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No. 1 Men’s Tennis falls in Big 12 Championship final
04.23.2023 | Men's Tennis
The Longhorns dropped a hard-fought 4-1 decision to No. 3 TCU on Sunday.
Lawrence, Kansas – No. 1 Texas Men's Tennis fell, 4-1, in a hard-fought contest to No. 3 TCU in the Big 12 Championship final on Sunday in Lawrence, Kansas.
It was just the third loss of the season for the Longhorns (22-3), all against teams ranked in the top three. That includes two to the Horned Frogs when they were ranked No. 3, and one at Ohio State, which was ranked No. 2. Texas has also beaten TCU twice this year when the Horned Frogs were No. 1 and No. 3, including last week for the Big 12 regular season title, and also avenged the loss to the Buckeyes when they were No. 1.
After TCU won a tightly-contested doubles point that saw two matches go to tiebreakers, junior No. 1 Eliot Spizzirri was first off the singles court at No. 1 to even the overall match. However, the Horned Frogs followed with wins at Nos. 6, 5 and 2 to clinch the match.
In Spizzirri's match, he improved his record against top-25 opponents to 11-0 with a victory over No. 18 Jake Fearnley, a 6-1, 6-4. Fearnely picked up his lone game of the first set on serve at 2-1 before Spizzirri closed on a 4-0 run. In the second, Fearnley took the first two games on a hold and a break, but Spizzirri got the break back and held for 2-2, and then secured the only other break of the set for a 5-4 lead before serving it out.
The Horned Frogs regained the lead shortly after that with a 6-3, 6-2 win by Lui Maxted over senior Nevin Arimilli at No. 6. The first set stayed on serve until Maxted picked up the initial break for a 4-3 lead to start a 4-0 run that resulted in a 1-0 lead in the second. Maxted again collected the first break there, this time for a 4-2 lead, before closing on another 3-0 run.
With the Longhorns having won five first sets, the rest of the singles contests all went to three sets. The match at No. 5 was next to finish with junior Cleeve Harper falling to No. 87 Sebastian Gorzny, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1. Harper jumped out to a 4-1 lead with a break that established that score after starting with one in the opening game. Gorzny then answered with a 4-0 run for his first lead, but Harper came back with a 3-0 run for the set. However, from there, Gornzy took 12 of the last 14 games for his win.
Texas was still in good position in the remaining three matches, but No. 26 Luc Fomba rallied for a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over sophomore No. 23 Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 2. In the first set, Bailly broke first for a 4-2 lead, and although Fomba broke back, Bailly broke again for 5-3 and then served out the set. Bailly broke Fomba's serve for the third-straight time to open the second set, but Fomba again broke back to return it to on serve where it stayed until Fomba broke again in the last game. That sent it to a third set, where Bailly broke and held for a 2-0 lead, which he maintained to 3-1, but Fomba held in the next game to start a 4-0 run and clinch the overall match.
In the two remaining matches, junior No. 45 Siem Woldeab was leading No. 42 Sander Jong, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 4-3 at No. 4 when play was completed. Jong broke first for a 4-2 lead in the first set, but Woldeab rallied with two breaks for a 3-0 run. Jong broke back after that, and the last two games were on serve to a tiebreaker. In the breaker, Jong began on serve, but the first six points were all mini-breaks until Woldeab snapped the string with a hold for a 4-3 lead. That was the start of a 3-0 run for Woldeab for a 6-3 lead on the way to his 7-4 win. In the second set, Woldeab held and broke for a 2-0 advantage, but Jong broke back and held to even it. Woldeab held on his next serve and had a chance to extend his lead, but Jong won back-to-back deuce-point games to start a 3-0 run and then broke again at deuce for the 6-4 win. In the third, Woldeab broke for a 3-1 lead, but after Jong answered it, the last two games were on serve for the 4-3 stopping point.
The final match was back and forth throughout with junior No. 55 Micah Braswell trailing No. 88 Jack Pinnington at No. 3 when play concluded. After Pinnington broke in the opening game and held for 2-0, Braswell stormed back with a 4-0 run capped by a deuce-point break. Pinnington broke back on a deuce point of his own, and the next four games were on serve until Braswell broke again for the set, 7-5. The players exchanged breaks to begin the second, starting with Pinnington, who later broke again for a 4-3 lead. He then came back from down 0-40 to hold his next serve, but Braswell ended up getting the break on his next chance for 5-5. However, Pinnington was able to break back on a deuce point and then served out the set. He then broke in the opening game of the third and led 2-1 at the finish.
Earlier in doubles, the Longhorns fell in extremely close fashion. The Horned Frogs took the first match at No. 2 with a 6-3 win by Gorzny and Pedro Vives over the No. 89 duo of Woldeab and Bailly. TCU won both of the first two games at deuce for a break and a hold and then later broke again for the win.
The other two matches then both went to tiebreakers with the No. 3 pair of Harper and Spizzirri edged by the No. 2 combo of Fearnley and Fomba, 7-6 (5), at No. 1. The entire match stayed on serve starting with Texas, leading to the breaker where the Longhorns led 5-2 before TCU closed on a 5-0 run.
The remaining match at No. 3 was between the duo of senior Chih Chi Huang and junior Evin McDonald and the No. 18 pair of Jong and Maxted. That contest also stayed on serve the whole way with the Longhorns winning three deuce points on serve over the course of it. In the tiebreaker, Huang and McDonald also posted a 5-2 lead when the Horned Frogs went on a 4-0 run for a 6-5 advantage when play stopped.
Texas will now await the NCAA selection show to learn its seeding, along with hosting for the first and second rounds. That will be streamed on NCAA.com on Monday, May 1, at 5:30 p.m. CT.
#3 TCU 4, #1 Texas 1
Singles – Order of Finish (1,6,5,2)
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. #55 Micah Braswell (UT) vs. #88 Jack Pinnington (TCU) 7-5, 5-7, 1-2, unf.
4. #45 Siem Woldeab (UT) vs. #42 Sander Jong (TCU) 7-6 (4), 4-6, 4-3, unf.
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
Doubles – Order of Finish (2,1)
1. #2 Jake Fearnley/Luc Fomba (TCU) def. #3 Cleeve Harper/Eliot Spizzirri (UT) 7-6 (5)
2. Sebastian Gorzny/Pedro Vives (TCU) def. #89 Pierre-Yves Bailly/Siem Woldeab (UT) 6-3
3. Chih Chi Huang/Evin McDonald (UT) vs. #18 Sander Jong/Lui Maxted (TCU) 6-6 (5-6), unf.
Players Mentioned
