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2016 Season Preview – TCU Horned Frogs

by | Dec 10, 2015 | Blog

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TCU has plenty of history when it comes to men’s tennis but prior to last year most of it was distant history. TCU had made just 3 trips to the NCAA Round of 16 in the previous 16 years, with the most recent being in 2004, and hadn’t made the Round of 16 as a seed since 2000.  TCU head coach David Roditi updated the record books last year when he guided his senior laden team to the NCAA semifinals and had them a whisker away from a spot in the finals.

I thought this would be a rebuilding year after losing 5 seniors (Nick Chappell, Facundo Lugones, Arnau Dachs, Will Stein, Blake Wiggins) that accounted for 55% of TCU’s dual-match wins but Roditi has restocked the shelves nicely and it’s possible that TCU may actually be better this coming season.

The 2 returning starters, Cameron Norrie and Guillermo Nunez, combined to go 38-10 in dual-match play and the top returning depth player, Trevor Johnson, went 7-4 in a part-time role at the bottom of the lineup. The other returnees, Trey Daniel and Hudson Blake, only saw limited action last spring. Norrie and Nunez will each play in the top 3 while Johnson had a solid fall so I’d expect him to be a mainstay in the starting lineup this year at #5 or #6.

Roditi will have 6 new faces on the spring roster with the highest profile addition being Alex Rybakov who was the #1 U.S. recruit from the class of 2015 (per TennisRecruiting.Net). Rybakov had a stellar year on the ITF Pro Circuit and has seen his ATP ranking jump from 1535 all the way up to 602. His current ATP ranking of 606 would be the 3rd highest among college players only trailing UCLA’s Mackenzie McDonald (371) and Wake Forest commit Petros Chrysochos (577). I’d be surprised if Rybakov played any position other than #1 or #2 next year.

I’d expect at least 2 other newcomers to fill spots in the starting six with Kentucky transfer Jerry Lopez (Gerardo Lopez Villasenor) and January admit Eduardo Nava (ATP #981) the likeliest options. Last season at Kentucky, Lopez split time between #1 and #2 singles going 15-8 so to have him playing in the lower half of the lineup this year will be a nice plus. Nava had some success on the ITF Pro Circuit earlier in 2015 but he hadn’t made it past the second round since April so coming to college was his best option. I expect to see some good results from Nava in the lower half of the lineup with him likely to fit in the #5 or #6 spot.

Reese Stalder, TRN 5*, should be the first guy off the bench after a 7-6 fall record though he didn’t really have a marquee win. Trey Daniel and Hudson Blake are probably sitting at #8 and #9 on the depth chart with newcomer Gianni Mancini rounding out the bottom.

Below are each players fall college records (singles/doubles) along with a list of accomplishments. The ranking listed in front of a player is the ITA preseason ranking.

Alex Rybakov (will join team in January) – Made the finals at the Niceville, FL USA F32 Future (Clay) and Pensacola, FL USA F33 Future (Clay), came through qualies and made the semifinals at the $10K Vic, Spain F14 Future (Clay), made the semifinals at the $10K Rochester, NY USA F18 Future (Clay), made the semifinals at the $15K Winnipeg, Canada F7 Future (Hard), made the quarterfinals at the $15K Champaign, IL USA F25 Future (Hard). Beat the following players: incoming Wake Forest recruit Dennis Uspensky, former Clemson #1 Hunter Harrington, former Columbia #1 Winston Lin, former Florida State #1 Jean-Yves Aubone, former Vanderbilt #1 Gonzales Austin, former Texas A&M Corpus Christi #1 Peter Nagy, former Louisville #1 Andrew Carter, former Georgia #1 Wil Spencer, current Virginia #1 Ryan Shane, current Illinois #1 Jared Hiltzik, former Virginia #3 Sanam Singh, and former Georgia #3 Nathan Pasha.

