No. 8 TCU Topples No. 7 Texas, 4-3

Saturday, April 3

Austin, Texas

12:00 PM

TCU

Texas

No. 8 TCU Topples No. 7 Texas, 4-3

4/3/2021 8:14:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Fomba wins the final 11 points of his match at No. 1 to clinch TCU’s third Top 10 win of the season

AUSTIN – No. 8 TCU men's tennis (12-5) started Big 12 Conference play with an instant classic, taking down No. 7 Texas in a thrilling 4-3 contest at the Texas Tennis Center in Austin. The Horned Frogs won the doubles point and collected wins from Alastair Gray, Juan Martín and Luc Fomba to earn their third Top 10 victory of the season and seventh road win over a ranked opponent. Fomba clinched the match by winning his final 11 points, including a 7-0 tiebreak score for the win.

What a total team effort for the men on our team," head coach David Roditi said. "To come on the road and win at UT, with their team, their coaches, who are doing a great job with their young and very good squad deserves a lot of credit. I'm so proud of this team. It's so hard to win these matches that come down to a 4-3, let alone a tie-breaker, that I hope our team takes a moment to enjoy it. Fomba bounced back incredibly after being broken at 5-4 in third set and showed a lot of poise and discipline towards the end of the match. Credit to coaches Derek (Siddiqui) and Devin (Bowen) to help Fomba close it out. Obviously, the win at two was huge by our captain Alastair, who was down in the second set and came back to give us a timely point. Juan Martín also did a great job closing the match out. He is so matured and has worked so hard that, as coaches, we couldn't be prouder and happier for him. Kurzban and Fearnley gave us a huge win at 3 doubles. Total team effort! Now we get to play at home next weekend vs the Oklahomas. It will be nice to play at home. We have only played 3 matches out of 18 matches at TCU this season. I know our guys are excited about it. Thanks for the fans that came out today to support. It is always nice to get that on the road."

This was TCU's eighth road win of the season, the most since the Elite 8 team of 2016.

The Horned Frogs got off to one of their best starts this season in doubles play, securing early breaks on courts one and three. Gray and Fomba, playing in their first match together since March 15, built a two-break lead, 4-0, and endured a break against them to close out the match, 6-4. Jake Fearnley and Max Kurzban, playing in just their second-ever doubles match together, got their break on their opponents first serve and managed to hold from there, winning gutsy points to hold serve and clinch the doubles point, 6-4.

TCU caried that momentum into the early stages of singles, winning three of the first four first sets decided while Fomba and Tadeas Paroulek went to tiebreakers. The momentum swung decidedly into the Longhorns favor when Texas took both first set tiebreakers, went up a break on two courts where TCU had won the opening set and won a point on court four.

That momentum swing didn't seep its way to court six, where Martín took care of business in straight sets, breaking back late in his second set to put TCU back in front, 2-1.

With the win from Martín safely secured, Gray showed off his skill at No. 2 singles, coming back from down a break in his second set to force a tiebreak and eventually winning that breaker, 7-3. Gray's experience and calm under pressure proved to be his biggest asset, along with a clinical backhand slice and uncanny finishing ability at the net. Gray's win came after UT clamed a point on court three, putting TCU back in front again, 3-2.

Texas won a tiebreaker on five to tie the score, 3-3, while Fomba was up a break, 4-2, in his third set. Fomba had a chance to serve for the match, up 5-4, but would suffer a match altering break to put the match back on-serve, 5-5. After his opponent held serve, Fomba needed to hold serve himself to force a tiebreak. The Frenchman ripped two aces to hold serve on four points before winning all seven points in his tiebreak, 7-0, to clinch the win in emphatic fashion, on the road, in front of a hostile Big 12 atmosphere. He won the last 11 points of his match.

DOUBLES QUICK HITS

TCU won the doubles point with 6-4 wins at both No. 1 and No. 3.
Fomba and Gray were paired together again after being separated for the last four matches.
The No. 11 ranked duo in the nation defended their ranking, taking down No. 12 Woldeab/Spizzirri, 6-4.
They improve to 7-5 this dual season together and 5-4 against ranked opponents.
This was their second highest ranked win of the season, behind then-No. 10 Lah/Frantzen of Baylor.
Fearnley and Kurzban recorded the clinching victory on court three, 6-4.
It was their second victory in their second match together.
Fearnley improves to 7-3 in doubles competition this season while Kurzban jumps up to 4-2.
Fearnley/Kurzban have now cinched doubles points in both of their appearances together.
The Horned Frogs clinched the doubles point without dropping a match for the second match in a row and the sixth time this season.
TCU is now 25-18 in doubles matches this season.

Doubles Results
1. #11 Alastair Gray/Luc Fomba (TCU) def. #12 Siem Woldeab/Eliot Spizzirri (UT) 6-4
2. Cleeve Harper/Chih Chi Huang (UT) vs. Sander Jong/Tadeas Paroulek (TCU) 5-5, unfinished
3. Jake Fearnley/Max Kurzban (TCU) def. Micah Braswell/Jacob Bullard (UT) 6-4
Order of Finish: 1, 3

SINGLES QUICK HITS

Martín secured the first singles point of the day at No. 6 singles.
He improves to 7-3 in dual matches this season and 6-1 at the No. 6 slot.
This was his fourth straight-set win of the dual season and his first since Feb. 5
Gray delivered a straight-set win at No. 2 singles over No. 16 Braswell.
He improves to 10-5 in dual singles matches this season and 4-2 at No. 2 singles.
It was his team-leading seventh ranked win of the season. Gray is 7-4 against ranked opponents this season.
This is his second-highest ranked win of the year after he defeated No. 1 Cukierman from USC at National Indoors.
He won his second set via tiebreak, improving his 2021 dual tiebreaker record to 4-3.
Fomba clinched the match in dramatic fashion on court one: 6-7(1), 6-3, 7-6(0).
This was his fourth clinching victory of the season.
He improves to 10-5 in singles matches this season and 4-2 at No. 1.
He is now 4-3 in three-set matches this season.
This was his first win of the season after dropping his first set, he has now done so four times as a Horned Frog.
After falling in a tiebreaker in the opening set, Fomba won his match via third-set tiebreaker. He is now 6-3 in tiebreaker situations this season and 1-0 in tiebreaks that decide the winner of a Top 10 conference road match against a higher ranked team.
Two Frogs posted wins in both singles and doubles: Fomba and Gray. They both lead the team with six 2-0 days this season.
TCU is now 48-33 in singles matches this dual season.

Singles Results
1. #18 Luc Fomba (TCU) def. #23 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) 6-7 (1-7), 6-3, 7-6 (7-0)
2. #10 Alastair Gray (TCU) def. #16 Micah Braswell (UT) 6-4, 7-6 (7-3)
3. #99 Siem Woldeab (UT) def. #47 Sander Jong (TCU) 3-6, 6-2, 6-3
4. Cleeve Harper (UT) def. #99 Jake Fearnley (TCU) 6-4, 6-2
5. Chih Chi Huang (UT) def. Tadeas Paroulek (TCU) 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-4)
6. Juan Martin (TCU) def. Evin McDonald (UT) 6-4, 6-4
Order of Finish: 4, 1, 5, 6

Up Next
The Horned Frogs return to Fort Worth for a weekend of Big 12 matches against Oklahoma State (April 9) and Oklahoma (April 11) 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.