Saturday, April 22
Lawrence, KS
9 AM
TCU
vs
#47 Oklahoma State
Preview: Big 12 Championship
4/20/2023 4:06:00 PM | Men's Tennis
No. 3 TCU faces either No. 31 Texas Tech or No. 47 Oklahoma State on Saturday
FORT WORTH – The Big 12 Tennis Championship have arrived, and with it a new lease on No. 3 TCU men's tennis' pursuit of conference championship glory.
The Horned Frogs (20-2, 4-1 Big 12) earned the No. 2 seed and a first round bye in the annual affair, which runs from Friday-Sunday at the Jayhawk Tennis Center in Lawrence, Kansas.
TCU faces the winner of a quarterfinal dual between No. 3 seed Texas Tech (14-9, 2-3 Big 12) and No. 6 seed Oklahoma State (12-12, 0-5 Big 12) at 9 a.m. on Saturday. First serve for Sunday's final is slated for 1 p.m. and will air on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.
The Horned Frogs are hunting their third Big 12 tournament championship in 11 years of conference membership. TCU claimed back-to-back crowns in 2016 and 2017, defeating Texas Tech in the finale of both tournaments.
Excluding the 2020 campaign, TCU has won either the Big 12 regular season championship or Big 12 tournament championship in five of the last six seasons. TCU last failed to claim a conference crown in 2018.
The Horned Frogs came agonizingly close to capturing the program's fourth straight Big 12 regular season championship, falling to top-ranked Texas 5-2 on Apr. 15 in Austin in a winner-take-all dual.
Saturday will spell a third meeting in 2023 between TCU and Texas Tech should the Red Raiders win their quarterfinal match vs. Oklahoma State. TCU is 2-0 vs. the Red Raiders in 2023 and 43-6 all-time. The Horned Frogs shut out Texas Tech 4-0 on Jan. 29 in their ITA Kickoff Weekend regional final, then staved off the Red Raiders 4-1 in Lubbock on Apr. 8 to clinch their free pass through the opening round. TCU defeated Texas Tech in the Big 12 Championship final in both of its tournament triumphs (2016, 2017).
The Horned Frogs are 6-1 in completed singles contests vs. Texas Tech. A sweep of the top courts at the expense of the Red Raiders punched TCU's ticket to Indoor Nationals. TCU developed a different winning formula two-and-a-half months later in Lubbock, winning on courts four through six to offset a defeat in the No. 1 flight.
TCU eased by Oklahoma State 4-0 on Apr. 2 in Fort Worth via consecutive singles victories on courts four, one five and six. The match began with singles due to impending thunderstorms.
Texas Tech holds the No. 31 ITA team ranking while the Cowboys checked in at No. 47 in latest listing of the poll.
Should TCU rematch Texas in the finale, it will mark the fourth meeting between the programs this season and third with title implications. TCU shut out Texas 4-0 on Feb. 20 to win its second straight Indoor National Championship. The Longhorns avenged the loss four weeks later, handing the Horned Frogs their first defeat in 2023 via a 4-1 nonconference win on March 22 in Fort Worth.
The Horned Frogs have claimed the doubles point in two-of-three outings vs. the Longhorns. TCU's No. 2-ranked tandem of Jake Fearnley and Luc Fomba have earned the clincher both times at the expense of Texas' top duo of No. 4 Eliot Spizzirri and Cleeve Harper.
For as dominant as TCU has been in singles – the Horned Frogs have won 76 percent of completed sets – Texas has proven to be the Horned Frogs' equal and kryptonite. Texas is responsible for half of TCU's losses in singles. Eight of the Horned Frogs' 16 defeats, including five in their last head-to-head, have come at the hands of the Longhorns. Sander Jong and Jack Pinnington own four of TCU's five singles victories over Texas.
