TCU
#20 Wake Forest
TCU Stumbles to No. 20 Wake Forest
3/8/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
FORT WORTH, Texas - Facing its sixth top-20 opponent this season, the TCU men's tennis team fell 4-3 in a tight battle with No. 20 Wake Forest on Sunday afternoon in Winston-Salem, N.C.
The Horned Frogs (9-5, 0-1) were up 2-1 in the match, but the Demon Deacons (9-4, 0-1) stormed back to take three of the last five singles matches to upset TCU.
"Today was a disappointing loss," head coach David Roditi said. "We had a great opportunity to play a team without their best player. We had the opening and we didn't handle the moment very well. I give credit to Wake Forest for handling it better than us.
"We will need to figure out what we need to change in doubles. At the moment, we are not playing with a full team. For us to be the team we appeared to be a month ago, we need every player competing better. When we all start competing well, we will then get the results we believe we can get. Until then we will continue to be disappointed against the top teams. We have five days to figure it our before we play Michigan at home next Sunday."
Wake Forest got the first win of the match, as No. 28 Christian Seraphim and Skander Mansouri upset No. 20 Nick Chappell and Will Stein, 6-2, at No. 1 singles. TCU responded with Hudson Blake and Facundo Lugones notching their second straight win in dual match play with a 6-3 victory over Sam Bloom and Romain Bogaerts.
For the fifth straight doubles battle, the decision would come down to the No. 2 doubles court as Cameron Norrie and Guillermo Nuñez were up against Jon Ho and Keivon Tabrizi. The Demon Deacons had what it took to finish out the match, as Wake Forest won the court, 6-4, and took the early 1-0 lead in the match.
TCU would take the first two wins in singles action for the team's first lead of the match, as Guillermo Nuñez and Arnau Dachs grabbed wins on courts four and five. Nuñez was first off the courts as the freshman downed Tabrizi, 6-2, 6-4 for his 16th victory this season. Dachs followed suit with his 12th win of the season by downing Seraphim, 6-4, 6-3.
Wake Forest did not give up and took wins on court three and one to gain back the lead in the overall match at 3-2. The clincher would come down to the last two courts, as No. 110 Lugones was battling Maksim Kan at No. 6 singles and No. 28 Chappell was facing off with No. 70 Ho at No. 2 singles.
With both matches heading into the decisive third set, Kan proved to have the finishing power needed, as he defeated Lugones, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to seal the victory for the Demon Deacons. Chappell finished out his match with a victory, as the senior won his 13th match of the season with a 6-2, 6-7(7), 7-6(5) victory.
TCU will return home to the friendly confines of the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center to take on two Big 10 foes in Michigan and Illinois on March 15 and 16, respectively. The Frogs will face the Wolverines at Noon on Sunday before taking on the Illini on Monday at 11 a.m.
Tennis Match Results
TCU vs Wake Forest
Mar 08, 2015 at Winston-Salem, N.C.
(Wake Forest Tennis Complex)
#20 Wake Forest 4, #13 TCU 3
Singles competition
1. #21 Romain Bogaerts (WF) def. #28 Cameron Norrie (TCU) 6-4, 6-4
2. #48 Nick Chappell (TCU) def. #70 Jon Ho (WF) 6-2, 6-7 (7-9), 7-6 (7-5)
3. Skander Mansouri (WF) def. Will Stein (TCU) 6-4, 6-4
4. Guillermo Nuñez (TCU) def. Keivon Tabrizi (WF) 6-2, 6-4
5. Arnau Dachs (TCU) def. Christian Seraphim (WF) 6-4, 6-3
6. Maksim Kan (WF) def. #110 Facundo Lugones (TCU) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. #28 Christian Seraphim/Skander Mansouri (WF) def. #20 Nick Chappell/Will Stein (TCU) 6-2
2. Jon Ho/Keivon Tabrizi (WF) def. Guillermo Nuñez/Cameron Norrie (TCU) 6-4
3. Hudson Blake/Facundo Lugones (TCU) def. Sam Bloom/Romain Bogaerts (WF) 6-3
Match Notes:
TCU 9-5 (0-1 Big 12); National ranking #13
Wake Forest 9-4 (0-1 ACC); National ranking #20
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (4,5,3,1,6,2)
Used ITA shortened scoring format.
A-119
Players Mentioned
