In winning national title, TCU’s men’s tennis coach says he sees 2004 Boston Red Sox
The TCU men’s tennis program has a proud history filled with All-Americans, conference championships and a 1982 national doubles title. The Horned Frogs have become a perennial power of late as the only program in the country to finish in the top-10 of the overall standings the last seven years.
A coveted team national championship was the only thing that had eluded the program over the years. That changed Monday, when TCU made history by defeating No. 3 Tennessee to win the 2022 ITA Team Indoor National Championship in Seattle.
Coach David Roditi and his players took part in a news conference at the school to celebrate the achievement on Wednesday.
“Historic day for our program,” said Roditi, who played at TCU from 1993-96 and has been the head coach since 2010.
“It’s something that we’re very proud of. We’ll forever be able to say that this group of guys are national champions. It’s very special.”
Roditi went as far as comparing TCU’s title run to that of the 2004 Boston Red Sox, the team that snapped its 86-year “Curse of the Bambino” by winning the World Series.
The Red Sox, much like TCU, put themselves in contention for a championship multiple times over the years but kept falling short. Those heartbreaking losses, though, make the reward that much sweeter.
“This program has been knocking at the door for many, many years. There’s a lot of history,” Roditi said. “It started in 1989 with the Final Four. We’ve been really good the last eight years. [Assistant coac]) Devin Bowen was playing for the team that got to the finals in 1992. We’ve been there.
“I feel a little bit like the Red Sox. We couldn’t get through that final win for the title. For this group of guys to get through it, it’s not easy and it takes a lot. We’re very grateful and we’re very proud to finally get through.”
Roditi called it a total team effort for TCU to reach the top of the tennis world. The players, one through eight, all contributed in some form or fashion.
It was quite a run in the nationals with TCU defeating ranked teams such as No. 3 Tennessee, No. 1 Ohio State, No. 13 Texas and No. 12 Virginia.
“The level of play is just so high,” sophomore Jake Fearnley said. “I feel like that’s something that’s a little bit underappreciated is just the level of college tennis. It’s a good path to go and to take into professional tennis. Everyone that’s playing these tournaments, they’re professional [caliber] and they’re going to go on to do great things in the future.
“I feel like to come out on top, the caliber of tennis that we have, is just such a big deal for us as players and for the program. For it never to have happened before, I think it’s a huge deal.”
The week became even more special when TCU landed at No. 1 in the Tennis Channel/USTA College Tennis Top 25 for the first time in program history.
The Frogs would like to stay No. 1, of course, knowing that every opponent will be looking to knock them off with the outdoor season starting next week. TCU will open its season on March 2 when it hosts No. 20 Michigan in Fort Worth.
“We’ve just got to stay humble because, at the end of the day, we won and we’re so happy, but there’s still a lot more to do,” Fearnley said. “We’ll celebrate this for a few days then, when we get back playing outdoors, it’s back to business.”
Meet the team
The TCU tennis team is 100% international.
Fearnley is from Scotland; junior Luc Fomba is from France; graduate transfer Juan Carlos Aguilar is from Bolivia; sophomore Tomas Jirousek is from the Czech Republic; junior Sander Jong is from The Netherlands; freshman Lui Maxted is from England; graduate transfer Tim Ruehl is from Germany; and freshman Pedro Vives is from Spain.
There’s a combination of experience and youth. Half of the players (Aguilar, Maxted, Ruehl and Vives) are in their first year at TCU, while others such as Fomba are in their fourth year on campus.
“It’s very unique about tennis and I believe other sports are becoming more and more international,” Roditi said. “I love it. I love that we have different cultures and are mixing and learning from each other. It’s the world that we live in.”
Roditi made it a point that TCU would love to attract American tennis players too. The program has recruited a number of Americans over the years and continues to do so. In fact, the program has an incoming recruit from the United States.
“We would absolutely love to have more Americans,” he said. “Five years ago, we were 80% American.”
At the end of the day, though, it’s about winning championships like they did on Monday, regardless of the roster structure.
