INDIANAPOLIS – The Big Dance remains 48 hours away from its first ball, but TCU men's tennis has already achieved representation at the NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championship.
The Horned Frogs had four singles players and two doubles teams selected to compete at the NCAA Individual Singles and Doubles Championships, held from May 23-27 at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona, Florida, and after the conclusion of the team championship. Selections were made by the NCAA D1 Men's Tennis Subcommittee.
Luc Fomba and
Jake Fearnley received the No. 2 seed in the 32-pair doubles bracket. Both players also garnered at-large berths to the 64-player singles field. TCU's No. 21-ranked doubles pair of
Sander Jong and
Lui Maxted were awarded an at-large bid into the doubles tournament. Additionally, Jong and
Jack Pinnington were named two of 10 alternates for the singles championship should there be withdrawals.
By earning seeded positioning, both Fomba and Fearnley achieved automatic ITA All-American status in doubles for 2023.
The honor marks the fifth All-American citation Fomba has claimed in his five-year TCU career. Fomba received the recognition in both singles and doubles in 2021 and 2022. His five All-American credentials rank third outright in program history. Should Fomba earn the distinction in singles, he will match Paul Robinson and David Pate as the most decorated All-American TCU has produced.
Fearnley is now a two-time All-American, as he achieved the status alongside Fomba in 2022. This will be his first time competing in the singles championship.
Fomba and Fearnley anchored the top of TCU's lineup all season.
A fourth year junior, Fearnley occupied court one for almost the entirety of the 2023 regular season. He leads TCU in singles victories behind a 22-8 cumulative season record. Fearnley has also downed a team-leading 13 ranked opponents. He has ascended as high as No. 8 in the ITA singles rankings.
Fomba has generated a team-leading 39 combined victories in 2022-2023. He is 20-4 in singles action and 19-4 in doubles, with 15 of his wins coming alongside Fearnley.
In doubles, Fomba and Fearnley received the automatic qualification from the Big 12 Conference as the league's highest-ranked team. They are 15-3 overall and 12-2 in duals, including six top-20 victories.
Jong and Maxted are playing in the individual tournament for the second time in as many years, as they received an at-large bid to the doubles championship in 2022. The pair maintained the No. 3 ITA doubles ranking throughout the fall season. Jong and Maxted played the best doubles of their two-year partnership from October-November. They went 8-2 combined at the ITA Texas Regional and ITA National Fall Championships, posting runner-up finishes at both tournaments. Jong and Maxted became just the second doubles tandem in program history to advance to the doubles final at the ITA National Fall Championships. Cumulatively, Jong and Maxted are 20-9 together in 2022-2023 and have not dropped a match in nearly three months, with their most recent defeat coming on Feb. 8.
Jong is seeded third on the alternates list in singles. He enjoyed an undefeated outdoor singles season. Jong went 7-0 while appearing in all 12 duals, earning victories on courts two, three and four. The senior is 15-1 on the season and 8-0 when occupying TCU's No. 4 singles post. Jong was honored as the Big 12 Conference No. 4 Singles Individual Season Champion on Friday.
A freshman, Pinnington missed the first seven matches of the season after being denied immediate eligibility by the NCAA upon his arrival in Fort Worth. He has since skyrocketed to No. 69 in the ITA singles rankings on the strength of a 7-4 record that features four top-90 wins. Pinnington has predominately played on court three in duals, where he is 5-1. The Ashtead, England native holds the highest career ATP ranking on the Horned Frogs roster at No. 489.
TCU was awarded the No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Horned Frogs begin their championship quest with a round of 64 match vs. UT Arlington at 5 p.m. on Friday at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center. The Fort Worth Regional also includes Texas A&M and SMU, with the winners of the first round duals squaring off at 4 p.m. on Saturday for a spot in the Super Regionals.