Follow Along
Watch (Championship): gofrogs.co/3Lh2TKy
Live Stats: gofrogs.co/41DW3Er
Inside the Tournament
All-Time Tournament Record: 8-7
Big 12 Tournament Championships: Two (2016, 2017)
Big 12 Tournament Championship
Appearances: Six (2013, 2015-2017, 2021-2022)
Semifinal Record: 6-3
Record in Lawrence: 0-1
Last 10 Matches: 6-4
Combined Score Margin: 47-36
Record vs. Baylor: 0-5
Record vs. Oklahoma: 4-1
Record vs. Oklahoma State: 0-1
Record vs. Texas: 0-0
Record vs. Texas Tech: 4-0
Across the Rankings
ITA Team Rankings (April 18)
No. 3 – TCU
ITA Singles Rankings (April 18)
No. 18 – Jake Fearnley
No. 26 – Luc Fomba
No. 42 – Sander Jong
No. 87 – Sebastian Gorzny
No. 88 – Jack Pinnington
ITA Doubles Rankings (April 18)
No. 2 – Jake Fearnley / Luc Fomba
No. 18 – Sander Jong / Lui Maxted
No. 77 – Sander Jong / Jack Pinnington
Rankings Reversal
The roles are flipped in the third meeting between TCU and Texas in 2023. TCU occupied the top spot in the ITA team rankings while Texas was ranked third in the teams' nonconference dual on March 22 in Fort Worth. Texas won the match 4-1, and in Saturday's rematch, the Longhorns will take the courts as the national No. 1 against No. 3 TCU
Though TCU has a legitimate claim as to still deserving the top spot in the rankings - TCU blanked the Longhorns 4-0 to win the ITA Indoor National Championship and have one fewer loss than Texas and No. 2 Ohio State - the No. 3 ranking has been kind to the Horned Frogs. TCU was ranked No. 3 for the entirety of the indoor season, which produced a 12-0 overall record and the program's second consecutive indoor title.
TCU or Texas have occupied the No. 1 spot in the ITA team ranking for all seven weeks of the outdoor season.
Consistency is Key
The Horned Frogs are the lone NCAA Division I men's tennis program to have maintained a top-three ITA team ranking in 2023. TCU has sat atop the rankings five times and boasted the No. 2 or No. 3 ranking in nine polls (five indoor, four outdoor).
Doubles Delight
No program nationwide has been as dominant in doubles play as TCU over the last two seasons.
Since the 2022 campaign commenced, TCU has gone 45-7 in doubles. The Horned Frogs enjoyed a program-record and nation-leading doubles point streak of 18 between the 2022 NCAA Tournament and the start of the 2023 outdoor season.
Court by court, the Horned Frogs are 29-10 on court one, 32-10 out of the No. 2 post and own a 32-8 record in the third flight.
Obtaining the doubles point has proven a near-certain pathway to victory over the last two seasons. TCU is 40-3 when assuming a 1-0 lead on the scoreboard. This season, the Horned Frogs are 18-1 when winning the doubles point.
Fists Up for a Shutout
Opponents have failed to take a point from TCU in 55 percent of the Horned Frogs' duals in 2023. TCU has pitched 12 shutouts across 22 matches. TCU has blanked opponents in six of its eight outdoor affairs, including a trio of 7-0 sweeps at the expense of UT Arlington, UCLA and USC. Three opponents (SMU, UT Arlington, UCLA) were unable to win a set on the purple courts. All-but-one of the shutouts have come against teams currently ranked in the top-50 of the latest ITA poll. The Horned Frogs have thrice blanked a top-10 foe, downing then-No. 10 Baylor and then-No. 6 Texas 4-0 at Indoor Nationals and shelling then-No. 10 USC 7-0 on March 24. TCU began Big 12 play with a trio of 4-0 decisions against Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Baylor from March 31-Apr. 6. TCU claimed 11-of-12 completed sets in all three contests.
