TCU Advances to Second Consecutive Final Four - TCU Athletics (2024)

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Match Recap: Men's Tennis | 5/16/2024 7:56:00 PM

Horned Frogs batter Kentucky 4-0 in NCAA quarterfinals

STILLWATER, Okla. –The Horned Frogs are headed to the Final Four for the second straight season and sixth time in program history.

No. 4 TCU hammeredKentucky 4-0 in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships on Friday at the Greenwood Tennis Center on the campus of Oklahoma State.

The Horned Frogs (26-4) claimed the doubles point from the fifth-seeded Wildcats (27-3) with victories at two and three. TCU then took five of the first six sets in singles play. Sweeps on courts four and five from Lui Maxted and Sebastian Gorzny widened TCU's advantage to 3-0. A simultaneous clinch by Jack Pinnington and Jake Fearnley on the top courts polished off the shutout.

TCU earned the right to rematch No. 1 Ohio State (33-1) at 11 a.m. on Saturday in the semifinals. The Buckeyes edged the Horned Frogs, 4-3, on Feb. 19 in the ITA Indoor National Championships final. Saturday's battle marks the fourth postseason match in the last three seasons between the programs, both of which are searching for their first outdoor national title. TCU and Ohio State faced off in the 2023 NCAA semifinals, with the Buckeyes emerging victorious.

Ohio State squeaked by No. 8 Columbia, 4-2, to set up the semifinal dual.

"Long day, waiting for a long match there before us," said head coach David Roditi. "The guys did a good job getting ready to battle. It started with the doubles point and then Lui got off the court. Seb gets his first win since [returning from injury] and then it was a race between Jake and Jack. Proud of these guys. They beat a hell of a team in Kentucky. Unbelievable season for Kentucky, for them to go undefeated in the SEC and win the conference tournament. Matt [Gordon] and Cedric [Kauffmann], amazing job. We just feel lucky and are super stoked to be battling someone we've seen in the past. Final Four, Saturday, vs. Ohio State. Go Frogs."

TCU advanced to consecutive Final Fours for the first time ever with Friday's shutout of SEC Champion Kentucky. Roditi has now taken TCU to four NCAA semifinals, having done so as a player in 1996 and in 2015 in his fifth season as head coach.

The Horned Frogs have yet to surrender a point in the NCAA Tournament and lost just three sets total.

With Thursday's win, TCU improved to 54-33 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. Roditi is now 28-9 in outdoor postseason play.

Doubles Rundown

Pinnington and Gorzny got the Horned Frogs on the board first at two, taking down Taha Baadi and Jack Loutit – their eventual singles foes – 6-3 on the strength of a double break.

Duncan Chan and Maxted secured the 1-0 Horned Frog head start on three, defeating Eli Stephenson and Jaden Weekes, 6-4. The duo assumed a commanding 5-2 lead via an ad out.

Fearnley and Pedro Vives, ranked 63^rdnationally, led No. 4 Joshua Lapadat and JJ Mercer 5-4 and were on serve at the time of the clinch.

All three Horned Frog pairs led 5-3 simultaneously.

Pinnington and Gorzny are 4-0 in postseason play. They partnered for the first time ever in TCU's opening round victory against No. 67 UC Irvine on May 3.

Chan and Maxted picked up their team-leading 19^thdual doubles victory of the season. The duo is 25-14 overall in 2023-24 and continues to lead TCU in total doubles wins.

TCU is now 20-9 overall in doubles and 18-2 when taking the doubles point.

Doubles Results

1. #63 Jake Fearnley / Pedro Vives (TCU) vs. #4 Joshua Lapadat / JJ Mercer (UK): 5-4, unfinished
2. Sebastian Gorzny / Jack Pinnington (TCU) def. Taha Baadi / Jack Loutit (UK): 6-3
3. Duncan Chan / Lui Maxted (TCU) def. Eli Stephenson / Jaden Weekes (UK): 6-4

Order of finish: 2, 3

Singles Rundown

Maxted, No. 77 in the ITA singles rankings, was the first Frog off the court, defeating Charlelie Cosnet, 6-3, 6-1, in the fourth position. He and Pinnington are tied for the team-lead in dual singles wins (19).

The 78^th-ranked Gorzny followed with his first singles win since March 2 on five, bettering Loutit 6-4, 6-4. Gorzny played just his second singles match since being forced to miss all of Big 12 play with a lower body injury.

Pinnington's 6-4, 6-3 defeat of No. 13 Baadi counted as the match-clincher. Fearnley polished off a 6-3, 7-5 takedown of Lapadat, No. 80 nationally, just seconds after Pinnington finished.

Baadi became the 23^rdranked foe to meet his demise at the hands of Pinnington. He is now 31-7 in singles play this season and 13-2 on court one.

Both Fearnley and Pinnington are 4-0 in NCAA Tournament play thus far and have each collected a trio of ranked wins. Fearnley'striumph over Lapadat did notfactor into the final team score.

Vives led Weekes, 7-5, 4-4, on court three when a stop was called to the action.

Singles Results

1. #13 Jack Pinnington (TCU) def. #28 Taha Baadi (UK): 6-4, 6-3
2. #7 Jake Fearnley (TCU) def. #80 Joshua Lapadat (UK): 6-3, 7-5
3. #73 Pedro Vives (TCU) vs. Jaden Weekes (UK): 7-5, 4-4, unfinished
4. #77 Lui Maxted (TCU) def. Charlelie Cosnet (UK): 6-3, 6-1
5. #78 Sebastian Gorzny (TCU) def. Jack Loutit (UK): 6-4, 6-4
6. Tomas Jirousek (TCU) vs. Eli Stephenson (UK): 5-7, 2-3, unfinished

Order of finish: 4, 5, 1, 2