Killer Frogs

Bring on Another Natty. Men's Tennis to Defend Title Against Wake Forest

TCU defeated Texas on Saturday night in the semifinals and will play for the national championship on Sunday night

Barry Lewis

TCU Men's Tennis team celebrates after defeating Texas in the national semifinals on Saturday night. The team will defend their national title on Sunday when they take on Wake Forest.
TCU Men's Tennis team celebrates after defeating Texas in the national semifinals on Saturday night. The team will defend their national title on Sunday when they take on Wake Forest. / TCU Athletics

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Game! Set! Match! The No. 2 TCU Horned Frogs (27-3) met a familiar foe on the courts in Waco on Saturday night. They defeated the No. 3 Texas Longhorns (29-5) in the national semifinals by a score of 4-2.

It was a gritty dual that lived up to the rivalry the two teams have had over the last two seasons. TCU won the doubles point and the first singles match, making the score 2-0. Texas got on the board with a singles win. TCU would go up 3-1. Texas would make it 3-2.

The dual came down to third sets on Courts One and Six. Roger Pascual clinched the victory on Six. With the win, TCU advanced to the national championship for the second consecutive year. The Frogs will face No. 1 Wake Forest (39-1) on Sunday night.

It will be a rematch of the ITA Indoor National Championship dual in which the Demon Deacons defeated the Frogs 4-3 in February.

TCU Defeats Texas 4-2 in National Semifinal Dual

TCU came out strong on the doubles court, which set the tone for the rest of the night. TCU won the point thanks to two 6-3 sets against ranked pairs. It was TCU's 12th consecutive doubles win.

Albert Pedrico and Duncan Chan won their set 6-3 on Court Three against the Texas pair of Pierre-Yves Bailly and Sebastian Eriksson, who are ranked No. 81. TCU's Lui Maxted and Pedro Vives, the nation’s No. 2 ranked pair, did the clinching honors seconds later, taking out the 10th-ranked duo of Lucas Brown and Timo Legout on Court One. Jack Pinnington and Cooper Woestendick were at 4-5 on Court Two when the point was won.

In singles play, Maxted quickly put the Frogs up 2-0 with a straight-sets win on Court Three, winning 6-3, 6-0. However, Woestendick fell in straight sets on Court Four, 4-6, 0-6. This put the Longhorns on the board with a score of 2-1.

Tied at 5-5 on Court Five, Pedrico broke to take the first set 7-5. He would then win the second set 6-2, giving the Frogs a two-point lead and just one point shy of clinching the dual.

Texas was not done, though. Sebastian Gorzny took care of business in three sets on Court Two, defeating TCU's Vives 6-2, 3-6, 6-0. Last year, it was Gorzny, who was then playing for TCU, who had the clinching point to win the national championship over Texas.

With the score now 3-2 in the Frogs' favor, it came down to Courts One and Six, both of which were playing in the third set.

On Court One, No. 8 Jack Pinnington was facing the Legout, the top-ranked player in the nation. Legout won the first set 6-4. Pinnington forced the third set winning the second 6-3. Pinnington was up 4-3 in the third.

On Court Six, TCU's Roger Pascual was up against UT's Brown. Pascual won the first set 6-4 but then quickly lost the second set 0-6. He lost the first three games of the third set, but would win six straight to win the third set 6-3, making the score 4-2.

Pascual's winning point as a 27-stroke intense rally.

No. 2 TCU Versus No. 1 Wake Forest for All the Marbles

The win on Saturday night advanced TCU to the national championship dual, which will be played on Sunday at the Hurd Tennis Center in Waco. The Frogs will face Wake Forest. It's a rematch of the February dual between the two top programs. The Deacs won that dual 4-3 to win the ITA Indoor National Championship, depriving TCU of three straight indoor titles.

This season, TCU is 4-1 in rematch opportunities. Can they make it 5-1 and bring home a Natty for the second straight year? Last year, TCU Athletics won two national championships - one in Women's Rifle and the Men's Tennis. This year, TCU Women's Beach Volleyball won its first-ever national championship. A win tonight would give TCU four national titles in just over a year.

TCU versus Wake Forest can be seen on ESPN+ at 7 pm CT.

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Barry Lewis
BARRY LEWIS

Barry is the managing editor/publisher of TCU Horned Frogs On SI and oversees a team of 15+ writers, photographers, and podcasters covering all 22 of TCU’s sports. He writes on football, basketball (men’s and women’s), baseball, men’s tennis, and other sports as needed. His weekly articles include Big 12 Power Rankings and Poll Watching during the football, basketball, and baseball seasons. He is a frequent guest on one of the many podcasts that TCU Horned Frogs On SI writers host covering football, baseball, basketball, and other sports. Barry is a member of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA), and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA). He has represented TCU Horned Frogs On SI at the 2022 Fiesta Bowl, the 2023 College Football National Championship, the 2023 College World Series, the 2024 NCAA Men’s Tennis National Championship, Big 12 Football Media Days, and Big 12 Basketball Media Days. Barry has followed TCU sports since the Jim Wacker days. He is an avid sports fan and traveler, and he loves any opportunity to see a sporting event in person. He has been to 18 of the 30 MLB ballparks, experienced game day at 25 college football stadiums, seen 21 NFL stadiums, and been to 16 bowl games.

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