Chasing Down 200
Luc Fomba, TCU's active leader in career combined victories, is 10 wins shy of reaching 200. Since arriving in Fort Worth in 2018, he has tallied 157 combined victories in duals over five spring seasons and sprinkled in an additional 33 in fall invitationals. When Fomba tallies career win No. 200, he will become the first player in 26 years to achieve the milestone and ascend to ninth on TCU's career combined victories list.
Fomba's year-by-year combined records are as follows:
2018-2019: 32-20 (21-7 singles / 11-13 doubles)
2019-2020: 32-12 (19-8 singles / 13-4 doubles)
2020-2021: 42-22 (22-9 singles / 20-13 doubles)
2021-2022: 48-16 (23-8 singles / 25-8 doubles)
2022-2023: 36-8 (18-4 singles / 18-4 doubles)
Jong Nears 150th Spring Season Victory
Ahead of Saturday's semifinal, Sander Jong is seven victories away from joining Fomba as one of two players in TCU's Big 12 era to reach 150 career victories in duals. Jong owns a combined spring record of 143-65 (72-30 singles, 71-35 doubles) and boasts 178 career victories (85 doubles, 83 singles) when factoring in results from team sponsored fall invitationals.
Taking Names, Movin' Up the Ranks
Jake Fearnley ascended 57 spots up the ITA singles rankings from September-November, climbing from No. 65 to a career-high No. 8 ranking following the fall season. He has since maintained a top-25 mark throughout the spring season. Fearnley, TCU's No. 4 singles player last season, has downed a team-leading 13 ranked opponents in 2022-2023. He holds a combined singles record of 21-7.
Say it Ain't so, Seb
Sebastian Gorzny has lived up to his billing as the No. 5 overall player in the ITA preseason freshman/newcomer rankings.
Since arriving in Fort Worth in August, Gorzny has played to a 33-7 overall record.
He went 7-2 in singles and doubles action in his TCU debut at the ITA Texas Regional, advancing all the way to the singles semifinals of the tournament.
During the indoor season, Gorzny went 9-1 in doubles play alongside Pedro Vives. He produced a sparkling 8-0 singles record punctuated with the match-clincher over No. 112 Cleeve Harper in TCU's ITA Indoor National Championship triumph over Texas.
The transition to the outdoor courts has been seamless. Gorzny and Vives continue to lead TCU in dual doubles victories (16). Gorzny has played singles in 20 of TCU's 22 matches. He has dropped the first set just twice. Eleven of his 13 dual singles victories have been in straight sets.
The Horned Frogs (20-2, 4-1 Big 12) earned the No. 2 seed and a first round bye in the annual affair, which runs from Friday-Sunday at the Jayhawk Tennis Center in Lawrence, Kansas.
TCU faces the winner of a quarterfinal dual between No. 3 seed Texas Tech (14-9, 2-3 Big 12) and No. 6 seed Oklahoma State (12-12, 0-5 Big 12) at 9 a.m. on Saturday. First serve for Sunday's final is slated for 1 p.m. and will air on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.
The Horned Frogs are hunting their third Big 12 tournament championship in 11 years of conference membership. TCU claimed back-to-back crowns in 2016 and 2017, defeating Texas Tech in the finale of both tournaments.
Excluding the 2020 campaign, TCU has won either the Big 12 regular season championship or Big 12 tournament championship in five of the last six seasons. TCU last failed to claim a conference crown in 2018.
The Horned Frogs came agonizingly close to capturing the program's fourth straight Big 12 regular season championship, falling to top-ranked Texas 5-2 on Apr. 15 in Austin in a winner-take-all dual.
Saturday will spell a third meeting in 2023 between TCU and Texas Tech should the Red Raiders win their quarterfinal match vs. Oklahoma State. TCU is 2-0 vs. the Red Raiders in 2023 and 43-6 all-time. The Horned Frogs shut out Texas Tech 4-0 on Jan. 29 in their ITA Kickoff Weekend regional final, then staved off the Red Raiders 4-1 in Lubbock on Apr. 8 to clinch their free pass through the opening round. TCU defeated Texas Tech in the Big 12 Championship final in both of its tournament triumphs (2016, 2017).
