Men’s Tennis: TCU to Defend Big 12 Championship Title
The Horned Frogs defeated Oklahoma on Saturday and will face Texas on Sunday afternoon.
It may seem like déjà vu when it comes to the Big 12 Men’s Tennis Championship.
No.3 seed TCU (22-3) will face No. 1 seed Texas (21-3) in Sunday’s championship match after both teams won their semifinal matches on Saturday. The Horned Frogs defeated No. 2 seed Oklahoma 4-1, while the Longhorns defeated No. 5 seed Oklahoma State.
This championship sets up a rematch of the 2023 Big 12 Men’s Tennis Championship match. In the 2023 season, Texas won the Big 12 regular season title, just as they did this season. In the 2023 season, the two teams met three times prior to the championship match, with each team winning at home and TCU winning on a neutral court. This season, the two teams have met twice, both winning at home. In the 2023 championship match, TCU won 4-1. If the déjà vu pattern continues, Sunday’s match should be exciting for Frog fans.
For TCU, this will mark its seventh championship appearance in the last eight seasons.
In Saturday’s match, TCU won the doubles point, something it had not done in the previous three matches. In the singles matches, TCU won four of the six first sets. In two of those, TCU won in straight sets. Oklahoma also got on the board with a straight-set victory. The other three courts all went to decisive third sets, but TCU only needed a win on one to advance to the championship.
Doubles Play – TCU Won
Two of the three courts had new pairings for TCU. This was a good move in that both won their sets to give TCU the doubles point.
For the first time this season, Jake Fearnley was paired with Pedro Vives on Court One. They defeated Baptiste Anselmo and Alex Martinez 6-2.
The Sooners would get a win on Court Two as Kholo Montsi and Luis Alvarez defeated Duncan Chan and Lui Maxted 6-3.
TCU would clinch the point thanks to another new pairing on Court Three. Jack Pinnington and Kaj Quirijns defeated Hank Trondson and Asahi Harazaki 6-4.
Singles Play – TCU 3 – Oklahoma 1
The Horned Frogs tallied wins on Courts Three, Two, and Six to pave the way to a championship match.
Vives, on Court Three, put the Frogs up 2-0 with a 6-2, 6-3 straight-set victory over Jordan Hasson. The win marks Vives' sixth win in a row and 20th win dating back to the fall.
Then, on Court Two, Fearnley also won in straight sets, defeating Montsi 6-3, 6-3. Fearnley is now 11-2 in 2024 and 8-1 against nationally ranked foes.
Oklahoma would make the score 3-1 after Justin Schlageter defeated Chan 7-6 (8-6), 6-2 on Court Five.
The three remaining courts would all go into decisive third sets. Once again, the Frogs needed fifth-year senior Tomas Jirousek, playing on Court Six, to clinch the dual win. He defeated Mark Mandlik 6-1, 2-6, 6-4. The win moves Jirousek to 11-7 in 2024. It was the 5th time Jirousek had a dual-clinching match.
Next up: No. 3 seed TCU will meet No. 1 seed Texas in the Big 12 Championship match on Sunday, April 21 at 1 p.m. The match can be seen on the Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
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