March 27, 2002
FORT WORTH, Texas -- The No. 24 TCU men's tennis team (8-6) lost consecutive matches for the first time this season on Wednesday, falling to No. 10 Texas A&M (14-2) in a 4-3 decision on the Bernard J. "Tut" Bartzen Varsity Tennis Courts at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center. With the loss, the Frogs fall to 1-4 this season against teams ranked in the top 25.
TCU began the match by losing the doubles point for the fifth straight time this season. Through 14 matches, the Horned Frogs have won the doubles only five times and are a perfect 5-0 when doing so.
The Aggies took a 2-0 lead when No. 92 Ante Matijevic grabbed a 6-2, 6-4 win over freshman Jacob Martin at four singles. The loss was only Martin's fourth this season in dual match competition.
The Frogs cut the Aggies lead in half when senior Daniel Wajnberg caught a break at six singles as Khaled El Dorry was forced to retire with a sprained right ankle. Wajnberg lost the first set 6-3, but led 3-1 in the second before El Dorry pulled out of the match.
Things looked bleek for TCU when Texas A&M's Lester Cook snapped sophomore Alex Menichini's seven-match win streak win a 6-3, 6-3 victory at three to give the Aggies a commanding 3-1 lead.
The Frogs would come back though, with their first win coming from 44th-ranked junior Toni Gordon at one. Gordon upset No. 36 Ryan Newport 6-3, 6-4, avenging his 3-6, 7-6, 7-6 loss to Newport in the quarterfinals of the Omni Hotels Region VI Championships last fall.
TCU's next win came from freshman Daniel Scholten at five where he upset No. 88 Jarin Skube 6-4, 1-6, 6-2. The win was Scholten's 14th this spring, the most by any Horned Frog.
With the match knotted at 3-3, all eyes were on court No. 2 where TCU freshman Fabrizio Sestini had fought his way into a third set with Keith From by winning a tiebreaker in the second. However, the Rome, Italy-native was unable to carry that momentum into the third set as he fell 6-3 to give the Aggies the 4-3 win.
"I was really happy with the way we played," said TCU head coach Joey Rivé after the match. "The biggest thing that's hurting us right now is our doubles. It's been a struggle for us all year."
The Frogs will now take on No. 45 Rice this Saturday, March 30 at 2:30 p.m. at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center in Fort Worth, Texas.
Singles
No. 1 #44 Toni Gordon (TCU) def. #36 Ryan Newport (TAM) 6-3, 6-4
No. 2 Keith From (TAM) def. #70 Fabrizio Sestini (TCU) 6-3, 6-7, 6-3
No. 3 #104 Lester Cook (TAM) def. #99 Alex Menichini (TCU) 6-3, 6-3
No. 4 #92 Ante Matijevic (TAM) def. Jacob Martin (TCU) 6-2, 6-4
No. 5 Daniel Scholten (TCU) def. #88 Jarin Skube (TAM) 6-4, 1-6, 6-2
No. 6 Daniel Wajnberg (TCU) def. Khaled El Dorry (TAM) 3-6, 3-1, Retired (Injury)
Doubles
No. 1 #26 Newport/Cook (TAM) def. #51 Sestini/Gordon (TCU) 8-3
No. 2 Skube/From (TAM) def. Martin/Menichini (TCU) 8-7
No. 3 Matijevic/Derrick Bauer (TAM) def. Scholten/Chris Brandi (TCU) 8-3
