Fort Worth, Texas – No. 3 Texas Men's Tennis topped No. 1 TCU, 4-1, in a non-conference contest at Friedman Tennis Center in Fort Worth on Wednesday.
It marked the second time this season the Longhorns have defeated a top-ranked team after downing Ohio State when the Buckeyes were No. 1 at the ITA National Indoor Championships in Chicago on Feb. 18. With that, Texas has also avenged both of its losses from this season with the first being at Ohio State on Feb. 5, and the other coming to TCU in the final of the ITA Indoors on Feb. 20.
After taking the doubles point with wins at No. 2 and in a tiebreaker to clinch it at No. 1, the Longhorns secured singles wins from senior Nevin Arimilli at No. 6, sophomore No. 36 Pierre-Yves Bailly and No. 2, and the overall clinch from junior No. 1 Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1.
Bailly and junior Siem Woldeab combined for the first win in doubles, 6-3, over Sander Jong and Jack Pinnington at No. 2. The match stayed on serve until the Longhorns picked up the break they needed for a 5-3 lead before serving it out at 6-3.
TCU then even the doubles point at No. 3 as Sebastian Gorzny and Pedro Vives rallied for a 6-4 win against senior Chih Chi Huang and junior Micah Braswell. Texas broke first in the match for a 3-1 lead that they consolidated to 4-1 on serve, but the Horned Frogs set out on a 5-0 run for the match.
That left doubles up to the match at No. 1 where the No. 4 duo of Spizzirri and junior Cleeve Harper made a comeback of their own against the No. 13 pair of Jake Fearnley and Luc Fomba to win in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (5). TCU moved out to a 3-1 lead after breaking at 2-1, but Texas broke back for 3-3 to put the match back on serve before regaining the lead at 4-3 in the next game. The Horned Frogs would be the next to break again, this time for a 6-5 lead, but the Longhorns answered the break to get to a tiebreaker, which they captured, 7-5, for the point.
After doubles, TCU tied the overall match at 1-1, as No. 78 Braswell fell to Pinnington, 6-3, 6-1, at No. 3. In the first set, Braswell broke for a 2-1 lead, but Pinnington broke back to even it and then took a 3-2 lead on serve. Braswell also held for 3-3, but Pinnington put together an 8-0 run for the set and to establish a 5-0 lead in the second on the way to the 6-1 final.
That would do it for TCU's scoring, as a short time later, Arimilli got the lead back for Texas with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Tomas Jirousek. Arimilli rushed out to a 5-0 lead to start, and although Jirousek picked up one game on serve, Arimilli closed the first set with a hold in the following game. Deuce points played a major role in the second, as Jirousek began on serve and won the first three games all on deuce points. The fourth game also went to deuce, but that one would go to Arimilli to get within 3-1. Jirousek then held to move ahead 4-1, but from there it was all Arimilli, as he finished the way he started with a 5-0 run, including two more deuce points to trail 4-3 and then on match point for 6-4.
Bailly was next to finish, extending the UT lead to 3-1 with a 7-5, 6-2 win over No. 16 Luc Fomba. The first set stayed on serve almost the whole way despite Fomba winning a deuce point for 3-3, and Bailly taking one for a 6-5 lead. However, in the next game, Bailly grabbed the break he needed to take the set and begin a 4-0 run that put him up 3-0 in the second. The last of those was a hold on a deuce point, and the rest of the set stayed on serve from there until Bailly again ended it with a break in the final game for the match.
At that point, Spizzirri was already in his third set on the way to clinching the overall match with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win over No. 21 Jake Fearnley. After Fearnley squared the opening set at 2-2 with a deuce-point hold, Spizzirri went on a 3-0 run that included two deuce-point holds and a break to take control of the set. The players then held their last two serves to give Spizzirri the win. In the second, Fearnley registered the first break, doing so on a deuce point for a 4-2 lead, which he made 5-2 on serve. Spizzirri then held, as well, and had a break point at deuce to get it back on serve, but Fearnley was able to win the point and the set. In the third, Spizzirri won back-to-back deuce points to hold for a 2-1 lead and break for 3-1 en route to a 4-1 advantage. With the rest of the set staying on serve, he maintained his lead to the clinch and earned his sixth fifth victory over a top-25 opponent in dual match play this season.
That left two matches unfinished, both of which had reached third sets. No. 29 Woldeab was leading his match against No. 43 Jong, 4-6, 6-4, 4-2, at No. 4, while Harper narrowly trailed No. 71 Gorzny, 6-3, 4-6, 4-3, at No. 5.
Jong took a 2-0 lead after a break in the opening game, and although Woldeab broke back for 2-2, Jong broke again on a deuce point to retake the lead and start a 3-0 run to 5-2. Woldeab got two games back with a break and a hold, but Jong closed the set on serve at 6-4. Woldeab bounced back to claim four of the first five games in the second with Jong's only game coming on a deuce-point hold to trail 3-1. After Woldeab made it 4-1, Jong went on a 3-0 run to tie it, but Woldeab held for 5-4 and broke again for the set. In the third, the first three games were on serve starting with Woldeab, while the last three were all breaks, leaving Woldeab up, 4-2, when play stopped.
In Harper's match, Gorzny broke for a 3-1 lead in the first set, but from there, there would not be another break until Harper had one in the final game of the second set at 6-4. There were then consecutive breaks when Gorzny took the first game of the third set, and after he held at deuce for 2-0, the next three games were on serve until the match finished with another pair of breaks. The first went to Harper at 3-3, but Gorzny broke back on a deuce point to lead, 4-3, when play concluded.
Texas (15-2) will return home for its next match to face No. 10 USC at the Texas Tennis Center on Sunday, March 26, at 2 p.m. CT in a contest that will air on Longhorn Network.
#3 Texas 4, #1 TCU 1
Singles – Order of Finish (3,6,2,1)
1. #1 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) def. #21 Jake Fearnley (TCU) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
2. #36 Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) def. #16 Luc Fomba (TCU) 7-5, 6-2
3. Jack Pinnington (TCU) def. #78 Micah Braswell (UT) 6-3, 6-1
4. #43 Sander Jong (TCU) vs. #29 Siem Woldeab (UT) 6-4, 4-6, 2-4, unf.
5. #71 Sebastian Gorzny (TCU) vs. Cleeve Harper (UT) 6-3, 4-6, 4-3, unf.
6. Nevin Arimilli (UT) def. Tomas Jirousek (TCU) 6-1, 6-4
Doubles – Order of Finish (2,3,1)
1. #4 Eliot Spizzirri/Cleeve Harper (UT) def. #13 Jake Fearnley/Luc Fomba (TCU) 7-6 (5)
2. Pierre-Yves Bailly/Siem Woldeab (UT) def. Sander Jong/Jack Pinnington (TCU) 6-3
3. Sebastian Gorzny/Pedro Vives (TCU) def. Chih Chi Huang/Micah Braswell (UT) 6-4
