Men’s Tennis: TCU Advances To National Semifinals
It’s the postseason, and once again, Michigan is standing in the way of the Frogs’ national championship dreams. And once again, TCU won to advance. In December, it was in football. In May, it was in men’s tennis.
No. 2 TCU (26-2) beat No. 7 Michigan (27-5) on Friday afternoon in the NCAA quarterfinals in Orlando, Florida, by a score of 4-1.
TCU has not lost many doubles points all season. But they did in this dual with Michigan. Despite starting the singles matches in the hole, TCU won in straight sets on four of the six courts, advancing the Frogs to Saturday’s national semifinals.
TCU will meet No. 3 Ohio State on Saturday at 11 am CT. The winner of that dual will face the winner of the No. 1 Texas versus No. 5 Virginia semifinal, which also will be played at 11 am CT on Saturday. Ohio State outlasted No. 6 Georgia on Friday with a 4-3 win.
This will be the fifth national semifinal appearance for TCU. The Frogs appeared in the 1989, 1996, 2001, and 2015 semis. They have never played for the NCAA National Championship.
Men's Tennis National Quarterfinal: TCU 4 - Michigan 1
The weather caused havoc on Thursday and pushed TCU’s match to Friday. Unexpectedly, TCU lost the doubles point. Two courts were tight sets, so the Frogs had a chance but could not pull off the win.
In singles play, despite Jake Fearnley losing his first set on court one, the Frogs won straight sets on courts two, three, four, and five. All four had tough first sets, with three decided by a tiebreaker, and the fourth still required seven wins.
Doubles Play – TCU Won
- Playing on Court Three, Sander Jong and Lui Maxted lost their set quickly, 2-6.
- The other two courts were much closer sets.
- On Court Two, Sebastian Gorzny and Pedro Vives lost their set in a tiebreaker, 7-6, giving Michigan the first point of the dual.
- The nation’s No. 2 doubles duo of Luc Fomba and Fearnley were deadlocked 6 6 on Court One and headed to a tiebreaker when the point was won.
Singles Play – TCU won 4-0
It took some very close sets, but the Frogs pulled off first-set wins on every court except on Court One with Fearnley.
- Fomba, on Court Two, didn’t need a tiebreaker in his first set but still had to play the near maximum number of games, winning 7-5. He won his second set 6-3, giving the Frogs their first point of the dual.
- Jong was the next win for the Frogs on Court Four. It took a tiebreaker, one of three first-set tiebreakers for the Frogs, to win his first set 7-6. His second one went quicker, 6-1, giving the Frogs a 2-1 lead
- Jack Pinnington, on Court Three, had the same results as Jong. He won his first set 7-6 in the tiebreaker, then won his second set 6-1, putting the Frogs up 3-1.
- Gorzny clinched it for the Frogs, winning 7-6, 6-2 on Court Five.
- On Court One, Fearnley lost his first set 3-6, but he came back from down a break to win the second set 7-6. He was just about to start the decisive third set when the dual was won.
- Maxted, on Court Six, won his first set 6-4 but fell behind a break in the second and lost it 4-6. He was up 2-1 in the third set when the point was one.
Next up: No. 2 TCU will face No. 3 Ohio State on Saturday, May 20, at 11 am. CT in the national semifinal.
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