TCU Advances to ITA Weekend Kickoff Final

Saturday, January 29

Fort Worth, Texas

2 PM

TCU

Portland

TCU Advances to ITA Weekend Kickoff Final

1/29/2022 6:59:00 PM | Men's Tennis

TCU 4 UP 0 Box Score

The Horned Frogs defeat Portland, 4-0.

FORT WORTH – No. 4 TCU men's tennis (4-1) defended the purple courts, advancing to the ITA Weekend Kickoff Fort Worth Regional final by defeating Portland, 4-0, on Saturday afternoon inside the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center. TCU will play Tulsa tomorrow at 2 p.m. for the right to advance into the ITA Indoor National Championships next month, in Seattle, Wash.

"This was a good win for the Frogs today over Portland in our barn," head coach David Roditi said. "There was another great atmosphere here today. Thanks to all of the supporters who came out here today. Tomorrow is the championship match, at 2 o'clock against Tulsa. We'll have all the festivities going, the tailgate, free pizza and a caricature artist. The guys did a great job keeping their focus today through doubles and a little delay before getting into singles and getting the job done. We kept our intensity through the match. Portland battled hard as we knew they would. They have a great team and excellent coaches. Tomorrow is Tulsa. We know it's going to be an absolute war as it always is against them. We'll be ready. We hope to see you all there, providing an even better atmosphere for the championship match. Go Frogs!"

TCU won the doubles point with victories at No. 2 and No. 3 for the second match in a row. The Horned Frogs have won the doubles point in all five matches to start the 2022 season, the longest streak in the Roditi era and the longest since 2008 (nine doubles points).

Sander Jong and Lui Maxted collected their fifth doubles win of the dual season together at No. 2, winning the last five games of the match to claim a 6-2 victory. Aguilar and Ruehl followed up with a victory at No. 3 to clinch the doubles point. The pairing was sharp early, going up a break, 3-0, before breaking Portland in the final game to win, 6-2.

DOUBLES QUICK HITS

TCU won its fifth doubles point of the season with victories at No. 2 and No. 3.
It is the first time TCU has started the season 5-0 in doubles points in the Roditi era and the first time TCU has done so since 2008.
Maxted and Jong collected their fifth win of the season together at No. 2.
They improve to 5-0 as a pair this season, winning a doubles match in every dual thus far.
Maxted is now a perfect 5-0 in doubles in his budding collegiate career.
Jong improves his doubles record to 28-9 in dual matches over the last three seasons and 37-19 in dual matches over his career.
Aguilar and Ruehl earned their second doubles win of the week together after the pair took down ACU earlier this week.
This was Aguilar's 62^nd career doubles victory and second as a Horned Frog – previous wins recorded at Texas A&M.
Ruehl won his 41^st career dual doubles match today and his second as a Horned Frog.
TCU is 10-1 in doubles matches this season and is outscoring opponents 74-43.

Doubles Results
1. Luc Fomba/Jake Fearnley (TCU) vs. Sema Pankin/Eleftherios Neos (UP) 4-4, unfinished
2. Sander Jong/Lui Maxted (TCU) def. Julien Penzlin/Nikolas Tvedt (UP) 6-2
3. Juan Carlos Aguilar/Tim Ruehl (TCU) def. Nicolas Ocana/Oscar Brown (UP) 6-2
Order of finish: 2, 3

In singles play, TCU battled Portland in the opening set, with TCU on top, 4-3, in the opening sets of all four courts in play. Juan Carlos Aguilar and Lui Maxted got early breaks and held serve for a 6-4 and 6-3 first set respectively, while Luc Fomba had to break his opponent back late in his set, to pull off a 7-5 win.

In the second sets, Maxted was in tremendous form, controlling play to get the first win of the day, 6-3, 6-2. Aguilar was next to finish, winning the final four games of his set to put TCU in front, 3-0, 6-4, 6-2. On court one, Fomba put the pedal to the metal, outworking his opponent to a 7-5, 6-3 victory to clinch the match.

SINGLES QUICK HITS

TCU won matches at No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4.
Maxted was the first to finish at No. 4, improving to 3-2 this dual season while collecting his team-leading eighth overall victory of the season.
Maxted and Sander Jong lead TCU with eight overall wins this season (three singles and five doubles).
Aguilar recorded a victory at No. 2 singles in his first start since Jan. 16 (vs. Tennessee).
He improves to 2-1 in dual singles matches this season, all at the No. 2 position.
Luc Fomba clinched the dual with a straight-set win at No. 1.
Fomba improves his career record at No. 1 singles to 9-4 with the win.
The Horned Frogs have now won 14 out of 16 singles matches in straight sets.
TCU is 16-7 in singles matches this dual season.

Singles Results
1. #68 Luc Fomba (TCU) def. Sema Pankin (UP) 7-5, 6-3
2. #19 Juan Carlos Aguilar (TCU) def. Eleftherios Neos (UP) 6-4, 6-2
3. Sander Jong (TCU) vs. Julien Penzlin (UP) 4-6, 6-3, 1-0, unfinished
4. #33 Lui Maxted (TCU) def. Nikolas Tvedt (UP) 6-3, 6-2
5. #76 Jake Fearnley (TCU) vs. Oscar Brown (UP) unfinished
6. Tim Ruehl (TCU) vs. Nicolas Ocana (UP) unfinished

Order of finish – 4, 2, 1

Up Next
The Horned Frogs will take on Tulsa in the ITA Weekend Kickoff championship match, tomorrow, Jan. 30, at 2 p.m. Admission is free to the public. Free pizza will be provided during TCU matches, courtesy of Buffalo Bros.

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