Singles Sweeps Rally TCU Past No. 19 Illinois 4-1

Sunday, March 19

Fort worth, TX

1 PM

TCU

Illinois

Singles Sweeps Rally TCU Past No. 19 Illinois 4-1

3/19/2023 6:20:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score Photo Gallery

The top-ranked Horned Frogs improved to 15-0 in 2023 with the win

FORT WORTH –TCU measured up to its stiffest home test to date in 2023 in full on Sunday, as the top-ranked Horned Frogs rallied past No. 19 Illinois 4-1 on the Bartzen Varsity Courts.

For the first time all season, TCU (15-0) found itself down on the scoreboard to begin a match. The Fighting Illini (12-7) – winners of six-of-eight entering the dual – took the doubles point with respective 7-6 and 6-3 wins in the second and third flights.

But the Horned Frogs turned the contest on its ear with a swift counterpunch shortly thereafter. TCU rolled to four straight points with singles triumphs on courts one, three, five and six to clinch the match. The Horned Frogs claimed 10-of-11 completed sets and were victorious in the opening frame on five courts. Three of the first six singles sets went to a tiebreaker. TCU won all three, firmly wresting control of the match.

"Great win over Illinois today by the boys," head coach David Roditi said. "Illinois took it to us in doubles. First time we've lost a doubles point all year. I couldn't be more proud of our team with the way they responded, the way they just kept fighting. There were some critical first sets that went our way to give us a little bit of a cushion. Our guys just kept playing, and playing, and playing. Great performance at No. 6 by Pedro [Vives] to make it 1-1 and let his teammates get us to four.

"We were challenged, we were pushed," Roditi continued. "Super tough, very good Illinois team, and the guys responded the way a coach would want them to respond. We're so proud as coaches. Now, we've got UT on Wednesday, and we hope to see everyone come out. It's beautiful out here, and we hope to see you all on Wednesday. Number one versus number three. Go Frogs."

TCU picked up its eighth ITA top-25 victory of the spring with the result.

The Horned Frogs also earned their third straight win over the Illini and improved their all-time record vs. Illinois to 11-5.

It was perhaps unsettling to see the Horned Frogs trail 1-0. TCU had won a program record and nation-leading 18 consecutive doubles points entering the match. The Illini became the first team to defeat TCU in doubles play in Fort Worth in the Horned Frogs' last 10 home outings.

Illinois' Kenta Meyoshi / Alex Petrov downed No. 53 Sander Jong and Jack Pinnington 6-3 on court three to begin. Sebastian Gorzny and Pedro Vives rallied from two games down on court two opposite Mathis Debru and Oliver Okonkwo knot the set at 6-6. Debru and Okonkwo claimed the set and doubles point with a 7-5 tiebreaker victory. Jake Fearnley and Luc Fomba, No. 12 in the ITA doubles rankings, left their match vs. Hunter Heck and Carlis Ozolins unfinished at 6-6.

Vives quickly washed the taste of disappointment from his mouth as the action shifted to singles play. He rolled past Nic Meister 6-1, 6-3 out of the No. 6 post to pull the Horned Frogs even at 1-1.

Fearnley, the nation's No. 14 singles player, was every bit as efficient. He faced Petrov, No. 96 in the ITA singles rankings, on the top court. Fearnley fell behind 1-2 in set one, but responded by winning nine of the ensuing 11 games to cruise to a 6-2, 6-3 victory and give TCU the lead for good. He claimed five straight in set one and five-of-six in the second-and-final frame.

Gorzny stretched TCU's edge to 3-1 minutes after Fearnley polished off his match. The freshman avenged his doubles to defeat to Okonkow, taking down the fifth year player 7-6, 6-3.

He outlasted Okonkwo in a competitive first set. Gorzny, No. 62 in the ITA singles rankings, jumped out to a 4-2 head start, only for Okonkwo to claw his way back even and render a tiebreaker. But it was all Gorzny from there. The Austin native blitzed Okonkwo 7-1 in the tiebreaker and led start to finish in the decisive second set.

Pinnington earned the match-clincher over Heck on court four, 7-6, 6-1, and proved there's never truly a set he's out of along the way. The freshman fell behind 0-4 to begin set one. Pinnington, who currently holds an ATP singles ranking of No. 573, fought back to get within a point of Heck twice, first at 4-5 and then 5-6. Pinnington then forced a tiebreaker, which he won 7-3, to complete the comeback.

