TCU Triumphs over Rice, 6-1

Wednesday, March 11

Houston, TX

12 PM

TCU

Rice

TCU Triumphs over Rice, 6-1

3/11/2020 4:00:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Horned Frogs win ninth consecutive match with strong showing on the road.

HOUSTON – No. 7 TCU men's tennis (12-4) collected its ninth consecutive victory on Wednesday afternoon, taking down Rice, 6-1 in Houston. The Horned Frogs won the doubles point and took five out of the six singles matches in the victory.

"Another good road win for our team," head coach David Roditi said. "Not a lot of time between the last match at home and today. I felt we played well and so did Rice and therefore it was a good match. We got another good performance at the top in doubles and singles. Very proud of Bertus [Kruger] for winning his match. He showed a lot of resilience. We continue our spring break swing into Illinois, playing Saturday. Should be another battle. Go Frogs!"

DOUBLES RECAP
For the third match in a row, TCU took the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 2. It was the 13^th time this season to win the first point of the dual. TCU is now 28-11 in doubles matches this season.

At No. 1, the 55th-ranked pairing of Sander Jong and Tadeas Paroulek continued to prove why they are one of the top teams in the country, winning a late break to secure a 6-3 victory. They are now 11-3 as a pair, 3-1 at No. 1, and have won five-straight matches.

Luc Fomba and Bertus Kruger won their 10th match in a row and 13th of the season together on court two. The pairing dominated play early, taking a 4-0 lead and kept battling through to the end, where Fomba held serve to polish off a 6-4 victory. They are now 13-1 this dual season.

Doubles Results
1. #55 Sander Jong/Tadeas Paroulek (TCU) def. Conrad Russell/Sumit Sarkar (RICE) 6-3
2. Luc Fomba/Bertus Kruger (TCU) def. Karol Paluch/Campbell Salmon (RICE) 6-4
3. Wes Barnett/Eric Rutledge (RICE) vs. Alastair Gray/Max Kurzban (TCU) 6-5, unfinished
Order of finish: 1, 2

SINGLES RECAP
TCU won five opening sets on its way to winning five matches. The lone loss came at No. 6, due to a retirement.

Alastair Gray returned to the singles lineup with renewed energy, jumping in front with a tidy 6-1 opening set and holding on for a 6-1, 6-4 victory. His record grows to 8-2 in singles matches this season, including a streak of six straight.

On the other courts, Jong brought his team-best win streak to nine with another win on court four. The sophomore is now 10-2 on the year. Fomba won his seventh match in a row with a strong performance at No. 2. He is now 10-2 as well. Tadeas Paroulek returns to .500 in singles competition with a late break to secure the match at No. 3. He is now 6-6. While Bertus Kruger came back from down 1-4 in his third set to win his sixth match in a row: 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Singles Results
1. Alastair Gray (TCU) def. Sumit Sarkar (RICE) 6-1, 6-4
2. Luc Fomba (TCU) def. Jacob Eskeland (RICE) 6-4, 6-3
3. Tadeas Paroulek (TCU) def. Campbell Salmon (RICE) 5-3, 7-5
4. Sander Jong (TCU) def. Karol Paluch (RICE) 6-2, 6-2
5. Bertus Kruger (TCU) def. Eric Rutledge (RICE) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
6. Conrad Russell (RICE) def. Tomas Jirousek (TCU) 4-5, 3-0, retired
Order of finish – 1, 4, 6, 2, 3, 5

Up Next
TCU hopes to carry its strong form up north for a Saturday evening (6 p.m.) bout against No. 47 Illinois.

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.