Men's Tennis Preview: SMU
4/7/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
FORT WORTH, Texas -- The No. 10 TCU men's tennis team will head out on its last regular season road trip by traveling to Dallas to face No. 44 SMU on Wednesday, April 8 at the SMU Tennis Complex.
The Horned Frogs (17-6) and the Mustangs (17-7) will square-off at 6 p.m., in the brand new facility with admission to the match free to all fans.
TCU Notables
The Frogs enter the matchup after defeating three straight top-25 ranked opponents in Oklahoma State (4-2), Texas Tech (4-2) and USF (4-3). With two of those victories coming at home last weekend, TCU moved to 11-0 at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center this season.
TCU continues to have three ranked singles players in No. 48 Nick Chappell, No. 63 Guillermo Nuñez and reigning Big 12 Player of the Week and No. 50 Cameron Norrie. Nuñez and Chappell have 22 and 17 wins, respectively. Norrie has 18 wins on the season, including five over ranked opponents, and went undefeated in doubles and singles last weekend.
In doubles, the senior duo of Chappell and Will Stein moved up to No. 18 in the rankings and lead the team with a 20-14 record and eight wins over ranked opponents. Norrie and Trevor Johnson check in at No. 29 with 15 wins on the season with wins in their last three straight matches.
Scouting the Mustangs
The Mustangs enter the match hoping to snap a three-match losing streak after falling to No. 74 UT Arlington (4-3) and No. 22 USF (4-1). SMU has a 15-5 record in the 20 home matches played in the new SMU Tennis Complex this season.
SMU has been particularly strong at singles positions 3-5 this season, boasting a combined 56-11 (.836) record at those spots. Freshman Samm Butler, who hails from Marlborough, United Kingdom, leads SMU in dual-match singles victories this spring with 18. Butler also held a team-best unbeaten streak of 13 straight matches from Feb. 8-March 17.
SMU's No. 1 doubles duo, senior Arturs Kazijevs and sophomore Markus Kerner, are currently ranked No. 63. The tandem has nine wins this spring, including two victories over ranked doubles pairs. Junior Nate Lammons and sophomore Arkadijs Slobodkins are 13-1 this spring in doubles at the No. 2 position.
All-Time Series
TCU and SMU will be facing each other for the 56th time in program history, with the Mustangs holding the slightest edge in the series with a 28-27 all-time record. The Frogs have been the victor in five of the last six meetings, with SMU's last win coming in 2010 in Dallas.
Live Results
Live scoring of the match will be available at SMUMustangs.com, with a final recap and results available on GoFrogs.com following the completion of competition. In-match updates can also be found by following TCU men's tennis on twitter (@TCUMensTennis).
Players Mentioned
