Men’s Tennis: Frogs sweep into Super Regional

TCU Men’s Tennis earned the #2 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, hosting the Regional first and second rounds in Fort Worth on Friday and Saturday. TCU was without star performer Luc Fomba for the weekend, 17th-ranked singles player and half of the No. 2 overall doubles pairing. Despite Fomba’s absence, the Horned Frogs handled business with ease, winning every set completed to sweep past UT-Arlington and Texas A&M. The Regional win sends TCU into the Round of 16 for the seventh consecutive NCAA Tournament.

Round 1

TCU got paired with UT Arlington to open the Fort Worth Regional on Friday night. The unranked Mavericks earned a ticket to the NCAA Tournament by winning the WAC Tournament after an undefeated WAC regular season. Without Fomba the lineup and court assignments got a shakeup. In Doubles Jake Fearnley got paired with Jack Pinnington for the first time this season and they slotted into the Court 3 role where they swiftly completed their set 6-2. The other pairings each moved up a slot in the lineup with Sebastian Gorzny & Pedro Vives dispatched their opponent 6-3 to secure the doubles point for the Frogs.

The singles lineup had a shakeup as well, with Tomas Jirousek slotting back into a starting spot that he held earlier in the season; he wone his first set 7-5 but was ultimately left unfinished as his teammates took care of business. Lui Maxted has been in and out of the Singles starting role throughout the season, trading opportunities with Pinnington, but versus UTA JPJ was rested and Maxted earned the quick 6-1, 6-3 win to give TCU the 2-0 lead. No. 62 Sander Jong moved up into the 2-slot with Fomba out and he was able to also earn a dominant 6-1, 6-3 victory. No. 21 Jake Fearnley closed out the contest from Court 1 with the 6-3, 6-1 victory as the Frogs earned a 14th sweep in 2023. While Gorzny and Vives each went unfinished, they both won opening sets and were approaching the clinching points before Fearnley shut the door.

Round 2

In the Regional final, TCU was matched against No. 19 Texas A&M after the Aggies advanced past AAC Champion No. 48 SMU. The Frogs were once again without Fomba, but were once again able to roll through a dominant sweep without even dropping a set. The Doubles point was tightly contested as the ranked showdown between No. 22 Jong/Maxted of TCU and No. 32 Rollins/Ross of A&M eventually went to the Frogs 6-4. The doubles point was secured by Fearnley/Pinnington in the pair’s second ever performance together, taking a 6-4 set win.

Singles continued the TCU show of dominance as the top court showdown had TCU’s No. 21 Fearnley thoroughly control the court, taking the point from TAMU’s No. 53 Raphael Perot 6-2, 6-1. The Horned Frogs jumped to the 3-0 advantage as No. 92 Sebastian Gorzny cruised to a 6-1, 6-1. The final straw came from Court 5 where Pedro Vives took a straight-set battle with No. 123 Trey Hildebrand to push the Horned Frogs into the Super Regional. Maxted, Jong, and Pinnington each won opening sets before the match went final.

Up next, the Horned Frogs will host the Super Regional from the purple courts in Fort Worth against No. 15 national seed Mississippi State on Saturday May 13 at 3:00 PM. The Bulldogs won its home Regional with a sweep of Alabama State and a 4-2 victory over No. 27 MTSU. The Bulldogs are 21-7 on the season and lost to Alabama in the first round of the SEC Tournament.