The TCU men’s tennis team is undefeated. The team faces Tulsa and New Mexico this week before heading to Chicago for the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
The Horned Frogs recently jumped 19 spots to No. 18 in the ITA rankings after they swept the competition last weekend in College Station during the ITA Kickoff.
The team upset No. 10 Texas A&M in the opening round and earned their first top-10 win under head coach David Roditi. It was also the Horned Frogs’ first victory against Texas A&M since 2006.
TCU clinched a trip to the 2015 ITA National Team Indoor Championships after a 4-1 win against No. 45 LSU in the second round. The Horned Frogs improved to 3-0 for the season.
“I am obviously happy and proud for the guys because it is hard to have such a big win and then come back ready to play the next day,” Roditi said. “I felt like the guys were ready and we knew that we were going to have a really tough match with LSU.”
The Horned Frogs snagged major wins in doubles during the second round. Senior Arnau Dachs and first-year student Guillermo Nuñez defeated LSU’s Justin Butsch and Andrew Korinek. The No. 15 first-year duo of Trevor Johnson and Cameron Norrie then defeated LSU’s pair to receive the doubles point for TCU.
“It was good for us to get that doubles point,” Roditi said. “That was a part of our match that we thought we could improve and I thought we played better in doubles today.”
The Frogs finished off the match with victories from No. 91 Will Stein and No. 87 Nuñez.
“For Will to step up with the least amount of experience as a singles player and defeat a guy he grew up with was huge,” Roditi said. “I also thought it was a big boost and a big point for our team and then Guillermo did a great job closing out the match.”
TCU will participate in the Indoor Championships on Feb. 12-15. The tournament will mark the first time the Frogs have earned an ITA National Team Indoor Championships bid since 2001. The championships are being hosted by the University of Illinois at Midtown Athletic Club in Chicago, Ill.
But the men will have to face New Mexico and Tulsa before they travel to Chicago.
TCU hosts the No. 56 Lobos on Feb. 6 at 5:30 p.m. New Mexico is 4-4 after losing to Arkansas in Norman, Okla.
The Frogs will then travel to Tulsa for a match on Feb. 8 at 1 p.m. The No. 37 Hurricanes are coming off wins against Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Wichita State.
Coach Roditi says the upcoming matches will help the team in Illinois.
“We are happy and proud to be going to Chicago, but before that happens, we have some really big matches against New Mexico and Tulsa,” Roditi said. “Those matches will most likely be indoors and will help us prepare for the Indoor Championships.”
The men’s team is set to square off against New Mexico at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center on Friday at 5:30 p.m.