The Horned Frogs are 6-1 in completed singles contests vs. Texas Tech. A sweep of the top courts at the expense of the Red Raiders punched TCU's ticket to Indoor Nationals. TCU developed a different winning formula two-and-a-half months later in Lubbock, winning on courts four through six to offset a defeat in the No. 1 flight.
TCU eased by Oklahoma State 4-0 on Apr. 2 in Fort Worth via consecutive singles victories on courts four, one five and six. The match began with singles due to impending thunderstorms.
Texas Tech holds the No. 31 ITA team ranking while the Cowboys checked in at No. 47 in latest listing of the poll.
Should TCU rematch Texas in the finale, it will mark the fourth meeting between the programs this season and third with title implications. TCU shut out Texas 4-0 on Feb. 20 to win its second straight Indoor National Championship. The Longhorns avenged the loss four weeks later, handing the Horned Frogs their first defeat in 2023 via a 4-1 nonconference win on March 22 in Fort Worth.
The Horned Frogs have claimed the doubles point in two-of-three outings vs. the Longhorns. TCU's No. 2-ranked tandem of Jake Fearnley and Luc Fomba have earned the clincher both times at the expense of Texas' top duo of No. 4 Eliot Spizzirri and Cleeve Harper.
For as dominant as TCU has been in singles – the Horned Frogs have won 76 percent of completed sets – Texas has proven to be the Horned Frogs' equal and kryptonite. Texas is responsible for half of TCU's losses in singles. Eight of the Horned Frogs' 16 defeats, including five in their last head-to-head, have come at the hands of the Longhorns. Sander Jong and Jack Pinnington own four of TCU's five singles victories over Texas.
Follow Along
Watch (Championship): gofrogs.co/3Lh2TKy
Live Stats: gofrogs.co/41DW3Er
Inside the Tournament
- TCU finished in the top-half of the Big 12 standings for the eighth consecutive season to claim the No. 2 seed in the Big 12 Championships.
- The Horned Frogs have earned a first round bye in three consecutive seasons and seven of their last eight Big 12 Championship tournament appearances. TCU has won six of its last seven semifinal tilts.
- TCU is playing for its eighth Big 12 regular season or tournament championship this weekend.
- The Horned Frogs have outscored their conference counterparts by a combined 35-11 margin across 10 matches. Excluding their losses to Texas, the figure swells to 28-2. TCU won its first four Big 12 regular season matches by a 16-1 combined margin of victory.
- TCU is 9-1 in doubles vs. Big 12 opposition. The Horned Frogs won the doubles point in all five of their regular season duals.
- Nearly a full decade has passed since TCU lost consecutive conference duals. The Horned Frogs last lost two straight Big 12 matches in 2014.
- TCU owns a 10-match winning streak vs. the Red Raiders and has won 10 of its last 11 duals over the Cowboys.
- A championship finale vs. Texas or Baylor would set up a 2023 quadrilogy with either program. TCU last faced a program four times in a season when it collided with Baylor four times in 2021.
- TCU is 146-83 all time vs. the Big 12 institutions that sponsor men's tennis. In the Roditi era, the Horned Frogs have produced a 56-32 record vs. their conference counterparts across 11 years of Big 12 membership.
- The Horned Frogs are outscoring opponents 99-20 through 21 matches. TCU has notched 13 victories over ranked teams by a combined 63-9 margin of victory. Only three teams - Texas, Kentucky and North Carolina - have scored multiple points vs. TCU.
- The Horned Frogs have claimed the doubles point in 23 of their last 25 outings dating back to the 2022 NCAA Tournament. TCU enjoyed a nation-leading and program record streak of 18 straight doubles points from May 5, 2022-March 19, 2023. TCU is 45-7 in doubles play over the last two seasons.
