TCU Finishes Strong Against Illinois

Saturday, January 12

Tempe, Ariz.

1:00 PM

TCU

Illinois

TCU Finishes Strong Against Illinois

1/12/2019 9:09:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Tempe Collegiate Cup Day 3 (PDF)

The Horned Frogs finished the Tempe Collegiate Cup on Saturday against Illinois.

TEMPE, Ariz. – The No. 14 TCU men's tennis team wrapped-up competition at the Tempe Collegiate Cup by scoring six wins over opponents from No. 16 Illinois and No. 3 Mississippi State on Saturday at the Kiwanis Tennis Center in Tempe, Ariz.

The Horned Frogs were led by No. 14 Alex Rybakov as he continued his winning ways by scoring a 6-3, 6-2 victory over No. 92 Zeke Clark of Illinois while also pairing up with Alastair Gray for a 6-2 win over Clark and Siphosothando Montsi in doubles action. Gray also scored a singles win with a 7-6(9), 6-4 win over Montsi.

Luc Fomba, No. 69 Eduardo Roldan and No. 65 Bertus Kruger also recorded wins in singles action on Saturday. Fomba completed a stellar weekend for TCU with a 7-6(4), 6-2 win over Vuk Budic of Illinois, while Roldan also scored a straight-set victory with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Fletcher Scott of Illinois. Kruger needed three sets to complete his weekend of competition as he downed Gregor Ramskogler of Mississippi State, 7-6, 2-6, 10-4.

Quotes from the Match
Head Coach David Roditi
"The goal today was to finish with the same energy as we started this week. I felt we did it for the most part. Some of our players got off to a slow start and then were able to find their range. We played against a very diluted Illinois lineup due to injuries and sickness and our guys handled it well. (Alex) Rybakov played a very good tournament winning three singles matches including a win over a nationally top ranked player from Mississippi State. He deserved winning the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.

"The goal now is to gather all information and build on it so we can be ready for our season opener at Tulsa next Friday. As always, it will be a very tough match and we must improve in all areas of our lineup. We would like to thank Kiwanis Tennis Center and the Arizona State program and their staff for being such great hosts. We got exactly what we needed from this week."

Match Results
Singles competition
#14 Alex Rybakov (TCU) def. #92 Zeke Clark (ILL): 6-3, 6-2
Alastair Gray (TCU) def. Siphosothando Montsi (ILL): 7-6(9), 6-4
Luc Fomba (TCU) def. Vuk Budic (ILL): 7-6(4), 6-2
#69 Eduardo Roldan (TCU) def. Fletcher Scott (ILL): 6-3, 6-3
#65 Bertus Kruger (TCU) def. Gregor Ramskogler (MSU): 7-6, 2-6, 10-4
#93 Trevor Foshey (MSU) def. Sander Jong (TCU): 7-5, 6-2

Doubles competition
Alex Rybakov/Alastair Gray (TCU) def. Zeke Clark/Siphosothando Montsi (ILL): 6-2
Fletcher Scott/Vuk Budic (ILL) def. Luc Fomba/Sander Jong (TCU): 6-4
Gregor Ramskogler/Stedman Stickland (MSU) def. Bertus Kruger/Eduardo Roldan (TCU): 6-3

Up Next
TCU will officially open the 2019 spring season by traveling to Tulsa, Okla., to take on Tulsa on Friday, Jan. 18 at 6 p.m., at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center.