Roditi Adds Top Transfer to Roster
8/17/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
FORT WORTH, Texas – TCU men's tennis coach David Roditi announced the addition of Kentucky transfer and junior Gerardo "Jerry" Lopez to the roster on Monday afternoon.
Lopez, a 5-foot-11 junior from Vallarta, Mexico, will be able to compete for the Horned Frogs immediately with two years of eligibility remaining.
"We are very happy to welcome Jerry into our Horned Frogs tennis family," Roditi said. "He will bring immediate top-level college experience to our team, combined with a lot of passion and enthusiasm during practices and competition. Jerry's goals are exactly what we look for in a player and we are here to help the players get to the next level and someday make a living playing tennis.
"Jerry is dedicated and committed to becoming the best player he can be with the goal of eventually being the best Mexican tennis player. This past summer, he showed his commitment by playing professional tennis tournaments every week, including all levels on the tour and at the Davis Cup. All of that experience will impact our program immediately."
This summer alone, Lopez has competed in seven tournaments including playing in the Davis Cup for Mexico in July. Lopez was able to advance to the doubles main draw semifinals of the Futures tournament in Evansville, Ill., with partner Kaichi Uchida of Japan.
In his two years at Kentucky, Lopez was able to post an overall singles and doubles record of 55-39. In his sophomore campaign, Lopez played only at the No. 1 and No. 2 positions and went 15-8 in dual matches, which included a win over No. 60 Diego Hidalgo of Florida. In doubles action, Lopez posted 18 wins with partners Nils Ellefsen and William Bushamuka and notched two wins over ranked foes.
Lopez's freshman season was highlighted by an appearance in the Sweet 16 with his team and being named to the 2014 SEC All-Freshman Team. After enrolling in January, Lopez was able to put together a 16-9 overall singles record, which included his first win over a ranked opponent in No. 58 Raphael Hemmeler of Duke. Lopez also helped the team reach the third round of NCAAs by posting a singles win over Austin Ansari of Clemson in the second round.
During his junior career, Lopez was ranked as high as No. 138 in the world junior ATP rankings. After making it out of qualifying, Lopez lost in the second round of the main draw in the U.S. Open Juniors to the No. 1 player in the world in three sets. Lopez tallied numerous top-20 wins and picked up 39 singles wins and 42 doubles victories during his junior career.
TCU is coming off one of its best seasons in program history, as the team advanced to its fourth Final Four in program history and finished the season ranked No. 4 in the final Oracle/ITA poll. Roditi was named Wilson/ITA National Coach of the Year, while Cameron Norrie became the 22nd Horned Frog and 44th All-America selection in TCU men's tennis program history.
Players Mentioned
