Men’s Tennis travels to (7) TCU for First Round of NCAA Tournament

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Razorback Men’s Tennis heads to Fort Worth, Texas for a matchup with seventh-seeded TCU (16-7, 4-1 Big 12) in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. Arkansas is making its 20th trip to the NCAA Tournament and third appearance in the last five tournaments. The two squads are meeting in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since a Regional Final matchup back in 1997.

Match 25 Info

Opponent: (7) TCU Horned Frogs

Date: Saturday, May 8th

Location: Fort Worth, Texas

First Serve: 2:00 p.m. CT

Live Stats: bit.ly/3up4cfG

Live Stream: bit.ly/3b7bhdm

Last Time Out

Arkansas played host to the SEC Tournament from April 19-23 and swept the Vanderbilt Commodores to open the tournament. The Hogs took the doubles point and then won the first three singles courts to clinch the win.

The Razorbacks fell in the next round to No. 14 Kentucky, 4-0. The Wildcats won the doubles point and the first three singles matches for the victory. The Hogs split the first two sets at the No. 1, 3 and 4 spots, all against nationally ranked Wildcats before the match was clinched. UK earned the No. 14 seed in the national tournament.

Scouting the Horned Frogs

TCU is coming off a loss to second-seeded Baylor, 3-4, in the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament. They enter the NCAA Tournament with five ranked singles players and two ranked doubles teams.

The Horned Frogs are led by Alastair Gray and Luc Fomba as the No. 1 doubles duo and are features at the No. 1 and No. 2 spots in singles. The duo is ranked No. 2 in the latest ITA rankings and are coming into the matchup after a pair of victories at the Big 12 Tournament.

In singles, No. 17 Luc Fomba recorded his first top-10 victory over Baylor’s No. 8 Matias Soto in straight sets (6-4, 7-5), improving to 7-3 in the No. 2 spot. No. 12 Alastair Gray has lost his last two matches and is 13-7 on the season.

Quick Hits

>>The Razorbacks are making their 20th trip to the NCAA Tournament and third appearance in the last five years.

>> Saturday’s matchup against the No. 7 Horned Frogs will be the Razorbacks’ fourth matchup against a top-10 ranked team this season. This is the Razorbacks first matchup with TCU in the tournament since 1997 in a Regional Final matchup.

>> A win against TCU would be Arkansas’ third win this season over a team that earned a No. 8 seed or better in the NCAA Tournament.

>> Nico Rousset continues to climb the ITA rankings, moving up to No. 71 in the May 5th rankings. He leads the Hogs with 12 singles victories and four wins over nationally ranked opponents. The Razorback duo of Hunter Harrison and Enrique Paya is ranked No. 49 in doubles while Melvin Manuel and Adrien Burdet entered the rankings at No. 83.