Fort Worth – No. 10 Texas Men's Tennis (9-3) came up just short to No. 2 TCU (10-1), 4-3, Saturday afternoon in a road match at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center in Fort Worth.
After TCU took the doubles point with wins at Nos. 1 and 3, the Longhorns captured three singles wins from No. 2 Micah Braswell at No. 2, No. 48 Jonah Braswell at No. 6, and freshman Gilles-Arnaud Bailly at No. 3. However, TCU earned singles wins on Nos. 4, 5 and 1 with the overall contest going deep into the third set of the final singles match at No. 1 before the Horned Frogs finally prevailed.
In doubles, the No. 6 tandem of seniors Eliot Spizzirri and Cleeve Harper fell, 6-1, to No. 5 Sebastian Gorzny and Pedro Vives at No. 1. After TCU opened with a 3-0 run, including two breaks Texas got one of the breaks back for 3-1, but the Horned Frogs responded with a second 3-0 run to close out the match.
At No. 2, senior Eshan Talluri and Pierre-Yves Bailly evened things up with a 6-3 win over Jake Fearnley and Jack Pinnington. After Texas held serve to open the match, TCU went on a 3-0 run and took a 3-1 lead. However, Texas quickly responded and set out on a 5-0 run to the win.
That left the doubles point to be decided at No. 3, where Micah Braswell and Gilles-Arnaud Bailly fell to No. 31 Lui Maxted and Duncan Chan, 7-5. In a back-and-forth battle, neither team allowed a break through the first 10 games. After Texas held for a 5-4 lead, TCU finished on a 3-0 run by picking up the only break of the match, resulting in a 6-5 lead, and then serving out to secure the doubles point.
In singles play, the match at No. 4 between No. 95 Pierre-Yves Bailly and No. 38 Gorzny was the first to finish with Gorzny defeating Bailly, 7-6 (6), 6-1, to give TCU a 2-0 overall lead. After going down 1-0 in the first set, Bailly went on a 3-0 run to jump out in front, 3-1. However, Gorzny responded with a 3-0 run of his own to reclaim the lead at 4-3. The set remained on server from there, leading to a tiebreaker. After a back-and-forth battle in the tiebreaker, Gorzny finally prevailed, 8-6, to take the first set. In the second set, Bailly took the opening game to go up 1-0, but Gorzny went on a 6-0 run to win the match and give TCU a 2-0 overall lead.
At No. 6, No. 48 Jonah Braswell defeated Tomas Jirousek in straight sets, 6-4, 6-0 to give Texas their first point of the afternoon. Neither player held through the first four games, and the first set opened at 2-2. Jirousek was the first to hold and went up 3-2 before Braswell answered with a 3-0 run to make it 5-3. Jirousek managed to get one game back, but Braswell closed out the first set, 6-4. Braswell then controlled the second set on the way to a 6-0 sweep.
At No. 5, Harper won an efficient first set, but ultimately fell to No. 68 Maxted, 6-1, 3-6, 2-6. After cruising to a first set win, Harper kept his momentum to begin the second set and went up 3-1. However, Maxted managed to rally and went on a 5-0 run to force a third. There, both players held their first two service games and found themselves in a 2-2 tie. After that, Maxted closed on a 4-0 run to give TCU a 3-1 overall lead.
Not long after, Micah Braswell followed his younger brother's win with a victory of his own over No. 8 Pinnington. After going down 1-0 in the first set, Braswell went on a 4-0 run to take a 4-1 lead. Pinnington responded with a break and a hold to get back within one at 4-3, but Braswell took the next two games to capture the first set, 6-3. In the second set, after neither player allowed a break, Braswell and Pinnington found themselves knotted, 6-6. In the ensuing tiebreaker, Braswell found himself up 6-5 and grabbed the minibreak he needed to take the match and pull Texas within, 3-2 overall.
The Longhorns then pulled even as Gilles-Arnaud Bailly grinded out a hard fought 7-6 (2), 7-5 victory over No. 21 Vives. After the first set opened, 2-2, Bailly went on a 3-0 run to make it 5-2. However, Vives answered the run to come back and tie things, 5-5. After both players held their ensuing serves, the first set went into a tiebreaker, which Bailly controlled for a 7-2 win. Bailly opened the second set with a hold and a break to go up 2-0, but Vives responded with the same. Later in the set, Vives broke to go up, 5-4, but Bailly answered with a 3-0 run for the 7-5 win.
That left it to No. 1, where senior No. 1 Eliot Spizzirri came up just short to No. 14 Jake Fearnley, 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4, including Spizzirri having a match point during the second-set tiebreaker. Spizzirri took the first set, 6-4, during which there was a string of three-straight breaks that left Spizzirri up a break, 4-3, which he maintained to the win. Fearnley opened the second set with a hold and a break to go up 2-0 and eventually found himself up, 3-1, but Spizzirri earned a hold and a break of his own even it. Following that sequence, the rest of the set stayed on serve, leading to a tiebreaker. There, Spizzirri had a match-point opportunity at 6-5, but Fearnley fended it off and managed to go on a 3-0 run to win, 8-6, and force a third set. That frame stayed on serve through the first eight games until Fearnley managed the only break of the set for a 5-4 lead before serving out the match.
Up next, Texas will return home to face No. 1 Ohio State on Sunday, March 10, at 2 p.m. CT at the Texas Tennis Center in a match that will air on Longhorn Network.
#2 TCU 4, #10 Texas 3
Singles – Order of Finish (4,6,5,2,3,1)
1. #14 Jake Fearnley (TCU) def. #1 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4
2. #2 Micah Braswell (UT) def. #8 Jack Pinnington (TCU) 6-3, 7-6 (5)
3. Gilles-Arnaud Bailly (UT) def. #21 Pedro Vives (TCU) 7-6 (2), 7-5
4. #38 Sebastian Gorzny (TCU) def. #95 Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) 7-6 (6), 6-1
5. #68 Lui Maxted (TCU) def. Cleeve Harper (UT) 1-6, 6-3, 6-2
6. #48 Jonah Braswell (UT) def. Tomas Jirousek (TCU) 6-4, 6-0
Doubles – Order of Finish (1,2,3)
1. #5 Sebastian Gorzny/Pedro Vives (TCU) def. #6 Eliot Spizzirri/Cleeve Harper (UT) 6-1
2. Pierre-Yves Bailly/Eshan Talluri (UT) def. Jake Fearnley/Jack Pinnington (TCU) 6-3
3. #31 Duncan Chan/Lui Maxted (TCU) def. Micah Braswell/Gilles-Arnaud Bailly (UT) 7-5
