Tulane University
TCU
Men's Tennis Narrowly Misses Upset Victory
Mar 1, 2001 | Men's Tennis
March 1, 2001
FORT WORTH, Texas - Sophomore Victor Romero (Atizapan, Mexico) completed an excellent trip to Texas, but it was not enough for Tulane University, as it dropped its second match in as many days in the Lone Star State, falling to No. 4 TCU, 4-3, on Thursday afternoon.
Romero, who joined the team in January, defeated TCU's Toni Gordon, ranked No. 75 in the nation, 7-6, 7-6, at No. 3 singles. On Wednesday, Romero had topped SMU's No. 92-ranked Alexis Rudinski in Tulane's loss to the No. 11 Mustangs.
Thursday's loss drops Tulane, ranked No. 40, to 4-5 on the season, however, all of the losses have come to teams above the Green Wave in the national rankings. TCU improves to 8-1 this spring.
Tulane's top singles player, freshman Michael Kogan (Kfar Saba, Israel), suffered his first loss of the spring season, however, it was not without a fight. The No. 41 ranked singles player in the nation, Kogan lost in three sets, 5-7, 7-6, 6-3, to No. 14 Esteban Carril. Just 24 hours earlier, the Green Wave freshman had dispatched SMU's top player, who held the No. 3 national ranking.
While Kogan did drop his singles match, he and senior Mikko Viljanen (Vantaa, Finland) took charge in their top flight doubles match, winning, 8-4, as they remained undefeated and ranked No. 11 in the country. Following that win, Tulane's second doubles tandem of sophomore Mattias Westerberg (Lulea, Sweden) and senior Derya Rose (Greenwich, Conn.) earned a huge 8-5 victory to secure the doubles point for the Wave.
Viljanen was also victorious in singles, winning his second flight match, 7-6, 6-4. However, the Wave dropped the No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 singles matches as the Horned Frogs dodged the upset-minded Tulane squad.
Tulane returns to action on Friday, March 9, hosting Southeastern Louisiana at 5 p.m. at Goldring Tennis Complex. That match had been originally scheduled for this Sunday, March 4.
Results: No. 4 TCU 4, No. 40 Tulane 3
Singles:
No. 1: #14 Esteban Carril (TCU) def. #41 Michael Kogan (TU): 5-7, 7-6, 6-3
No. 2: Mikko Viljanen (TU) def. Trace Fielding (TCU): 7-6, 6-4
No. 3: Victor Romero (TU) def. #75 Toni Gordon (TCU): 7-6, 7-6
No. 4: Scott Eddins (TCU) def. Mattias Westerberg (TU): 7-5, 6-2
No. 5: Jimmy Haney (TCU) def. Jorge Lievano (TU): 6-2, 4-6, 6-2
No. 6: Daniel Wajnberg (TCU) def. Derya Rose (TU): 6-2, 6-4
Doubles:
No. 1: #11 Viljanen/Kogan (TU) def. Haney/Fielding (TCU): 8-4
No. 2: Westerberg/Rose (TU) def. Eddins/Iannariello (TCU): 8-5
No. 3: Gordon/Carril (TCU) def. Romero/Lievano (TU): 8-6
Records:
Tulane (4-5)
TCU (8-1)
