TCU Men’s Tennis Comes Oh So Close to a Three-Peat
The No. 2 TCU men’s tennis team (9-1) missed out on a three-peat in the ITA Indoor National Championships in New York. The Horned Frogs, winners of the 2022 and 2023 national championships, lost to Ohio State on Monday 4-3.
TCU's Lui Maxted came one set away from giving the Horned Frogs their third consecutive ITA Indoor National Championship.
TCU suffered its first indoor defeat in more than two years. The Horned Frogs entered Monday’s final as winners of 34 consecutive indoor duals. TCU has produced a 16-5 combined overall record at Indoor Nationals over the last five seasons. The Horned Frogs were aiming to join Stanford and Virginia as the only Division I programs to win three consecutive indoor national championships.
It came down to the third set on both Courts Five and Six, both of which would go Ohio State’s way, giving the Buckeyes the Natty and denying the Frogs an opportunity to bring home the trophy for a third straight year.
The Frogs won the doubles point despite Ohio State winning the first set. In both the quarterfinal and semifinal duals over the weekend, TCU lost the doubles point and found a way through the strength of its singles courts to prevail. On Monday, the Frogs needed that point just to go head-to-head with Ohio State until the very end.
Jake Fearnley gave the Frogs a quick 2-0 lead after winning his singles match in straight sets in 53 minutes. Ohio State would win singles matches on Courts Three and Four simultaneously to tie the dual. Jack Pinnington, on Court Two, put the Frogs ahead 3-2.
It came down to the last two courts. On Court Six, Tomas Jirousek lost his first set, then won his second set to force the decisive third set. He would lose that third set, making it a 3-3 tie. It then was on the shoulders of Lui Maxted on Court Five. Maxted won his first set in a tiebreaker but then lost his second set. In the third set, he was broken twice, which gave the Buckeyes the edge, and they were able to win the championship after Maxted lost that third set.
“We couldn’t get it done today,” said TCU head coach David Roditi after the dual. “We did our best, and it just wasn’t good enough. Ohio State was better today, and they got the title. It would have been fun to get that three in a row. I’m proud of our guys. They left it all out there. Hopefully, this makes us hungrier and better for the future.”
Doubles Play – TCU Won
- Duncan Chan and Maxted, playing on Court Three, went down quickly, losing their set 6-2.
- The No. 8 doubles pair of Sebastian Gorzny and Pedro Vives earned four break points to win their set on Court One 6-3.
- It came down to Court Two. After being tied 4-4, Fearnley and Pinnington earned a break then Fearnley was able to serve for the win, 6-4.
Singles Play – Ohio State won 4-2
- On Court One, Fearnley made quick work of his opponent, winning 6-1,6-0 and putting the Frogs up 2-0.
- Ohio State would then win two matches simultaneously on Courts Three and Four. On Court Three, Vives lost in straight sets 4-6, 4-6, while Gorzny would lose 5-7, 2-6 on Court Four.
- Pinnington, on Court Two, would put the Frogs back up 3-2 after winning 6-4, 6-4.
- Jirousek, on Court Six, lost 4-6 and then won 6-3 to force the third set. He would lose that 3-6, making the dual tied at 3-3.
- It came down to the third set on Court Five. Maxted won the first set in a tiebreaker 7-6 (7-3), then lost his second set 4-6. He was then broken twice in the final set and lost the third set 3-6.
Next up: The Horned Frogs will begin the outdoor portion of its schedule when No. 4 Texas visits Fort Worth on March 2. First serve is scheduled for 2 p.m. The match will count as a nonconference affair. TCU faces the Longhorns in Big 12 p
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