TCU
#27 Baylor
TCU Falters in Big 12 Semifinals
4/28/2018 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
AUSTIN, Texas - A tough battle ensued on Saturday afternoon with the No. 7 TCU men's tennis team coming up just short to No. 27 Baylor, 4-2, in the Big 12 Championship semifinals at the Texas Tennis Center in Austin, Texas.
The doubles point between the Horned Frogs (18-4) and the Bears (20-8) all came down to a tiebreaker on court three after the teams split the top two courts. The duo of Max Kurzban and Reese Stalder were dominant from the very first serve as they clinched it for TCU with a 7-2 victory.
The battle continued into singles action as the teams split the opening sets on all six courts. Baylor was able to take a 3-1 in the match after a retirement by TCU on court four and straight-set victories on courts six and three. The Frogs continued to fight and never gave up with Stalder getting his seventh straight win of the season with a 7-6(2), 6-3 victory on court five to close the gap to one. The final two courts were neck-and-neck and the Bears prevailed in a tiebreak in the final set on court two to clinch the upset and move in the Big 12 Championship match.
Quotes from the Match
Head Coach David Roditi
"Today was disappointing and it was disappointing to lose like that. As a coach, we take pride in competing and today we got out-competed and that is the bottom line. We can make a million excuses, but at the end of the day some courts took way too long to start competing and the other courts we didn't compete. We opened the door for them to have a chance to beat us and credit to them because they took it and did what they needed to do. We couldn't close out that match at No. 2 singles and that is the way it goes. That is the way sports is.
"We got a lot of things we need to look at for the postseason. It is really disappointing to finish like this and it felt like some of the guys on our team were just happy to be Big 12 Conference Regular Season Champions and they are ready to go home. That is just the impression I got. Hopefully this team is not done and hopefully they are still hungry and we can accomplish some more things. That is our job as coaches that when we host the first two rounds of NCAAs, we are ready to go. Today, in my opinion without taking any credit away from Baylor, we only had a few guys compete today. You cannot beat anybody any good like that. Thank you to all the fans who came out. It is a beautiful facility, perfect weather and it was a great day for tennis. It is too bad that we didn't do our part."
Match Results
Baylor vs TCU
Apr 28, 2018 at Austin, Texas
(Texas Tennis Center)
#27 Baylor 4, #7 TCU 2
Singles competition
1. #19 Alex Rybakov (TCU) vs. #68 Johannes Schretter (BU) 5-7, 7-6 (7-5), 4-4, unfinished
2. Matias Soto (BU) def. #59 Trevor Johnson (TCU) 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5)
3. Will Little (BU) def. #107 Guillermo Nuñez (TCU) 6-4, 6-4
4. Sven Lah (BU) def. #55 Alastair Gray (TCU) 2-6, 4-2, retired
5. Reese Stalder (TCU) def. Roy Smith (BU) 7-6 (7-2), 6-3
6. Constantin Frantzen (BU) def. Eduardo Roldan (TCU) 6-4, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. #4 Guillermo Nuñez/Alex Rybakov (TCU) def. Johannes Schretter/Akos Kotorman (BU) 6-4
2. Sven Lah/Roy Smith (BU) def. #83 Alastair Gray/Trevor Johnson (TCU) 6-3
3. Max Kurzban/Reese Stalder (TCU) def. Will Little/Constantin Frantzen (BU) 7-6 (7-2)
Match Notes:
Baylor 20-8; National ranking #27
TCU 18-4; National ranking #7
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (4,6,3,5,2)
2018 Big 12 Championships - Men's Semifinals
T-3:26
Up Next
TCU will learn its spot in the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championship during the selection show that will air live on NCAA.com on Tuesday, May 1 at 4:30 p.m., CT.
Players Mentioned
