Feb. 10, 2004
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HORNED FROGS' MATCH #2:
#13 TCU (1-0) vs. Texas-Arlington (0-1)
Feb. 11, 2004 * Fort Worth, Texas * 1:30 p.m. CST
Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center * Tut Bartzen Varsity Tennis Courts
NEXT UP FOR THE HORNED FROGS
The No. 13 TCU Horned Frogs host Texas-Arlington Wednesday, Feb. 11, at 1:30 p.m. The match will be played on the Tut Bartzen Varsity Tennis Courts at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center. The event begins with three doubles matches followed by Nos. 1-6 singles after a 10-minute intermission.
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS
UTA has played one match so far against then-No. 13 Texas Jan. 26 in Austin. The Mavericks were dropped by a 6-1 count, picking up their lone victory at two singles. Sandy Farquharson defeated Pete Stroer in three sets, 6-4, 3-6, (13-11), to snag the point. Nathan McGregor from UTA took Antonio Ruiz to three sets at one singles but fell in a super tiebreaker, 10-4.
THE SERIES
TCU and UTA have met 12 times and the Horned Frogs have claimed all but one of the meetings. The Mavericks' lone win came Feb. 23, 1999, by a 4-3 score at the UTA Tennis Center. The Purple and White has won five in a row coming in to Wednesday's match. Last season, TCU was victorious, 6-1, in Arlington.
THE RANKINGS
A pair of Horned Frogs are currently ranked in the top-100 in singles in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's poll. Senior Alex Menichini is No. 44 in singles and junior Fabrizio Sestini is 75th. Sestini is also rated No. 19 in doubles with sophomore Rafael Abreu. UTA's David Corrie is the only ranked Maverick at No. 21 in singles.
TCU'S LAST TIME OUT
The Horned Frogs recorded a 6-1 victory over then-No. 68 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in their season opener with the Islanders Jan. 24 at the Friedman Tennis Center. TCU took the doubles point by winning Nos. 2 and 3, but suffered an upset at No. 1, where sophomore Rafael Abreu and junior Fabrizio Sestini fell in a tiebreaker, 9-7. In singles competition, the Purple and White won every spot except for No. 5. Sestini recorded an impressive victory against No. 83 Goncalo Figeiredo at two, 6-4, 6-1. The Rome, Italy, native actually trailed in the first set, 4-1, before winning 11 of the next 12 games.
SMU MATCH PUSHED BACK UNTIL MARCH
Because of predicted bad weather Feb. 4, round one of TCU-SMU was pushed back until March 4 in Fort Worth. The two teams will play at 2 p.m.
SOME NEW FACES
The Horned Frogs snagged a couple of new faces for the spring with the additions of Hector Almada and Tobias Virdhage. Almada played two seasons at Fresno State and one at Fresno City College prior to coming to Cowtown. He entered last fall ranked No. 6 in doubles and was 76th in singles. Virdhage, a native of Sweden, is a three-time Swedish national champion and boasts victories over some of the top players in the world, such as Daniel Klemetz, formerly of Middle Tennessee State. Klemetz won the 2002 ITA All-American Championships.
REPRESENTING THE WORLD
TCU's roster this season has six different countries represented. Besides the United States, the Horned Frogs have players from Italy, Mexico, Spain, Sweden and Venezuela. The Frogs' Americans are senior Alex Menichini and freshmen Robert Gallman, Collin Hart, Craig Stopa, and Andrew Ulrich. Two Italians don the purple and white with juniors Fabrizio Sestini and Jacopo Tezza. The lone Mexican is senior Hector Almada and junior Jacob Martin hails from Spain. Freshman Tobias Virdhage is TCU's Swedish player.
A RICH NCAA HISTORY
The Horned Frogs have a rich tradition of excellence in the NCAA Tournament. TCU has made 18 appearances in the event since the current team format was adopted in 1977. TCU has been in every tourney since 1991 and made 16 of the past 17 NCAAs. The Purple and White owns a record of 23-18 in the tournament and has made three appearances (1989, 1996, 2001) in the national semifinals. TCU has also reached at least the NCAA quarterfinals on seven occasions (1982, 1989, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001). In the individual championships, TCU had a string of 26 consecutive appearances from 1976 to 2001. During that span, TCU won one doubles title, coming in 1981 with Karl Richter and David Pate. In 1996, Ashley Fisher and Jason Weir-Smith finished as the runner-ups. Several Horned Frogs reached the round of 16 in singles, but Esteban Carril is the only one to advance to the quarterfinals. Carril made his run his sophomore year in 1999.
NEW TEAM BUILDING DEDICATED
The new TCU Tennis Team Building was dedicated Jan. 30, 2004. The latest addition to TCU's assortment of facilities houses the men's and women's coaching staffs and provides locker rooms for the men and women. Other amenities in the complex include a spacious lounge area with a big screen television, a laundry and equipment room, a computer workstation for student-athletes and a racket stringing area. The building cost about $700,000 to construct and was finished last December after breaking ground in June.
TCU ADDS LIVE MATCH SCORING
TCU men's tennis will offer fans something this season with the addition of live match scoring via the Internet. It is featured on the official Web site of TCU athletics, www.GoFrogs.com. Updates from the match are given periodically as the players progress and the order of finish, along with match notes, are also available on the page.