#27 Cameron Norrie (5-1/0-1) – won the Oracle/ITA Masters Singles Championship, won the $15K Mansfield, TX USA F29 Future (Hard), made the quarterfinals of the $15K Waco, TX USA F34 Future (Hard).

#12 Guillermo Nunez (6-4/1-2) – made the quarterfinals of the USTA/ITA Texas Regional, made the semifinals of the consolation draw at the National Indoor Intercollegiates, came through qualies and made the quarterfinals of the $15K Waco, TX USA F34 Future (Hard)

Trevor Johnson (9-4/2-3) – made the finals of the Racquet Club Invitational in Midland, qualified for the All-Americans by beating Marco Nunez (Florida St), #119 Jeffrey Schorsch (Valparaiso), and #58 Andrew Watson (Memphis) before falling 7-6 in the 3rd to #36 Florian Lakat (Cal) in the 1st round.

Jerry Lopez (8-4/1-2) – came through pre-qualies at the All-Americans by winning 4 matches in 3 days and won his opening qualie match before falling 7-5 in the 3rd to LSU’s Justin Butsch, made the Round of 16 at the USTA/ITA Texas Regional, qualified for the $15K Edwardsville, IL USA F23 Future (Hard) and won his 1st round match before falling to Evan King in the 2nd round.

Eduardo Nava (will join team in January) – won his first round match at 3 consecutive clay-court Futures in Spain in July.

Reese Stalder (7-6/3-3) – won 4 matches in the consolation draw at the USTA/ITA Texas Regional, made the doubles quarterfinals (w Blake) at the USTA/ITA Texas Regional

Hudson Blake (3-3/3-2) – made the doubles quarterfinals (w Stalder) at the USTA/ITA Texas Regional

Trey Daniel (3-7/1-3) – won his opening pre-qualifying match at the All-Americans

Gregory Anderson (4-3/1-2) – won 2 rounds of singles in the Flight 2 draw at the Racquet Club Invitational (transferred to Marquette in January)

Gianni Mancini (1-4/0-0) – won a consolation match at the USTA/ITA Texas Regional

Projected Depth Chart:
1. Cameron Norrie
2. Alex Rybakov
3. Guillermo Nunez
4. Jerry Lopez
5. Trevor Johnson
6. Eduardo Nava
7. Reese Stalder
8. Trey Daniel
9. Hudson Blake
10. Gianni Mancini

Players With A Current ATP Singles Ranking as of 12/7/15 – high in ( )
#606 – Alex Rybakov (602)
#712 – Cameron Norrie (637)
#981 – Eduardo Nava (905)
#1424 – Guillermo Nunez (674)
#1591 – Jerry Lopez (1548)

Universal Tennis Ratings as of 12/7/15:
14.78 – Alex Rybakov
14.71 – Cameron Norrie
14.36 – Guillermo Nunez
14.05 – Eduardo Nava
13.69 – Trevor Johnson
13.60 – Jerry Lopez
12.92 – Reese Stalder
12.31 – Hudson Blake
12.30 – Trey Daniel
11.91 – Gregory Anderson
11.24 – Gianni Mancini

Universal Tennis Ratings as of 6/3/15
14.38 – Guillermo Nunez
14.33 – Cameron Norrie
14.29 – Alex Rybakov
13.58 – Jerry Lopez
13.32 – Trevor Johnson
13.26 – Reese Stalder
12.67 – Trey Daniel
12.47 – Gregory Anderson
12.07 – Hudson Blake
11.53 – Gianni Mancini
**didn’t make note of Nava’s back in June.

