TCU Battles Past Illinois

Saturday, March 5

Urbana-Champaign, IL

6 PM

TCU

Illinois

TCU Battles Past Illinois

3/5/2022 11:33:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score TCU 4 ILL 2

Horned Frogs win road opener over Illinois, 4-2

URBANA, Ill. – No. 1 TCU men's tennis (13-2) got back into the win column with a 4-2 road victory over Illinois on Saturday night at the Atkins Tennis Center, in Urbana, Ill. The Horned Frogs won the doubles point before winning three singles matches to clinch the 13^th win of the season and first on the road. Junior Sander Jong clinched the victory at No. 3 singles.

"This was a tough road win," head coach David Roditi said. "It's so hard to get wins at this level. Every team is so good. I'm proud of our guys for finding a way to get four points. We need to play better in certain spots but that's why it's a team format, so other guys can pick someone up when their down and put them on their back because tomorrow will be another day. Sander Jong did an incredible job of coming back from a set down to beat one of their better, more experienced, points. Alex Brown has been here for a long time. He has a big serve and its not easy to play him. I'm happy for Sander to get back on his horse. Charlie and Pedro had very good wins in straight sets. I'd like to believe that Fomba was there too, if we needed him. Now, we go back outside again, and get ready to play at one of the most historical programs in college tennis, at UCLA. A huge shoutout to our Beach Volleyball squad for a huge gutsy performance to beat No. 3 Florida State. We were all watching it. We're very happy for them and proud of them. Go Frogs!"

The match today had to be played indoors due to the weather. TCU improves to 13-1 indoors this season. TCU is 27-6 in doubles matches played indoors and have won 13 of 14 doubles points.

DOUBLES QUICK HITS

TCU won the doubles point with wins from the No. 1 and No. 3 pairings.
Juan Carlos Aguilar and Pedro Vives recorded their first win together as a pair at the No. 3 spot: 7-5.
This was their second time playing together.
Vives is now 2-1 in doubles while Aguilar improves to 7-4.
Luc Fomba and Jake Fearnley overcame a 1-4 deficit in their tiebreak to win six of the next seven points, clinching the doubles point with a 7-6(5) win.
The No. 5 ranked pairing in the nation collected their 10^th win together this season.
They took down No. 40 Horve/Heck, earning their fifth win of the season over a ranked pairing.
Fomba/Fearnley are 5-0 against ranked opponents this season.
TCU improves to 24-6 in doubles matches this season, outscoring opponents 203-155.
TCU has won 13 of 15 doubles points this season.

Doubles Results
1. #5 Luc Fomba/Jake Fearnley (TCU) def. #40 Lucas Horve/Hunter Heck (ILL) 7-6 (7-5)
2. Olivier Stuart/Siphosothando Montsi (ILL) vs. #15 Sander Jong/Lui Maxted (TCU) 6-6 (3-3), unfinished
3. Juan Carlos Aguilar/Pedro Vives (TCU) def. Alex Brown/Gabrielus Guzauskas (ILL) 7-5

Order of finish: 3, 1

SINGLES QUICK HITS

Vives and Aguilar were the only Horned Frogs to win their opening sets.
Illinois collected a quick win at No. 4, to tie the score 1-1.
TCU bounced back by winning the next five second sets, including one each from Vives and Aguilar, resulting in two points for the Frogs and restoring the lead to 3-1, while the three remaining matches were headed to a third set.
Sander Jong broke his opponent's final service game, at 40-0, to clinch the victory for TCU, just after Illinois claimed a point at No. 6, resulting in a 4-2 final score.
Vives recorded the first singles win for TCU at No. 5.
He improves to 7-2 this season and 7-1 indoors. This was his third straight sets win.
Aguilar gave TCU a 3-1 lead with a 6-4, 6-4 victory on court two.
He improves to 7-5 this season, all at No. 2.
Six of his seven singles wins this year have come in straight sets.
Jong clinched the win at No. 3, coming back from a set down to win: 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.
Jong leads the team with 10 singles wins this season (10-4).
He has won four straight indoor singles matches, two in three-sets – today and his 6-0 third set, match clinching win over then-No. 1 Ohio State in the Indoor National Semifinals.
He is 3-1 in three-setters, winning his last three in a row.
TCU is 13-2 this season and 8-2 vs. Top 25 teams.
The Horned Frogs are 47-21 in singles matches this dual season.

Singles Results
1. #108 Olivier Stuart (ILL) vs. #14 Luc Fomba (TCU) 6-4, 3-6, 3-4, unfinished
2. #16 Juan Carlos Aguilar (TCU) def. Siphosothando Montsi (ILL) 6-4, 6-4
3. #123 Sander Jong (TCU) def. Alex Brown (ILL) 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
4. Hunter Heck (ILL) def. #23 Jake Fearnley (TCU) 6-3, 6-1
5. Pedro Vives (TCU) def. Gabrielus Guzauskas (ILL) 6-2, 6-4
6. Nic Meister (ILL) def. Tomas Jirousek (TCU) 6-2, 3-6, 6-1

Order of finish – 4, 5, 2, 6, 3

Up Next
The Horned Frogs stay on the road for their next match at UCLA on Thursday, March 10. The match is set to begin at 3 p.m. CT at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.

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