Both Luc Fomba and Sander Jong were well on their way to the winners circle on the remaining courts.

Fomba, 19^th in the ITA singles rankings split his first pair of sets 3-6, 6-2, in the second flight vs. Illinois' highest-ranked player in No. 42 Ozolins. He led Ozolins 4-2 in the final frame as Pinnington clinched.

Jong edged William Mroz 7-6 in the opening set via a come-from-behind 7-5 tiebreaker takedown. The fifth year senior came one point shy of clinching, as he found himself ahead of Mroz 5-2 in the second set when play was halted.

Doubles Results

#12 Jake Fearnley / Luc Fomba (TCU) vs. Hunter Heck / Carlis Ozolins (Illinois): 6-6
#52 Mathis Debru / Oliver Okonkwo (Illinois) def. #73 Sebastian Gorzny / Pedro Vives (TCU): 7-6 [7-5]
Kenta Meyoshi / Alex Petrov (Illinois) def. #53 Sander Jong / Jack Pinnington (TCU): 3-6

Order of finish: 3, 2

Doubles Notes

Sunday's doubles defeat marked just the sixth time in the last two seasons TCU has dropped the doubles point. The Horned Frogs are 39-6 in doubles play since 2022,
TCU moved to 3-3 over the last two years when losing the doubles point.
Collectively, TCU's overall doubles record in 2022-2023 is now 28-8. The Horned Frogs are 7-3 on court one, 10-3 on court two and 11-2 on court three.
Fomba and Fearnley's doubles record remained intact at 8-1.
Fomba and Fearnley have lined up in the top doubles flight in their last seven outings together.
Gorzny and Vives had their eight-match doubles winning streak snapped. They last suffered a doubles defeat on Jan. 29 vs. Texas Tech. The underclassmen duo is 11-2 together this spring and 14-3 overall in 2022-2023.
Jong and Pinnington's court three assignment was their first ever when paired together. Their previous five doubles sets all came on court two.
Jong and Pinnington are 3-2 together this spring. The duo went 3-1 at the ITA Indoor National Championships with wins over No. 10 Baylor, No. 13 Georgia and No. 8 Texas.

Singles Results

#14 Jake Fearnley (TCU) def. #96 Alex Petrov (Illinois): 6-2, 6-3
#19 Luc Fomba (TCU) vs. #42 Carlis Ozolins (Illinois): 3-6, 6-2, 4-2
Jack Pinnington (TCU) def. Hunter Heck (Illinois): 7-6 [7-3], 6-1
#51 Sander Jong (TCU) vs. William Mroz (Illinois): 7-6 [7-5], 5-2
#62 Sebastian Gorzny (TCU) def. Oliver Okonkwo (Illinois): 7-6 [7-1], 6-3
Pedro Vives (TCU) def. Nic Meister (Illinois): 6-1, 6-3

Order of finish: 6, 1, 5, 3

Singles Notes

Fearnley picked up his team-leading 11^th ranked victory in 2022-2023 with his sweep of Petrov.
Fearnley's combined singles record in 2022-2023 is now 20-5. He leads TCU in singles victories.
Eight of Fearnley's nine spring singles wins have been in the No. 1 flight.
Fearnley has gotten off the court in straight sets in all nine of his victories this spring.
Fomba is still unblemished in singles play this spring at 9-0. He has surrendered just four combined singles and doubles sets and is 28-4 overall in 2022-2023.
Fomba came two games shy of picking up his 100^th career singles victory.
Jong and Gorzny are now tied for the team lead in singles victories in 2023 at 10 apiece. Jong is 10-1 while Gorzny improved to 10-0.
Gorzny now owns a 13-1 combined singles record and is 28-4 overall in 2022-2023.
Gorzny has won three straight singles tiebreakers and is 3-1 when a singles set is knotted at 6-6.
Five of Gorzny's last six singles wins have been on court five.
Pinnington has won six straight games, dating back to his 6-4, 6-0 defeat of Texas' Micah Braswell on Feb. 20 in TCU's ITA Indoor National Championship victory vs. the Longhorns.
Pinnington's singles record boosted to 4-2 with the performance.
Vives improved his 2023 singles record to 5-1. His defeat of Meyoshi signified his third straight singles win. All five of his victories have been in straight sets.