Frogs Almost Faulted Chance to Defend Tennis Natty; Defeat Sooners in Dramatic Fashion

The second round of the NCAA tournament was not an ace, but TCU found a way to defeat Oklahoma 4-2 to advance to the Super Regionals.

TCU's Duncan Chan in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Chan would lose his singles match, but the Frogs were able to win the dual to advance to next week's Super Regional. / Brian McLean - On Assignment Photo/TCU Horned Frogs On SI

464. 5/3 MTEN OU. 4. 466. Final. 2

If ever there was a nail-biter, it certainly was Saturday's Second-Round matchup in the NCAA D1 Men's Tennis Championships between No. 2 TCU (24-3) and No. 24 Oklahoma (21-13). TCU won the dual 4-2 to advance to next week's Super Regional, but it almost was a lost opportunity to defend their national title.

The Horned Frogs met their former Big 12 rival for the first time since the Sooners left for the SEC. Oklahoma was a preseason top 10 team. On Saturday, they showed their intensity and fought hard against their former conference foe.

TCU would win all three sets on the doubles courts, taking an early 1-0 lead. But from there, it was a back-and-forth affair. Oklahoma won the first singles match, making the score 1-1. TCU would win the next to retake the lead. Oklahoma won the next match, tying the dual at 2-2. TCU's Jack Pinnington would give the Frogs the 3-2 edge, with two courts to play.

TCU Men's Tennis Escapes Second Round with Hard-Fought Win Over Former Rival Oklahoma

With cracks on one of the purple courts, singles play was limited to only five courts. The Court Six pairing of TCU's Roger Pascual and OU's Asahi Harazaki was delayed until a court opened up. Harazaki won the first set; Pascual won the second. That court was headed to a third set when the dual was won.

Ultimately, the dual was decided on Court Two, with No. 37-ranked Lui Maxted taking on Oklahoma's Kholo Montsi. Maxted has been clutch recently for the Frogs in singles play. However, he did not play in Friday's first-round match due to an illness, so he may not have been playing at full strength.

Maxted lost his first set to Montsi in a tiebreaker - 6-7 (1). But the senior fought back and won his second set 6-4, forcing the decisive third set.

It looked like Maxted was going to cruise to an easy third-set win, clinching the dual for TCU. But then the drama ensued. Up 5-1 in the third set, Maxted just needed one point to capture the win. However, Montsi continued to fight, winning four straight games to tie the match at 5-5.

Maxted surrendered five match points while leading 5-3 and 6-5, prompting a winner-take-all tiebreaker. 

The tiebreaker was all Maxted. He claimed three of a possible five points on receive and secured the match’s final four points en route to a 7-3 tiebreaker and match-clinching victory. It was his 27th singles match victory, which leads the team this season.

Scores below are listed in order of finish:

Score Recap - Friday, May 2 - First Round vs. Abilene Christian

Doubles Round - TCU won

• TCU's Julian Alonso and Albert Pedrico won 6-3 (Court Two)
• TCU's Filip Apltauer and Pascual won 6-3 (Court Three)
• TCU's Jack Pinnington and Cooper Woestendick, ranked No. 37 in the nation, won 6-4 (Court One)

Singles Round - TCU won 3-0

• Pascual won 6-1, 6-1 (Court Four)
• Pedrico won 6-1, 6-2 (Court Three)
• Pinnington won 6-3, 6-3 (Court One)
• Woestendick was up 6-3, 5-4; match unfinished (Court Two)
• Apltauer was up 6-3, 5-2; match unfinished (Court Five)
• Alonso was up 7-5, 3-2; match unfinished (Court Six)

TCU's Lui Maxted and Pedro Vives in their doubles match against Oklahoma in the Second Round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday, May 3. / Brian McLean - On Assignment Photo/TCU Horned Frogs On SI

Score Recap - Saturday, May 3- Second Round vs. No. 24 Oklahoma

Doubles Round - TCU won

• TCU's Duncan Chan and Pedrico won 6-1 (Court Three)
• TCU's Pinnington and Woestendick won 6-4 (Court Two)
• The No. 2-ranked pair in the nation, Pedro Vives and Maxted, won 6-3. It was Vives' first appearance on the courts since March 23 (Court One)

Singles Round - TCU won 3-2

• Pedrico lost 5-7, 3-6 (Court Four) - score TCU 1 - OU 1
• Woestendick won 7-5, 6-4 (Court Three) - score TCU 2 - OU 1
• Chan lost 6-3, 5-7, 3-6 (Court Five) - score TCU 2 - OU 2
• Pinnington won 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-2 (Court One) - score TCU 3 - OU 2
• Maxted won 6-7 (1), 6-4, 7-6 (3) (Court Two)- score TCU 4 - OU 2
• Pascual was headed to a third set when the dual was clinched - 2-6, 6-2 (Court Six)

TCU extended its home winning streak to 34 matches and is one victory away from running the table in Fort Worth for the second consecutive season.

With the win on Saturday, TCU boosted its home postseason record to 28-1 and is now 58-33 all-time in NCAA Tournament play. Friday's victory also augmented head coach David Roditi's career NCAA Tournament record to 32-9. The Frogs have now won 14 of their last 15 duals with the Sooners.

TCU will host the Fort Worth Super Regional next Saturday, May 10, at noon CT. They will host either No. 15 UCF or No. 29 Florida. The Frogs have now reached Super Regional weekend for ten consecutive seasons.

Follow KillerFrogs on X to stay up to date on all the latest TCU men's tennis news as their postseason journey continues.

Recommended Articles

feed