring break. The Frogs were able to defeat Middle Tennessee (4-3), before dropping a heartbreaker to then-No. 20 Wake Forest (4-3).
TCU boasts three ranked singles players in No. 31 Cameron Norrie, No. 39 Nick Chappell and No. 116 Guillermo Nuñez. Norrie has 14 wins this season, including six at the No. 1 position and five over ranked opponents. Chappell has won his last four straight matches at the No. 2 position and is now 13-4 on the season. Nuñez is off to the hottest streak of all and is currently riding a 13-match winning streak. The freshman is 9-0 in dual matches and 16-4 overall.
In doubles action, seniors and No. 29 Chappell and Will Stein are leading the team with 16 wins overall this season, including seven over ranked opponents. Hudson Blake and Facundo Lugones have paired up in the last few matches and have gone undefeated at the No. 3 doubles position.
Scouting the Wolverines
Michigan spent last week in California, where it participated in the Pacific Coast Men's Doubles Championship. The Wolverines went a combined 3-3 record at the tournament, which was highlighted by the play of redshirt freshman Alex Knight and freshman Runhao Hua who won a pair of eight-game pro sets to advance to the third round of the tournament's main draw.
Michael Zhu has won three straight matches at the No. 2 singles position and comes in at No. 120 in the latest ITA singles rankings. Zhu clinched dual-match victories over both No. 22 Memphis and Cleveland State on Feb. 21, earning the deciding fourth team point in each match.
Michigan has claimed the doubles point in two of its last three matches. The Wolverines are 3-1 this season when capturing the first point of the match.
Scouting the Illini
The Illini have a total of five ranked singles players with three players ranked in the top 50, including Jared Hiltzik (No. 18), Tim Kopinski (No. 32) and Aleks Vukic (No. 49). Rounding out the ranked Illini are Farris Gosea at No. 61 and Aron Hiltzik at No. 76. Illinois also have the No. 12 doubles team in Kopinski and Ross Guignon.
Jared Hiltzik is off to a perfect 12-0 start this season. Hiltzik, who plays the majority of his matches at the No. 2 position, has defeated six ranked players. Kopinski is also off to a hot start for the Illini, as he enters the weekend with a 12-1 dual record. Kopinski plays a majority of matches at Illinois' No. 3 singles and is 1-1 against ranked opponents.
All-Time Series
TCU will be facing Michigan for the fifth time in program history, with the Frogs holding a 3-1 advantage in the series record. TCU last faced the Wolverines in 2013 in Ann Arbor, Mich., with Michigan coming away with a 4-3 victory. The Frogs and Wolverines will be taking each other on for the third time in program history in Fort Worth, with TCU winning both of the previous matchups.
TCU and Illinois will be meeting up for the seventh time in program history, with the series record all tied up at 3-3. The teams last met up in 2008 in Champaign, Ill., with the Illini taking a 4-2 victory. The Frogs won the first three matches between the teams, while Illinois has won the last three. This will be the third time the teams have faced each other in Forth Worth, with TCU holding a 2-0 advantage.
Live Results
Fans who can't attend can watch live results at TCU.StatBroadcast.Com, while final recaps of the matches against the Wolverines and Illini can be found at GoFrogs.com following the completion of the competitions. In-match updates can also be found by following TCU men's tennis on twitter (@TCUMensTennis).
Players Mentioned
