Men’s Tennis: TCU Opens Season With Three Strong Victories

Last February, the TCU men’s tennis team won the ITA Indoor National Championship in Seattle, the first championship in program history. Many of the same players on that championship team have returned. The team hopes to defend his Natty next month in Urbana, Illinois. TCU opened the 2023 season last week with decisive wins over Abilene Christian, SMU, and Tulsa to begin that journey to Urbana.

The Horned Frogs are currently ranked No. 3 in the nation and were predicted to win the Big 12 Conference once again this season.

The Horned Frogs returned to the purple courts at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center to host ACU on Saturday, January 14, and won that dual 6-1. Then on Monday, January 16, the Frogs hosted their Metroplex rival SMU and won that dual 5-0. They then traveled to Tulsa on Sunday, January 22, and got their first road win of the season, defeating the Golden Hurricanes 6-1.

With these three wins, TCU extended its indoor winning streak to 15 matches, dating back to last season. It’s the longest indoor winning streak in program history.

Here are the highlights of those three duals:

TCU 6 versus Abilene Christian 1 – January 14

TCU cruised past ACU to comfortably get their first win of the season in front of a home crowd on January 14. The Horned Frogs moved to 41-9 all-time in season-openers and 11-2 under head coach David Roditi. Roditi has yet to drop a home opener since assuming the program helm in 2010.

“Tennis season has officially started. We got our first win today. The guys played very well. We beat ACU here at home on our indoor courts. It’s great to see Sebastian Gorzny make his debut as a freshman, Luke Swan made his debut and got a win in doubles, and also our [assistant] coach, Nick Chappell – a historic Horned Frog here at TCU – great to see him make his debut as well. We’re excited. We won, and now we get SMU. We loved what we saw today. A bunch of other sports came out and supported us. The community came out, and that’s always great. It’s going to be a battle like it always is against SMU. go frogs.”

– TCU Men’s Tennis Head Coach David Roditi

Doubles Play – TCU wins the point

Sebastian Gorznya freshman from Fountain Valley, California, made his collegiate debut partnering with Pedro Vives at the no. 2 spot. They cruised to a 6-1 set. The doubles point was secured at the No. 3 spots, with Luc Fomba other Luke Swan their winning set 6-4. Swan is a sophomore transfer from Wichita, Kansas, by way of Bristol, England. Sander Jong other Lui Maxted played at the no. 1 spot. Their set was unfinished.

Singles Play – TCU won 5-1

Fomba, at No. 2, won 6-3, 6-2 to give the Frogs their first singles point. Fomba, the No. 28 ITA singles player, extended his career singles record to 71-26.
Jong, playing his first singles match at No. 1, won 6-3, 6-4.
Maxted, playing at No. 3, secured the dual victory with a 6-4, 7-6 win.
Gorzny, the 2022 Wimbledon Junior Doubles Champion, won his first singles match in three sets, 6-0, 6-7, 6-4.
Playing at No. 5, Vives won 6-2, 6-4.
Swan was the only Horned Frog not to win his singles match, losing in a 10-point per set, 2-8.

TCU 5 versus SMU 0 – January 16

The winning streak continues. TCU extended the streak over SMU to 14 consecutive matches, dating back to 2006. And the Frogs did it in an impressive shutout. The tennis version of that Iron Skillet certainly must like Fort Worth cuisine!

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Doubles Play – TCU wins the point

Jong and Maxted, at the No. 1 spot, started strong with three aces by Jong to win the first game. They won their set 6-2. The pair, ranked as the No. 4 ITA doubles team in the nation, are now 32-8 when paired together. The No. 2 doubles pairing featured the return of Jake Fearnley, who sat out the opening dual with an injury, paired with Fomba. The duo won their set 6-4, clinching the point for the Frogs.

Singles Play – TCU won 4-0

Fomba, playing at the No. 2 spot, finished first, winning his match 6-4, 6-3.
Maxted, playing at the No. 4 spot, secured the next point with a 6-3, 7-5 match.
Jong playing at the No. 1 spot, won the dual, putting TCU up 4-0 with a straight set 6-4, 6-4 win.
Vives, playing at the No. 5 spot, added one more point to the total with a 6-3, 6-3 win in his match.
Tomas Jirousek did not play in the opening dual and made his season debut at the no. 3 spot. He notched a comeback performance when he fell behind 5-2 in the first set, eventually winning the set 7-6 in the tiebreaker.

TCU 6 at Tulsa 1 – January 22

The Horned Frogs hit the road this past weekend for the first time this season. They defeated Tulsa 6-1. TCU is now 9-4 all time against Tulsa. And the Frogs have now started 3-0 for the third time in the last four seasons.

Doubles Play – TCU wins the point

Fomba and Fearnley, playing at No. 2, won four straight games and had no problem winning their set 6-1. This duo is now 20-5 over the last two seasons. TCU secured the doubles point with a 6-3 win at No. 3 by Gorzny and Vives.

Singles Play – TCU won 5-1

TCU claimed five of the six opening sets and 10-of-12 overall.
Maxted was the first to win his match and did so in dominating fashion at the No. 4 spot. He won 6-1, 6-2.
Fomba was next winning his set 6-3, 6-3 at the No. 3 spot.
Fearnley, in his 2023 singles debut, clinched the match for the Frogs with a 6-4, 7-5 win at the No. 2 spots after being behind in both sets.
Gorzny got his first collegiate shutout, winning 7-6 (7-0), 6-2 at the No. 6 spot.
Even though the match was decided, Jong played out his set, winning 6-4, 7-5.
Vives was the only Horned Frog to lose a match against Tulsa, going down 4-6, 3-6 at the No. 5 spot.

Next up: The Horned Frogs return home to the indoor Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center to participate in the 14th annual ITA Kickoff Weekend on Jan. 28-29. TCU begins the two-day affair vs. Gonzaga at 2 pm on Jan. 28 and will play either Texas Tech or Utah on Jan. 29, depending on day one results.

TCU is one of 60 programs participating in ITA Kickoff Weekend and one of 15 host schools. Host sites are predetermined based on 2022 year-end ITA team rankings. The remaining 45 teams engaged in a kickoff weekend draft in June. The draft grants head coaches the opportunity to select which host site their program travels to. Draft order is determined based on year-end finish, beginning with the No. 16 ranked teams.

Utah is the No. 2 seed in TCU’s quadrant. Texas Tech wants to be the No. 3 seed, followed by Gonzaga at No. 4.

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