TCU Clinches Big 12 Title at Texas Tech

Friday, April 16

Lubbock, Texas

5:00 PM

TCU

Texas Tech

TCU Clinches Big 12 Title at Texas Tech

4/16/2021 10:09:00 PM | Men's Tennis

The Horned Frogs are Big 12 Conference Champions for the fourth time in the last six seasons

LUBBOCK – No. 6 TCU men's tennis (15-5, 4-0) took down Texas Tech, 4-1, on Friday evening to clinch a share of the Big 12 Conference title. This is TCU's fourth Big 12 regular season championship since joining the conference and its fourth in the last six seasons. The Horned Frogs will have a chance to win the trophy outright on Sunday, April 18, when they host No. 2 Baylor at 3 p.m.

TCU won the doubles point once again to go in front, 1-0. The Horned Frogs have won all four doubles points to this point in Big 12 play. In singles action, Alastair Gray and Jake Fearnley made furious comebacks after dropping their opening sets, dominating play in the second and third to put the Frogs in front, 3-1. The final blow came courtesy of Sander Jong, who polished off a straight set battle at No. 3 to clinch the championship in hostile territory.

"I thought it was a great effort by our whole squad to get out of Lubbock with a win," head coach David Roditi said. "A share of the Big 12 title was on the line. They had a passionate crowd, windy conditions, and they're good. It's a tough place to play. Daniel Whitehead is doing a great job. We knew that it was going to be as tough of a mental and emotional battle as we've had all year and our guys found a way. I'm really proud of them for coming back, down sets in singles and winning the doubles point. Max Kurzban keeps stepping up. Even though he didn't win, he was right there. There's something special about the leadership of this team and it's showing. I'm proud of them. Now, we have to recover to get ready for an absolute war on Sunday. Baylor is coming in upset that they lost and they're going to be playing for a share of our title. There's going to be a lot at stake in this match, seeding implications for the Big 12 tournament and for the national tournament as well. We're looking forward to it. We can't wait to play this match in front of our incredible TCU fans. Go Frogs!"

DOUBLES QUICK HITS

TCU won the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 2.
Fomba and Gray won the first point of the day at No. 1, breaking their opponents late to go ahead, 5-4. The top-rated duo held serve for the fifth time to secure the 6-4 victory.
Fomba/Gray improve to 11-5 on the season and 7-4 against ranked opponents. They are 3-0 in Big 12 play.
Sander Jong and Tadeas Paroulek waited until a 5-5 draw to get the first break of the match and hold serve to clinch the doubles point, 7-5 at No. 2.
They improve to 9-3 this season and 2-0 in conference action.
The Horned Frogs clinched the doubles point without dropping a match for the fifth match in a row and the ninth time this season.
TCU is now 31-18 in doubles matches this season and 8-0 in conference play.

Doubles Results
1. #4 Alastair Gray/Luc Fomba (TCU) def. #81 Parker Wynn/Franco Ribero (TTU) 6-4
2. Sander Jong/Tadeas Paroulek (TCU) def. Reed Collier/Isaac Arevalo (TTU) 7-5
3. Dimitrios Azoidis/Ilgiz Valiev (TTU) vs. Jake Fearnley/Max Kurzban (TCU) 5-4, unfinished
Order of Finish: 1, 2

SINGLES QUICK HITS

Jake Fearnley dropped his opening set before returning to form and dominating the second and third sets for a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory at No. 4.
He improves to 6-2 this dual season and 2-1 at the No. 4 spot.
All three of Fearnley's road singles wins this season have come in three sets.
This was the first time he has not allowed his opponent to win more than two games in either of his winning sets in a three-set victory.
Fearnley has been in tremendous form. Over the last three matches, he has won six out of seven sets with five of those sets coming by at least four games.
Gray made a similar comeback on court two, winning his final two sets, 6-2, after dropping the opening set.
He is now 13-5 this season and a perfect 4-0 in Big 12 play.
Gray is the only Horned Frog to have contributed a point in every Big 12 match this season.
This was his fifth three set victory this season. He is 5-3 in three-setters this season and 3-2 in three-set matches in which he loses the opening set.
Sander Jong clinched the Horned Frog victory on court three with a grinding straight set win, 6-4, 7-6(7).
He overcame being down a mini-break (4-6) in his tiebreaker to win five of the next six points and clinch the match.
Jong improves to 8-7 this dual season and 8-5 at the No. 3 spot.
This weas his fifth straight set victory of the season and his first in conference action.
TCU is now 55-36 in singles matches this dual season and 10-5 in Big 12 play.

Singles Results
1. Luc Fomba (TCU) vs. Parker Wynn (TTU) 6-4, 5-7, 4-1, unfinished
2. Alastair Gray (TCU) def. Ilgiz Valiev (TTU) 3-6, 6-2, 6-2
3. Sander Jong (TCU) def. Franco Ribero (TTU) 6-4, 7-6 (9-7)
4. Jake Fearnley (TCU) def. Reed Collier (TTU) 4-6, 6-1, 6-2
5. Dimitrios Azoidis (TTU) def. Tadeas Paroulek (TCU) 6-3, 6-3
6. Isaac Arevalo (TTU) vs. Juan Martin (TCU) 7-5, 5-4, unfinished
Order of Finish: 5, 4, 2, 3

Up Next
The Horned Frogs return to the purple courts for the 2021 regular season finale against No. 2 Baylor. TCU will win the outright 2021 regular season conference championship with a win and will share the title with both Baylor and Texas in the event of a loss. The match will take place at 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 18 at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center

For more information on TCU men's tennis, visit gofrogs.com and follow the team on social media: @TCUMensTennis on twitter, Facebook and the all new men's tennis Instagram.