Pre-College Ratings/Rankings:

Peak ITF Junior Ranking:
#10 – Cameron Norrie
#10 – Guillermo Nunez
#14 – Alex Rybakov
#138 – Jerry Lopez
#505 – Eduardo Nava

TennisRecruiting.Net Star Rating/High Ranking (Americans Only)
Blue Chip #1 – Alex Rybakov
Blue Chip #4 – Eduardo Nava
Blue Chip #8 – Trevor Johnson
5-star #19 – Reese Stalder
5-star #33 – Trey Daniel
4-star #90 – Gregory Anderson
4-star #124 – Gianni Mancini
3-star #191 – Hudson Blake

TRN Yearly Recruiting Rankings:
2015 – RV – (Rybakov, Nava, Stalder, Anderson, Mancini)
2014 – #11 – (Norrie, Nunez, Johnson)
2013 – RV – (Daniel, Blake)
2012 – no additions

Note: Rybakov and Nava committed after TRN had already done its recruiting rankings

2016-17 Recruiting Class:
None at this time

                                            2016 ROSTER

2016 SCHEDULE

Since there are only six men’s Big 12 tennis members, TCU has plenty of schedule space to fill and Roditi doesn’t hold back in challenging his team early and often. TCU welcomes in Oklahoma State, Harvard, and San Diego State during the ITA Kick-Off Weekend and then 2 weeks later they’ll play both Stanford and Cal in Austin. Assuming they come out of the Kick-Off Weekend undefeated they’ll play at least 3 more matches against top 25 opponents at the National Team Indoors and then a few weeks later they’ll hit the road for almost 2 weeks with Illinois and South Florida the toughest tests. Tulsa, Columbia, and Dartmouth come to Fort Worth in mid-March before a trip to College Station to play what will likely be a top 10 Texas A&M team. Finally TCU finishes up with its 5 conference matches before heading to the conference tournament in Stillwater. 

  


  2014-15 STATS

Returning singles starters: Guillermo Nunez (2), Cameron Norrie (3)
Departing singles starters: Nick Chappell (1), Facundo Lugones (4), Arnau Dachs (5), Will Stein (6)

    Returning doubles starters: Norrie/Johnson (1), Nunez/Hudson Blake (3)
    Departing doubles starters: Chappell/Lugones (2), Stein (1) – most of the year.

      Returning depth: Trevor Johnson, Trey Daniel, Hudson Blake
      Departing depth: None

      EXPECTATIONS:
      IF TCU can stay healthy I think another deep run in the NCAAs is a real possibility and I don’t see any reason why they can’t win it all.  There is a decent drop off from #6 to #7 singles and an even further drop from #6 to #8 so if guys start dropping like flies they may end up on the wrong end of some 4-3 matches. Regardless of what happens David Roditi has the roster to make it happen again this year.

      LAST TIME OUT

      Last season ended with a 4-3 loss to Oklahoma in the NCAA semifinals and if you want to relive it you can read my recap. Below are a couple of clips of David Roditi speaking after the match – with that much passion it’s no wonder he’s able to bring in big-time recruit after big-time recruit.

      [1] Oklahoma def. [5] #6 TCU 4-3
      May 18, 2015 – Hurd Tennis Center Riverside Courts
      Doubles Competition
      1.  #57 Andrew Harris/Alex Ghilea (OU) def. #30 Norrie/Trevor Johnson (TCU) 8-7 (6)
      2.  Nick Chappell/Facundo Lugones (TCU) def. Webb/Papa (OU) 8-7 (7)
      3.  Axel Alvarez/Jose Salazar (OU) def. Nuez/Hudson Blake (TCU)  8-7(5)
      Singles Competition
      1.  #1 Axel Alvarez (OU) def. #49 Nick Chappell (TCU)  7-5, 7-6 (5)
      2.  #59 Guillermo Nuez (TCU) def. #7 Andrew Harris (OU) 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-0
      3.  #39 Cameron Norrie (TCU) def. #44 Dane Webb (OU) 6-2, 6-0
      4.  Facundo Lugones (TCU) def. #103 Alex Ghilea (OU) 6-1, 6-4
      5.  Spencer Papa (OU) def. Arnau Dachs (TCU) 6-0, 6-1
      6.  Florin Bragusi (OU) def. Will Stein (TCU) 6-3, 7-6 (4)   
      Match Notes:
      Oklahoma 30-2
      TCU 25-8
      Order of Play: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (5,3,4,6,2,1)