- Building an early lead in doubles has been a near-certain pathway to victory. Prior to Saturday's loss at No. 1 Texas, TCU had won 17 consecutive matches when claiming the first completed doubles set.
- Luc Fomba has clinched half of TCU's doubles points (10-20) this season between three partners (Jake Fearnley, Lui Maxted, Luke Swan). Sebastian Gorzny and Pedro Vives own four doubles point clinchers while Sander Jong and Jack Pinnington have staked TCU to a 1-0 match lead an equal number of times.
- In singles action, TCU has won 181-of-238 (.760) completed sets thus far in 2023. Texas is the lone program who has proven capable of competing with TCU. The Horned Frogs are 20-41 (.487) vs. the Longhorns in completed singles sets. Excluding the teams' trio of duals, TCU has come out on top in 161-197 (.817) completed singles sets.
- Jong added to his singles mastery of Big 12 foes with his 6-2, 5-7, 6-0 win over No. 28 Siem Woldeab of Texas on Saturday. The fifth year senior is 7-0 in singes vs. his conference peers in 2023. Jong leads TCU in singles victories with 15.
- Fomba and Gorzny have been especially dominant in 2022-2023, as they each command respective overall records of 36-8 and 33-7.
- Fearnley and Jong have anchored the No. 1 singles post all season. They are a combined 13-5 on the top court. Fearnley is responsible for 10 of the victories, eight of which are against players featured in the top-125 of the ITA singles rankings.
- Fomba obtained his 100th career spring singles victory vs. UCLA on March 11. He is 10 combined wins shy of 200 for his career.
All-Time Tournament Record: 8-7
Big 12 Tournament Championships: Two (2016, 2017)
Big 12 Tournament Championship
Appearances: Six (2013, 2015-2017, 2021-2022)
Semifinal Record: 6-3
Record in Lawrence: 0-1
Last 10 Matches: 6-4
Combined Score Margin: 47-36
Record vs. Baylor: 0-5
Record vs. Oklahoma: 4-1
Record vs. Oklahoma State: 0-1
Record vs. Texas: 0-0
Record vs. Texas Tech: 4-0
Across the Rankings
ITA Team Rankings (April 18)
No. 3 – TCU
ITA Singles Rankings (April 18)
No. 18 – Jake Fearnley
No. 26 – Luc Fomba
No. 42 – Sander Jong
No. 87 – Sebastian Gorzny
No. 88 – Jack Pinnington
ITA Doubles Rankings (April 18)
No. 2 – Jake Fearnley / Luc Fomba
No. 18 – Sander Jong / Lui Maxted
No. 77 – Sander Jong / Jack Pinnington
Rankings Reversal
The roles are flipped in the third meeting between TCU and Texas in 2023. TCU occupied the top spot in the ITA team rankings while Texas was ranked third in the teams' nonconference dual on March 22 in Fort Worth. Texas won the match 4-1, and in Saturday's rematch, the Longhorns will take the courts as the national No. 1 against No. 3 TCU
Though TCU has a legitimate claim as to still deserving the top spot in the rankings - TCU blanked the Longhorns 4-0 to win the ITA Indoor National Championship and have one fewer loss than Texas and No. 2 Ohio State - the No. 3 ranking has been kind to the Horned Frogs. TCU was ranked No. 3 for the entirety of the indoor season, which produced a 12-0 overall record and the program's second consecutive indoor title.
TCU or Texas have occupied the No. 1 spot in the ITA team ranking for all seven weeks of the outdoor season.
Consistency is Key
The Horned Frogs are the lone NCAA Division I men's tennis program to have maintained a top-three ITA team ranking in 2023. TCU has sat atop the rankings five times and boasted the No. 2 or No. 3 ranking in nine polls (five indoor, four outdoor).
Doubles Delight
No program nationwide has been as dominant in doubles play as TCU over the last two seasons.
