Sweet 16 Bound!

Sunday, May 9

Fort Worth, Texas

1 PM

TCU

Arizona State

5/9/2021 5:49:00 PM | Men's Tennis

NCAA Tournament Bracket

The Horned Frogs defeat No. 20 Arizona State to advance into the Sweet 16 for the sixth season in a row

FORT WORTH – No. 7 TCU men's tennis (19-7) advances to the NCAA Tournament Round of 16 with a 4-1 victory over No. 20 Arizona State on Sunday afternoon at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center. The Horned Frogs won four singles matches after losing the doubles point to advance into the Sweet 16 for the sixth postseason in a row.

The Horned Frogs will battle Ohio State (22-3) at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla on Monday, May 17, at noon. TCU is one of five teams to have reached the Round of 16 in each of the last six NCAA Tournaments (also Texas, North Carolina, USC and Ohio State).

"We're exactly where we want to be," head coach David Roditi said. "I'm so proud of our guys, especially the way they handled a disappointing doubles point. Our team could have hung their head on that moment but they didn't. They came back in singles play and battled. To me, the MVP of the match is Alastair Gray for the way he took one of the best players off the courts. He beat Nathan Ponwith, 6-3, 6-2, that was a huge point for us. [Jake] Fearnley closed it out with Tadeas [Paroulek] playing a great match. It's unfortunate what happened to their No. 5 player, going down with an injury, that's not the way we want to win but that was the result. Here we go. Sweet 16. Ohio State is going to be an absolute battle. I'm just proud that we are where we are. Thanks to everyone who came and supported us. Go Frogs!!"

TCU delivered four singles wins in straight sets to overcome the deficit from doubles play and advance to the Sweet 16. Alastair Gray and Tadeas Paroulek collected their second singles wins of the weekend, while Jake Fearnley added his first-career NCAA Tournament victory to clinch the match after Tomas Jirousek earned his first post season victory via retirement.

The Horned Frogs looked to have had the doubles point before an incredible hustle play from Arizona State won the Sun Devils a deuce point to tie the match, 6-6. ASU went on to win the tiebreaker, 8-6. TCU overcame the loss to win the match for the fourth time this season.

DOUBLES QUICK HITS

The Horned Frogs lost the doubles point with losses at No. 1 and No. 2.
TCU's lone doubles victory came from Jacob Fearnley and Bertus Kruger at the No.; 3 position.
Fearnley and Kruger secured their sixth win together as a doubles team. They overcame an 0-2 deficit to win the final six games of the set for a 6-2 victory.
They improve to 6-3 as a pairing and 4-1 at the No. 3 slot. They have won five of their last six matches together as a pair, including a 3-1 record in the Big 12 and NCAA tournaments combined.
Fearnley is now 12-5 in doubles play and Kruger improves to 8-6 this season.
TCU is now 38-23 in doubles matches this season and 7-3 in post season play (Big 12 and NCAA Tournaments).

Doubles Results
1. Makey Rakotomalala/Tim Ruehl (ASU) def. #2 Alastair Gray/Luc Fomba (TCU) 6-3
2. Max McKennon/Nathan Ponwith (ASU) def. Sander Jong/Tadeas Paroulek (TCU) 7-6 (0-6)
3. Bertus Kruger/Jake Fearnley (TCU) def. Christian Lerby/George Stoupe (ASU) 6-2
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2

SINGLES QUICK HITS

TCU clinched the win with victories at No. 5, 6, 1 and 4, all in straight sets.
Tadeas Paroulek notched the first victory of the day at No. 6: 6-1, 6-1
He earns his ninth singles win of the season and second of the weekend. He outplayed his opponents by a combined score of 27-8 this weekend.
This was his sixth straight set victory of the season and his second win of the year in which he allowed two or fewer games against.
Alastair Gray collected yet another clean 6-3, 6-2 victory at the No. 1 spot.
It was his team-leading 16^th singles victory of the season and his ninth at No. 1.
He also earned his second victory of the weekend. He outplayed his opponents by a combined score of 24-10 this weekend.
He is now 4-2 over his career in NCAA Tournament singles matches.
Tomas Jirousek earned his first NCAA Tournament singles victory via retirement at No. 5 after he won the opening set, 6-4.
He is now 8-5 in singles play this season and 10-6 overall.
Fearnley clinched the match at No. 4, winning 6-4, 6-3.
It was his first-career NCAA Tournament singles win as well.
He improves to 9-3 in singles play this season and 5-2 at No. 4.
Fearnley finishes his home season 4-1 on the purple courts, with all four wins coming in straight sets over ranked teams.
TCU is now 72-45 in singles matches this season and 12-4 in post season play (Big 12 and NCAA Tournaments).

Singles Results
1. #12 Alastair Gray (TCU) def. #84 Nathan Ponwith (ASU) 6-3, 6-2
2. #17 Luc Fomba (TCU) vs. Makey Rakotomalala (ASU) 4-6, 5-4, unfinished
3. #65 Sander Jong (TCU) vs. Tim Ruehl (ASU) 5-7, 2-3, unfinished
4. #110 Jake Fearnley (TCU) def. George Stoupe (ASU) 6-4, 6-3
5. #94 Tomas Jirousek (TCU) def. Max McKennon (ASU) 6-4, retired
6. Tadeas Paroulek (TCU) def. Spencer Brachman (ASU) 6-1, 6-1
Order of Finish: 5, 6, 1, 4

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.