Men’s Tennis: No.4 TCU Defeats No. 15 Ole Miss

Freshman Pedro Vives clinched the dual in his collegiate debut.

Gregg Ellman

TCU’s men’s tennis team is off to another hot start. The Frogs secured their second victory of the season against another ranked team defeating Ole Miss 4-3 on Sunday afternoon in front of a packed crowd inside the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center.

TCU secured winning the dual at 4-0 after winning the doubles point then winning the first three singles matches. Ole Miss did win the last two singles matches plus gained another point via a retirement by TCU at No. 6.

Pedro Vives, a freshman from Palma De Mallorca, Spain, played in his first match as a Horned Frog. He made an impressive debut clinched the match, winning both his doubles and singles matches.

“I thought I played a really good match from beginning to end,” said Vives after clinching the win for TCU with his singles match. “I was expecting to be a little more tight, playing in my first college match. But I felt loose, I was making good decisions. Sander and Charlie came through with great wins. It was a great day for us.”

Pedro Vives made his collegiate debut against Ole Miss. He won both his doubles and singles matches.  / Gregg Ellman

The doubles matches were all intense. At No.1, which for TCU was Luc Fomba/Jake Fearnley, fell behind a break and ended up losing the set 6-4. The Horned Frogs on the other two courts were determined not to have momentum fall in favor of the Rebels. At No. 2, the duo of Vives and Lui Maxted was first to finish at 6-3. Then at No. 3, Tim Ruehl/Juan Carlos Aguilar got their break to win 6-4 clinching the doubles point for TCU.

This was the seventh doubles point of the season for TCU. The 7-0 start in double points is the best start in the head coach David Roditi era and the longest since 2009 when the Frogs went 9-0. TCU is 14-2 in doubles matches this season and is outscoring opponents 108-68.

In the singles matches, TCU won four first sets. Aguilar at No. 2 won in straight sets 6-3, 6-0. He improved to 4-1 in dual singles matches this season. Then Jong was the next to finish, also in straight sets, 7-5, 6-4. He has now won his 10th overall match of the season, which leads all Frogs. Vives was next and also won in straight sets 6-4, 6-4, clinching the dual for TCU. Ole Miss would win two matches in three sets and got an additional point when Fearnley retired due to a medical issue at No. 6.

TCU is now 6-1 for the season and 2-1 versus ranked opponents.

“This was a great win for a lot of reasons,” said Roditi after the dual. “We won an absolute battle against a highly ranked Ole Miss team that had qualified for Indoor Nationals, the same as us. We have a lot of respect for those coaches and players, they compete at a very high level.”

Next up: TCU hosts two more ranked teams this weekend. The Frogs take on No. 19 Mississippi State on Friday, February 11 then No. 5 Virginia on Sunday, February 13.

2022 men’s Tennis Schedule/Results

January 12 vs. UTRGV – Won 6-1

January 14 vs. Florida – Won 4-3

January 16 vs. Tennessee – Lost 3-4

January 27 vs. Abilene Christian – Won 4-1

January 29 vs. Portland – Won 4-0

January 30 vs. Tulsa – Won 4-0

February 6 vs. Ole Miss – Won 4-3

February 11 at Mississippi State

February 13 vs. Virginia

February 18 Intercollegiate Tennis Association Indoor Nationals Championship

March 2 vs. Michigan

March 5 at Illinois

March 10 at UCLA

March 19 vs. USF

March 21 at SMU

March 25 vs. Baylor

March 27 at Tulane

April 1 vs. Texas Tech

April 3 at Baylor

April 9 vs. Texas

April 14 at Oklahoma State

April 16 at Oklahoma

April 22 vs. Big 12 Champion

May 19 NCAA Championship

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