http://www.gofrogs.com/sports/m-tennis/recaps/040816aaa.html
GoFrogs: M. Tennis Tops OU, 4-3
FORT WORTH, Texas- In front of the largest crowd of the season of over 1,200 fans, the No. 2 TCU men’s tennis team used a third set tiebreaker to once again defeat a top-10 opponent, as the Horned Frogs downed No. 9 Oklahoma, 4-3, on Friday night at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center.
In a rematch of the NCAA Semifinals from a season ago, the Horned Frogs (19-2, 1-0 Big 12) had to stage a comeback against the Sooners (11-8, 0-1 Big 12), as Oklahoma ran out to a 3-1 lead in the match. After TCU picked up wins on courts six and two to even out the match at 3-3, all eyes turned to court three as No. 61 Guillermo Nuñez was going point-for-point with No. 59 Spencer Papa. Sent into a third-set tiebreaker to decide the match, Nuñez stormed out to a 4-1 lead and never looked back as the sophomore won the tiebreaker, 7-3, to secure the team’s 26th consecutive victory at home and 14th straight this season.
For the second straight match, TCU opened the match completely dominant in doubles as Trevor Johnson and Nuñez scored the first victory by downing No. 85 Papa and Alex Ghilea, 6-1. Just a mere seconds later, the No. 82 pair of Reese Stalder and Hudson Blake blanked No. 40 Axel Alvarez Llamas and Andrew Harris, 6-0, to secure the team’s fourth straight doubles point this season.
Oklahoma did not back down, as the Sooners used straight-set victories on courts four, five and one to take over the lead and go up 3-1 in the match. Johnson scored his seventh straight victory and 20th of the season to cut the OU lead to one with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Andre Biro. No. 16 Alex Rybakov followed up on court two by topping Harris, 7-6(2), 6-4 to even out the match. After taking the first set, Nuñez suffered a late break in the second set, as Papa took the set, 7-5. The two went toe-to-toe in the final set, before Nuñez capitalized in the tiebreaker to score his 20th win of the season and eighth over a ranked foe to clinch the overall match victory for TCU.
Quotes of the Match
Head Coach David Roditi
Opening Statement
“What an unbelievable college match. This match had a lot of hype for many reasons. Oklahoma has a hell of a team with Andrew Harris back in the lineup and they have one of the best teams in the nation. We are ranked No. 2 right now and have one of the best teams in the nation, so very seldom does a match that has so much hype and so many expectations exceed those expectations. For this match to come down to the wire and have Oklahoma serve for the match and have Guillermo (Nuñez) come back and pull out a huge win is hard to describe with words.
“I am glad there was no drama. Our crowd and our fans were great. It was just a good, clean college match. I was so impressed with the way Oklahoma came out at us at No. 1 singles. Axel Alvarez Llamas played an unbelievable match and for Harris to be playing at that level, (Alex) Rybakov had to really dig in to get a great win, which is pretty impressive. Oklahoma is only getting better and stronger as the year goes on. Their team is going to be really tough to deal with come postseason.”
On the doubles matches
“Our doubles was the most impressive doubles I have ever been a part of. The level of play that Hudson Blake and Reese Stalder showed at No. 1 doubles, they could have beaten the Bryan brothers today. They played flawless, had unbelievable energy, executed exactly what they wanted to do out there, knew what they were going to expect and they executed perfectly. It was such a pleasure to watch those guys come so far and beat two of the best players in the nation, 6-0. It is something that they can be very proud of and speaks so much about their journey to this point. With Guillermo and Trevor (Johnson), we always felt that it could be a very good team and they showed it today beating two very good players as well. That was a great doubles point.”
Match Results
Oklahoma vs TCU
Apr 08, 2016 at Fort Worth, Texas
(Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center)
#2 TCU 4, #9 Oklahoma 3
Singles competition
1. #36 Axel Alvarez Llamas (OU) def. #3 Cameron Norrie (TCU) 6-2, 6-4
2. #16 Alex Rybakov (TCU) def. Andrew Harris (OU) 7-6 (7-2), 6-4
3. #61 Guillermo Nuñez (TCU) def. #59 Spencer Papa (OU) 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (7-3)
4. #51 Alex Ghilea (OU) def. Eduardo Nava (TCU) 6-1, 6-0
5. Florin Bragusi (OU) def. Jerry Lopez (TCU) 6-2, 6-3
6. Trevor Johnson (TCU) def. Andre Biro (OU) 6-3, 7-5
Doubles competition
1. #82 Reese Stalder/Hudson Blake (TCU) def. #40 Axel Alvarez Llamas/Andrew Harris (OU) 6-0
2. Trevor Johnson/Guillermo Nuñez (TCU) def. #85 Spencer Papa/Alex Ghilea (OU) 6-1
3. Cameron Norrie/Alex Rybakov (TCU) vs. Maxime Mora/Andre Biro (OU) 0-5, unfinished
Match Notes:
Oklahoma 11-8, 0-1; National ranking #9
TCU 19-2, 1-0; National ranking #2
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (4,5,1,6,2,3)
T-3:05 A-1287
Up Next
TCU will finish out the Big 12 opening weekend by welcoming No. 12 Oklahoma State on Sunday, April 10 at 1:30 p.m.