Tennis team falls to No. 3 Baylor at home
Frogs grab two singles matches, one doubles
By Monique Bhimani
Copy Desk Chief

The 36th-ranked men’s tennis team fell to the 3rd-ranked Baylor Bears 5-2 Wednesday afternoon at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center.

“This was a good learning experience,” assistant coach Cory Hubbard said. “It was very close and it could have gone either way. We have played five top 10 teams, and I think our team has a lot of confidence now.”

The Frogs lost two of three doubles matches. Freshman Rafael Abreu and sophomore Jacob Martin grabbed TCU’s only doubles win as they defeated the No. 26 doubles team of Matias Marin and Ivor Lovrak 8-6.

“Doubles are our weakness, but we have worked a lot on it,” Hubbard said. “But singles are definately our strong point.”

In the singles matches, junior Alex Menichini defeated No. 31 Matias Marin 4-6; 7-6; 10-5 (Super Tiebreaker). This was Menichini’s fifth consecutive win and second consecutive win over a ranked opponent.

Freshman Jacopo Tezza defeated Baylor’s Reiner Neurohr in a three-set match, 6-7; 6-1; 10-5 (Super Tiebreaker).

Baylor took victories in the other four singles matches, with sophomore Fabrizio Sestini dropping to No. 1 Benedikt Dorsch 6-7 (7-3); 6-1.

The Frogs, who currently have a 3-0 record in Conference USA, will be on the road against No. 9 Texas A&M Sunday at 1:00 p.m.

Head coach Joey Rivé said the team will have to deal with more than A&M’s players on the court Sunday.

“I don’t think (A&M) is as good as Baylor,” Rivé said. “However, they’re usually about 600 to 1,000 fans that show up. It becomes a real circus there.”

Last season, the Frogs fell to the Aggies at home, 4-3. Hubbard said the match will be an important one to the team.

“(The Texas A&M game) will be like a revenge match for our team since the last time they played here,” Hubbard said. “Toni (Gordon), our senior player, said he would like no better than to go the A&M and beat them on their own court before he graduates.”

TCU has three more matches on its regular season schedule. The team will return home for its last home match against Southern Methodist noon April 12. The C-USA Conference Tournament begins April 17.

“We are a very new team, and they’re still learning quite a bit,” Rivé said. “We’re very close to being one of the best teams in the country.

m.s.bhimani@tcu.edu