Vives and Maxted Become Singles All-Americans
11/20/2024 8:16:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Seniors reach the third round in singles and doubles at the NCAA Individual Championships
WACO, Texas – Pedro Vives and Lui Maxted are already TCU men's tennis' winningest players and added to that legacy on Wednesday.
The senior duo became the 15th and 16th NCAA singles All-Americans in program history, reaching the round of 16 at the NCAA Individual Championships at the Hurd Tennis Center.
Vives controlled No. 121 Noah Zamora of UC Irvine from start to finish in a 6-4, 6-4 second round victory. He is now a two-time All-American, having achieved the status in doubles in May.
Maxted earned his first career All-American accolade, overpowering 57th-ranked Luca Staeheli (NC State) 6-4, 6-1. He is the 33rd All-American player TCU has produced.
TCU has now sent five players to the final 16 of the NCAA Singles Championships since 2021. Fellow All-Americans and national champions Luc Fomba, Jake Fearnley and Jack Pinnington also achieved the feat.
Vives dropped just one service game, illustrating his control of the baseline all match. A pair of early breaks in set one staked the 9-16 seeded Spaniard to a 5-2 edge. Leading 5-4, Vives ended the frame on an ace in a deuce point. He broke Zamora one final time to begin set two and jump in front 3-1. Vives had another break point opportunity to end the match ahead 5-3.
He draws preseason ITA No. 1 Ozan Baris in the round of 16. A win over Baris would give Vives his fourth win over a top-15 opponent in the last two months. He downed No. 2 Michael Zheng (Columbia), No. 6 Radu Papoe (Cornell) and No. 15 Jay Friend (Arizona) in his run to the ITA All-American Championships semifinals.
Maxted, seeded sixth in the invitational, won four of a possible eight break points. Tied at two game all in set one, Maxted broke Staeheli twice to assume control of the match. He won five straight games in the final frame.
The victory over Staehli signified Maxted's eighth triumph over a ranked opponent this fall. He'll face No. 103 Maxi Homberg of Pepperdine on Thursday morning for a ticket to the quarterfinals.
Vives and Maxted also battled back from a set down to take a round of 32 doubles affair in a over Wake Forest's DK Suresh and Ionnis Xilas in the nightcap. The TCU pair dropped the first frame 4-6 after surrendering a late break point. The teams battled to a 6-6 standstill in set two. From there, superior serving carried TCU to victory. Vives and Maxted won 17 of the match's final 23 points en route to a 4-6. 7-6 (3), [10-3]. The TCU tandem won eight straight points to close the books in the super tiebreaker.
They meet Matias Iturbe and Vasco Prata of Charlotte on Thursday in the round of 16.
NCAA Individual Championships
Hurd Tennis Center | Waco, Texas
Nov. 19-24, 2024
Singles
RD32 – #39 Lui Maxted (TCU) def. #57 Luca Staeheli (NC State): 6-4, 6-1
RD32 – #37 Pedro Vives (TCU) def. #121 Noah Zamora (UC Irvine): 6-4, 6-4
RD64 – #39 Lui Maxted (TCU) def. Tiago Silva (Pacific): 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
RD64 – #37 Pedro Vives (TCU) def. #86 Oscar Pinto Sansano (Georgia): 6-4, 6-4
RD64 – #55 Spencer Johnson (UCLA) def. Duncan Chan (TCU): 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
Doubles
RD32 – Pedro Vives / Lui Maxted (TCU) def. DK Suresh / Ionnis Xilas (Wake Forest): 4-6, 7-6 (3), [10-3]
Players Mentioned
