TCU Topples No. 1 USC

Sunday, February 14

Champaign, Ill

9 AM

TCU

USC

2/14/2021 1:37:00 PM | Men's Tennis

The Horned Frogs defeated the No. 1 team in the nation for the first time in the David Roditi era

FORT WORTH – No. 3 TCU men's tennis (7-2) erased a 3-1 deficit to secure a 4-3, come from behind victory over No. 1 USC in its final match of the ITA Indoor National Championships inside the Atkins Tennis Center in Champaign, Ill. It was the first win over a No. 1 ranked opponent in the David Roditi era.

Alastair Gray defeated No. 1 Daniel Cukierman in three sets to clinch the dual. Luc Fomba delivered the best win of his career over No. 19 Riley Smith and Tomas Jirousek and Juan Martín secured points at No. 4 and No. 6 to give TCU its best win in program history.

SINGLES QUICK HITS

TCU collected wins from Gray (No. 1), Fomba (No. 2), Jirousek (No. 4) and Martín (No. 6).
Jirousek started the TCU comeback with a straight set victory at No. 4: 6-3, 6-3
Jirousek improves to 3-2 overall this season and 2-1 on the weekend.
Both of Jirousek's victories this season have come at No. 4 after playing exclusively at No. 5 or 6 last season.
Fomba brought TCU within one point, 2-3, with a remarkable 7-6, 7-6 win over No. 19 Riley Smith.
It is the highest ranked win of Fomba's career and his third ranked win of the season.
Fomba has now won five matches this season at No. 2 singles, boosting his overall singles record to 7-1.
Fomba won both sets via tiebreak. He improves to 4-1 in tiebreakers this season and 12-4 over his career.
Fomba now leads all active Horned Frogs with seven career singles wins at ITA Indoor Nationals after posting a perfect 3-0 record this weekend.
Juan Martín came through in the clutch, tying the dual at 3-3 with a three-set win at No. 6.
It was his first career singles win at Indoor Nationals and his sixth win of the 2021 campaign.
Martín is now 5-2 in dual singles matches this season.
Alastair Gray clinched the dual with a come from behind victory at No. 1 over No. 1 Daniel Cukierman.
It was the best win of Gray's career and his sixth ranked win of the season.
He is now 8-1 in singles matches this season and 6-1 against ranked opponents. The win improves his career record against ranked opponents to 25-18.
This was his third three-set win of the year. Gray is now 3-1 in matches that go the distance.
Alastair continues to lead the Frogs in overall wins. He is now 16-4 in all competitions.
TCU is now 30-12 in singles matches this dual season.

Singles Results
1. No. 21 Alastair Gray (TCU) def. No. 1 Daniel Cukierman (USC) 7-6, 3-6, 7-5
2. No. 47 Luc Fomba (TCU) def. No. 19 Riley Smith (USC) 7-6, 7-6
3. No. 104 Stefan Dostanic (USC def. No. 113 Sander Jong (TCU): 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
4. Tomas Jirousek (TCU) def. Lodewijk Weststrate (USC): 6-3, 6-3
5. Bradley Frye (USC) def. Tadeas Paroulek (TCU): 6-3, 6-2
6. Juan Martín (TCU) def. Jake Sands (USC): 6-1, 5-7, 6-3
Order of finish – 4, 5, 3, 2, 6, 1

DOUBLES QUICK HITS

TCU lost the doubles point, despite a win from newly formed doubles pairing, Sander Jong and Max Kurzban at No. 3.
Jong/Kurzban delivered their first win as a doubles pairing this season, in their first completed match together.
Jong improves to 6-4 in doubles play this year and 30-22 over his career.
Kurzban is now 2-1 in doubles play this season and 7-4 over his career.
TCU is now 19-12 in doubles matches this season.
TCU has now won three of four matches after dropping the doubles point.

Doubles Results
1. #1 Daniel Cukierman/Riley Smith (USC) def. Luc Fomba/Alastair Gray (TCU): 7-5
2. Stefan Dostanic/Bradley Frye (USC) def. Jake Fearnley/Bertus Kruger (TCU): 6-3
3. Sander Jong/Max Kurzban (TCU) def. Colter Smith/Lodewijk Weststrate (USC): 6-0
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1

Up Next
The Horned Frogs return to Fort Worth to begin the outdoor season. TCU will play Tyler Junior College on Friday, Feb. 19 on the purple courts at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center.

For more information on TCU men's tennis, visit gofrogs.com and follow the team on social media: @TCUMensTennis on twitter, Facebook and the all new men's tennis Instagram.