TCU Comes Up Short at No. 16 Michigan

Saturday, February 1

Ann Arbor, MI

11:00 a.m.

TCU

Michigan

TCU Comes Up Short at No. 16 Michigan

2/1/2020 2:40:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Horned Frogs battle hard in close road loss to Top 20 opponent

FORT WORTH – The No. 8 TCU men's tennis team (3-1) didn't get the breaks it needed Saturday afternoon, falling to the No. 16 Michigan Wolverines, 4-2, in Ann Arbor. The Horned Frogs won the doubles point and maintained a path to victory throughout singles play before ultimately dropping their first duel of the season.

"Michigan did a great job beating us in singles," head coach David Roditi said. "They got off to a great start winning five first sets and we couldn't come out of that hole. I'm proud of Teddy [Paroulek] and Sander [Jong] for giving themselves a chance. We played a very solid doubles point against a team that doesn't lose doubles often. Now we need some rest and then some good practices so we can be ready for another top match at UVA. Thank you, Michigan and their whole staff, for their hospitality. GoFrogs!"

DOUBLES RECAP
Once more, TCU came out of the gates strong in doubles play. Despite a loss to the No. 5 pairing in the country on court one, the Horned Frogs secured the doubles point on the other two courts, advancing their record in doubles matches to 8-1 this season.

Tadeas Paroulek and Sander Jong earned their break in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead. From there, scrappy play at the net and strong defense in service games helped the duo cruise to a 6-3 victory, their third of the season.

Luc Fomba and Bertus Kruger continued their run of excellent form at No. 3 doubles, jumping up a break in the first game and holding serve to earn a 6-4 victory. It was their third win of the year and their third doubles point clinch.

Doubles Results
#1 - No. 5 Mattias Siimar/Andrew Fenty (UM) d. No. 29 Alastair Gray/Jacob Fearnley (TCU) 6-2
#2 - Tadeas Paroulek/Sander Jong (TCU) d. Connor Johnston/Ondrej Styler (UM) 6-3
#3 - Luc Fomba/Bertus Kruger (TCU) d. Harrison Brown/Kristofer Siimar (UM) vs. 6-4
Order of finish – 1,2,3

SINGLES RECAP
Michigan was the aggressor early in singles competition as the Wolverines claimed five of the six opening sets. The Horned Frogs came roaring back in the second set, winning four of the six. But the first three-set match to finish up went Michigan's way, resulting in a defeat.

The lone singles win came from freshman Tomas Jirousek at No. 6. After facing his largest deficit of his young career in the opening set, 1-4, Jirousek adjusted his game to win six of the next seven games and grab the opening set for the Horned Frogs. In the second, both players held serve into a tiebreak, where Jirousek showed his resolve to go up a mini-break and deliver a powerful ace to win the match, 7-5, 7-6(4). The win moves his record to 3-0 this season. He has yet to drop a set, including winning both of his last two matches via second-set-tiebreak.

Prior to Jirousek's win at six, TCU was behind, 2-1. Attention was directed to court five, where Sander Jong was locked in a fight. The Dutch sophomore suffered a late break resulting in an opening set loss and, after another break early in the second, was on the ropes, 3-5. Jong defended a match point at deuce on his serve to force another set, where he defended two more match points to bring the set back on serve. He would defend another match point in the tiebreak but eventually came up short, 3-6, 6-7(6). In total, Jong defended four of five match points but Michigan climbed in front, 3-1.

With Jirousek making the score, 3-2, the last match to be decided would come from court two. Tadeas Paroulek was engaged in another nail biter. After dropping the first set, Paroulek's chances appeared slim, down a break, 2-5 in the second set. But the freshman continued to fight, earning a pair of breaks as he won the next five games to force a third set. In the third, he would suffer another early break and, despite his best efforts, couldn't manage to break back, falling, 3-6, 7-5, 3-6, clinching the duel for Michigan.

On court four, Luc Fomba was in control, up a break, in the third set when play was canceled due to the clinch on two. Fomba fell in a first-set-tiebreak before storming back in the second and winning, 6-3. He won the second set on a break. Fomba has now won three of his six sets this season on his opponent's serve.

Singles Results
#1 - No. 78 Andrew Fenty (UM) d. No. 51 Alastair Gray (TCU) 6-3, 6-2
#2 - Mattias Siimar (UM) d. Tadeas Paroulek (TCU) 6-3, 5-7, 6-3
#3 - No. 94 Ondrej Styler (UM) d. No. 119 Jacob Fearnley (TCU) 6-3, 6-4
#4 - Connor Johnston (UM) vs. No. 100 Luc Fomba (TCU) 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 2-4 unfinished
#5 - Nick Beaty (UM) d. Sander Jong (TCU) 6-3, 7-6 (8-6)
#6 - Tomas Jirousek (TCU) d. Harrison Brown (UM) vs. 7-5, 7-6 (7-4)
Order of finish – 3,1,5,6,2

Up Next
TCU will come back to Fort Worth for a couple days of rest before continuing the road trip at Virginia. That match is set for Thursday, Feb. 6 at 5:00 p.m. (CT).

For more information on TCU men's tennis, visit gofrogs.com and follow the team on social media: @TCUMensTennis on twitter, Facebook and the all new men's tennis Instagram.