AUSTIN, TEXAS (Janaury 31, 2009) The No. 35 TCU men’s tennis team earned its first victory of the season Saturday over No. 28 South Florida in the opening match of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend at Texas’ Penick-Allison Tennis Center. Frogs either had won or owned leads in all but one match during afternoon’s end while evening their season dual record at 1-1.
The squad advanced to a Sunday afternoon meeting with No. 2 Texas in a match that will determine which squad advances to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Chicago Feb. 13-16.
The Frogs won the first two doubles matches to take a quick 1-0 lead thanks to an 8-4 decision by Emanuel Brighiu and Adrian Simon over USF’s Wael Kilani and Romain DeRidder and an 8-2 victory by the pairing of Jack Seider and Zach Nichols over Yannick Yoshizawa and Mohmoud Hamed. Kilani and DeRidder entered the weekend ranked as the nation’s No. 58 doubles pair by the ITA.
Kriegler Brink and Christopher Price’s doubles match went unfinished with the pair owning a comfortable 7-3 lead over South Florida’s Lucas Jovita and Thomas Estrada, who appear at No. 15 in the ITA rankings.
TCU earned wins at the No. 2 through 4 singles positions to clinch the team victory. Brink and Nichols posted straight-set decisions over Mahmoud Hamed (6-2, 6-3) and Romain DeRidder (6-3, 6-4), respectively, while newcomer Slah Mbarek’s three-set win over Wael Kilani (6-4, 3-6, 6-2) moved TCU on to Sunday’s championship meeting with the Longhorns.
Also leading at the time the team match was clinched was the 93rd-ranked Brighiu over the 27th-rated Jovita (4-6, 6-3, 5-2) and the 110th-ranked Simon over Jamal Adderley, 6-7, 6-1, 4-1.
TCU’s impressive team win was a marked improvement over its season-opening loss at No. 24 Rice. Frog Head Coach Dave Borelli was pleased with the effort put forth by his squad in its second outing.
“I thought our service game was much better today than it was in our first match, and we also seemed to get much stronger as the match went along today,” Borelli said. “Our guys have been working hard, and I really believe that we are in excellent shape. We also played with a lot more fire today that we did in that first match.
“South Florida has a very good team, and gaining a win like that is a big step for us.”
TCU and Texas take to the court Sunday at 2 p.m. with the winner becoming one of 15 teams that will advance to the Team Indoor Championships.
Results
No. 35 TCU 4, No. 28 South Florida 1
Jan 31, 2009
Austin, Texas (Penick-Allison Tennis Center)
Doubles
1. Kriegler Brink/Chris Price (TCU) led (15) Lucas Jovita/Thomas Estrada (USF) – unf. (7-3)
2. (12) Emanuel Brighiu/Adrian Simon (TCU) def. (58) Wael Kilani/Romain DeRidder
(USF) - 8-4
3. Jack Seider/Zach Nichols (TCU) def. Yannick Yoshizawa/Mahmoud Hamed (USF) - 8-2
Singles
1. (93) Emanuel Brighiu (TCU) led (27) Lucas Jovita (USF) – unf. (4-6, 6-3, 5-2)
2. (97) Kriegler Brink (TCU) def. Mahmoud Hamed (USF) - 6-2, 6-3
3. Slah Mbarek (TCU) def. Wael Kilani (USF) – 6-4, 3-6, 6-2
4. Zach Nichols (TCU) def. Romain DeRidder (USF) – 6-3, 6-4
5. (110) Adrian Simon (TCU) led Jamal Adderley (USF) – unf. (6-7, 6-1, 4-1)
6. Thomas Estrada (USF) def. Chris Price (TCU) – 6-4, 6-1
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