TCU Men’s Tennis Team Bests the Longhorns to Win Big 12 Championship

With this win, it seems that all roads to the Big 12 title run through Fort Worth.

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Sunday marked the first time the TCU Men’s Tennis Team (22-2) captured its first Big 12 tournament title since 2017 and the third in 11 years as a conference affiliate, TCU reports. The No. 3 Horned Frogs took down No. 1 the Texas Longhorns 4-1 on Sunday at the Jayhawk Tennis Center to win the Big 12 Championship.

The Horned Frogs have now won either the Big 12 regular season crown or tournament championship for four consecutive seasons.

"How about that Frog fans?" says head coach David Roditi. "How about that, huh? Big 12 champs. Luc Fomba comes through once again [as does] our freshman, Sebastian [Gorzny] – the doubles point – just an absolute battle. So proud of these guys. They knew they could do it. Just battle after battle with these Longhorns, and we may see them again. Who knows?"

Records indicate that the Longhorns (22-3) are the only team to defeat TCU while the Horned Frogs have handed Texas two of its three defeats. TCU has claimed two of three duals with title implications, having downed the Longhorns 4-0 to win its second straight ITA Indoor National Championship in February. With this, TCU also procured its second victory in program history over the national No. 1.  TCU clinched the doubles point via a 7-6 tiebreaker victory on the top court. TCU's No. 2 ranked duo of Jake Fearnley and Luc Fomba initially fell behind 3-5 in the tiebreaker to Texas' tandem of Cleeve Harper and Eliot Spizzirri but rallied to win the next four points. Fomba and Fearnley broke to even the score at 5-5 before Fomba finished the match on serve and with a backhand Harper failed to handle. 

Sebastian Gorzny and Pedro Vives scored TCU's first doubles triumph. The underclassmen duo got the better of No. 88 Pierre-Yves Bailly and Siem Woldeab for the second time in as many weeks on court two. Gorzny and Vives rolled to an identical 6-3 win over the Texas tandem. The Horned Frogs then flipped four singles courts after dropping five of six opening sets.

Spizzirri, the nation's No. 1 singles player, beat Fearnley 6-1, 6-4 to even the match.  

Lui Maxted quickly put TCU back in front for good, beating out Nevin Arimilli in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2, on court six.  

Fomba and Gorzny responded from one-set deficits to clinch the match. 

 Gorzny dropped his first set to Harper 5-7 in the No. 5 post but soon turned his match on its ear, hanging consecutive 6-1 frames on the senior.  

Fomba used this shift in TCU's favor, earning his second match-clincher in as many days. In a battle of two ITA top-30 players on court two, Fomba, No. 26 in the ITA singles rankings, fell 3-6 to No. 23 Bailly in the opening set. The fifth-year senior shook off an early 1-2 deficit in set two on his way to a 6-4 win and decisive third set. Fomba closed the show by taking four straight games, securing a 6-3 set and match-ending victory that was punctuated by a service ace.

Fomba was named the tournament's most outstanding performer following the match. He went 3-0 over his two-day stay in Kansas, having clinched TCU's 4-0 semifinal win over Oklahoma State on Saturday. Jack Pinnington was on his way to his third victory over Micah Braswell in as many meetings as the championship celebration commenced. The 88th-ranked Pinnington dropped a 5-7 opening set decision to No. 55 Micah Braswell in the third flight but reversed the score in set two and led 2-0 in the third-and-final set. Sander Jong came three tiebreaker points shy of earning his third win at the expense of the 45th-ranked Woldeab on court four. Jong ascended to No. 42 in the ITA singles rankings after defeating Woldeab eight days prior in the teams' third head-to-head of the spring. He came up short 4-7 in a first set tiebreaker but took the second frame 6-4. Woldeab nursed a 4-3 set three lead with Jong on serve at the time of the clinch. 

Doubles Results

  1. #2 Jake Fearnley / Luc Fomba (TCU) def. #3 Cleeve Harper / Eliot Spizzirri (UT): 7-6 [7-4]
  2. Sebastian Gorzny / Pedro Vives (TCU) def. #89 Pierre-Yves Bailly / Siem Woldeab (UT): 6-3
  3. #18 Sander Jong / Lui Maxted (TCU) vs. Evan McDonald/ Chih Chi Huang (UT): 6-6 [6-5]

Order of finish: 2, 1 

Doubles Notables

  • Fomba and Fearnley have won three-of-four doubles matches vs. Harper and Spizzirri.
  • Fomba and Fearnley are now 13-2 together this spring and 36-9 over the last two seasons.
  • Seven of Fomba and Fearnley's doubles victories have been on the top court.
  • Gorzny and Vives notched their team-leading 16th dual doubles victory. 
  • Gorzny and Vives have now won three straight matches on court two.
  • Gorzny and Vives broke to build a 4-2 lead vs. Bailly and Woldeab.
  • Gorzny and Vives are undefeated at 3-0 in doubles vs. Texas.
  • TCU has taken the doubles point in three of its four matches vs. Texas. Collectively, the Horned Frogs have won nine-of-11 completed sets in the season series. They are 3-1 on court one, 3-1 on court two and 3-0 on court three. 
  • Sunday's doubles sweep was TCU's third of the season vs. the Longhorns.
  • TCU is now 43-12 in doubles sets this season. The Horned Frogs are 12-5 in the No. 1 flight, 14-5 out of the No. 2 post and 17-1 on court three.
  • The Horned Frogs extended their streak of doubles points to eight. They are 21-2 in doubles play this season and 47-7 over the last two seasons. 

Singles Results

  1. #1 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) def. 18 Jake Fearnley (TCU): 6-1, 6-4
  2. #26 Luc Fomba (TCU) def. #23 Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT): 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
  3. #88 Jack Pinnington (TCU) vs. #55 Micah Braswell (UT): 5-7, 7-5, 2-0
  4. #42 Sander Jong (TCU) vs. #45 Siem Woldeab (UT): 6-7 [4-7] 6-4, 3-4
  5. #87 Sebastian Gorzny (TCU) def. Cleeve Harper (UT): 5-7, 6-1, 6-1
  6. Lui Maxted (TCU) def. Nevin Arimilli (UT): 6-3, 6-2

Order of finish: 1, 6, 5, 2 

Singles Notables

  • Fomba achieved his 193rd career victory with his three-set comeback vs. Bailly.
  • Fomba boosted his season singles record to 14-2. He has produced a 105-36 combined singles mark over his five-year stay in Fort Worth.
  • Fomba earned his first come-from-behind singles win of the spring with his rally on Sunday.
  • Pinnington is 5-1 in completed singles sets vs. Braswell.
  • Jong continues to lead TCU in singles victories behind a 15-1 record in 2023.
  • Gorzny settled his score vs. Harper, improving to 2-1 in their season series. Gorzny earned the match-clincher at the expense of Harper in TCU's Indoor Nationals triumph while Harper handed Gorzny his lone loss of the spring in their regular season rematch on Apr. 15. All four of their battles have transpired on court five.
  • Gorzny's singles records stand at 14-1 for the spring and 18-2 when accounting for fall invitationals.
  • Maxted remains undefeated at 9-0 with seven of his wins coming in straight sets.
  • Maxted became the first Horned Frog to defeat Arimilli in three attempts.
  • Maxted has won 21-of-24 completed singles sets. 

---FOO BAR