The Frogs brought home their first team national championship in program history.
“This program has been knocking at the door for many, many years,” TCU Men’s Tennis coach David Roditi said on Wednesday afternoon.
Roditi appeared alongside TCU’s entire ITA Indoor National Championship squad for a spot of media availability, and talked for close to 20 minutes about how impressive this run was.
“For this group of guys to get through it, it’s not easy and it takes a lot, and we’re very grateful and very proud of that,” Roditi said.
Roditi would know. The TCU alum played for the Horned Frogs in the early 90s, at the beginning of what has been close to 30 years of “knocking at the door” of a championship for men’s tennis. In his 11 seasons as head coach TCU has won four conference titles and reached the NCAA round of eight three times.
TCU’s run to the indoor national championship was a gauntlet. The last seven opponents TCU faced (and defeated) were ranked in the Top 17, and the Frogs knocked off #12 Virginia, #13 Texas, #1 Ohio State, and #3 Tennessee over the course of four consecutive days to earn the title.
To sustain a winning streak at that level a team needs to be deep, and TCU is just that. Four Horned Frogs check in in the Top 70 for individually ranked players, including #15 Juan Carlos Aguilar, #44 Luc Fomba, #52 Jake Fearnley, and #69 Lui Maxted. Sander Jong checks in at #109 as well.
Fomba, who won every match he played during the championship run, save the last one (which he led in the final set at the time of TCU winning), noted that while TCU’s depth is apparent, those rankings aren’t their focus.
“I’m more focused on the team ranking.” Fomba said, “For sure, singles and doubles is nice for us, but the main goal is for the team to be #1 in the country.”
TCU is just that, currently.
TCU jumps to the top!
The Horned Frogs defeated Ohio State and Tennessee over the weekend to earn the number one spot. pic.twitter.com/JnGkplcaif
— USTA (@usta) February 23, 2022
Of course, the Frogs don’t have much time to bask in the glory of their win. The outdoor season kicks off March 2nd when the Frogs host Michigan.
“More than half the team is even better outdoors,” Aguilar said when asked about expectations for the impeding outdoor season. “We’re really happy we won this one, but everyone’s aware that we want to win the big one, the NCAA’s in May.”
“We have so much depth, so much talent,” Aguilar continued, “We’ve just to keep on working until May and try to make the most out of it, and hopefully keep winning.”
Watch Roditi’s full comments below: