AUSTIN, Texas – No. 18 Stanford faced its toughest opponent of the year Saturday afternoon in a gritty 4-2 loss to the second-ranked TCU Horned Frogs at the Weller Indoor Tennis Center. Ninth-ranked Tom Fawcett added another singles win to his record to remain perfect at the No. 1 spot with a 6-0 record.
The Cardinal (5-2) got off to a tough start, losing its first doubles point of the season. Nolan Paige and Maciek Romanowicz finished first with a 6-4 win over TCU’s Trevor Johnson and Cameron Norrie. The Horned Frogs fought back in the No. 2 position as Hudson Blake and Reese Stalder topped Tom Fawcett and Sameer Kumar 7-5 in the first loss of duals action for the Cardinal duo. The deciding match in the No. 3 spot saw Guillermo Nunez and Alex Rybakov take a 6-4 win to clinch the point.
Singles action was just as tough with Nolan Paige winning his first set in the No. 3 spot before Guillermo Nunez rallied back to take the next two to advance TCU’s lead to 2-0. Michael Genender pushed Eduardo Nava to the edge in the No. 5 spot, but was ultimately bested 7-6, 7-6 to make it 3-0.
Tom Fawcett stepped up next to put the Cardinal on the board, taking a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Cameron Norrie in the No. 1 spot before Maciek Romanowicz brought the score to 3-2 with a three-set win over Trey Daniel in the No. 6 spot. TCU’s Alex Rybakov was able to close it out for the Frogs in the No. 2 spot though with a 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-0 win over David Wilczynski.
The Cardinal return to action tomorrow as it sets to take on No. 26 Texas. Match time is set for 10 a.m. PT at the Weller Indoor Center in Austin, Texas.
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No. 2 TCU 4, No. 18 Stanford 2
DOUBLES
1) No. 42 Paige/Romanowicz (STAN) d. Johnson/Norrie (TCU) 6-4
2) Blake/Stalder (TCU) d. Fawcett/Kumar(STAN) 7-5
3) Nunez/Rybakov (TCU) d. Goldberg/Wilczynski (STAN) 6-4
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3
SINGLES
1) No. 9 Tom Fawcett (STAN) d. Cameron Norrie (TCU) 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
2) Alex Rybakov (TCU) d. No. 57 David Wilczynski (STAN) 6-7(7), 6-4, 6-0
3) Guillermo Nunez (TCU) d. Nolan Paige (STAN) 4-6, 7-5, 6-3
4) Sameer Kumar (STAN) vs. Jerry Lopez (TCU) 7-6 (8), 3-6, 4-3 unfinished
5) Eduardo Nava (TCU) d. No. 61 Michael Genender (STAN) 7-6 (1), 7-6 (5)
6) No. 89 Maciek Romanowicz d. Trey Daniel 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
Order of Finish: 3, 5, 1, 6, 2