Since the 2022 campaign commenced, TCU has gone 45-7 in doubles. The Horned Frogs enjoyed a program-record and nation-leading doubles point streak of 18 between the 2022 NCAA Tournament and the start of the 2023 outdoor season.
Court by court, the Horned Frogs are 29-10 on court one, 32-10 out of the No. 2 post and own a 32-8 record in the third flight.
Obtaining the doubles point has proven a near-certain pathway to victory over the last two seasons. TCU is 40-3 when assuming a 1-0 lead on the scoreboard. This season, the Horned Frogs are 18-1 when winning the doubles point.
Fists Up for a Shutout
Opponents have failed to take a point from TCU in 55 percent of the Horned Frogs' duals in 2023. TCU has pitched 12 shutouts across 22 matches. TCU has blanked opponents in six of its eight outdoor affairs, including a trio of 7-0 sweeps at the expense of UT Arlington, UCLA and USC. Three opponents (SMU, UT Arlington, UCLA) were unable to win a set on the purple courts. All-but-one of the shutouts have come against teams currently ranked in the top-50 of the latest ITA poll. The Horned Frogs have thrice blanked a top-10 foe, downing then-No. 10 Baylor and then-No. 6 Texas 4-0 at Indoor Nationals and shelling then-No. 10 USC 7-0 on March 24. TCU began Big 12 play with a trio of 4-0 decisions against Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Baylor from March 31-Apr. 6. TCU claimed 11-of-12 completed sets in all three contests.
Chasing Down 200
Luc Fomba, TCU's active leader in career combined victories, is 10 wins shy of reaching 200. Since arriving in Fort Worth in 2018, he has tallied 157 combined victories in duals over five spring seasons and sprinkled in an additional 33 in fall invitationals. When Fomba tallies career win No. 200, he will become the first player in 26 years to achieve the milestone and ascend to ninth on TCU's career combined victories list.
Fomba's year-by-year combined records are as follows:
2018-2019: 32-20 (21-7 singles / 11-13 doubles)
2019-2020: 32-12 (19-8 singles / 13-4 doubles)
2020-2021: 42-22 (22-9 singles / 20-13 doubles)
2021-2022: 48-16 (23-8 singles / 25-8 doubles)
2022-2023: 36-8 (18-4 singles / 18-4 doubles)
Jong Nears 150th Spring Season Victory
Ahead of Saturday's semifinal, Sander Jong is seven victories away from joining Fomba as one of two players in TCU's Big 12 era to reach 150 career victories in duals. Jong owns a combined spring record of 143-65 (72-30 singles, 71-35 doubles) and boasts 178 career victories (85 doubles, 83 singles) when factoring in results from team sponsored fall invitationals.
Taking Names, Movin' Up the Ranks
Jake Fearnley ascended 57 spots up the ITA singles rankings from September-November, climbing from No. 65 to a career-high No. 8 ranking following the fall season. He has since maintained a top-25 mark throughout the spring season. Fearnley, TCU's No. 4 singles player last season, has downed a team-leading 13 ranked opponents in 2022-2023. He holds a combined singles record of 21-7.
Say it Ain't so, Seb
Sebastian Gorzny has lived up to his billing as the No. 5 overall player in the ITA preseason freshman/newcomer rankings.
Since arriving in Fort Worth in August, Gorzny has played to a 33-7 overall record.
He went 7-2 in singles and doubles action in his TCU debut at the ITA Texas Regional, advancing all the way to the singles semifinals of the tournament.
During the indoor season, Gorzny went 9-1 in doubles play alongside Pedro Vives. He produced a sparkling 8-0 singles record punctuated with the match-clincher over No. 112 Cleeve Harper in TCU's ITA Indoor National Championship triumph over Texas.
The transition to the outdoor courts has been seamless. Gorzny and Vives continue to lead TCU in dual doubles victories (16). Gorzny has played singles in 20 of TCU's 22 matches. He has dropped the first set just twice. Eleven of his 13 dual singles victories have been in straight sets.
Players Mentioned
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