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TCU Stuns Tennessee 4-3 in Instant Classic - TCU Athletics
FORT WORTH – Sunday's battle between No. 5 TCU and No. 6 Tennessee promised good theatre.
GoFrogs: TCU Stuns Tennessee 4-3 in Instant Classic
FORT WORTH – Sunday's battle between No. 5 TCU and No. 6 Tennessee promised good theatre.
It more than delivered.
The Horned Frogs rallied from a 3-1 hole and down to their final point to stun the Volunteers 4-3 in an instant classic inside the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center.
Jake Fearnley fought off match point trailing 5-6 in a deuce point in set three against Johannus Monday in the top singles flight. Fearnley won the game on serve, then stymied Monday, whom he won an opening round match at The Championships, Wimbledon 2023 in July, 7-3 in the tiebreaker.
Fearnley's triumph over Monday knotted the scoreboard 3-3. Just moments before Fearnley's clinch, Lui Maxted polished off a 6-3, 6-2 walloping of Angel Diaz on court five.
Maxted and Fearnley's simultaneous clinches turned the match on its ear. It all came down to court six, where Tomas Jirousek led Chris Li 6-3, 1-1. Jirousek, a fifth-year senior, won four straight games before clinching his match – and the dual – on serve.
"Unbelievable win here at home over Tennessee," head coach David Roditi said. "It must be Día de los Muertos because we came back from the dead. Lui goes on the court down 3-1 knowing he has to win for us to win the match. He was on the same court two years ago, up a set and two breaks against Tennessee, and it slipped away, and we lost 4-3. Jake Fearnley, what he did today, and Tommy and Sebastian Gorzny, saving match points, incredible. Thanks for the crowd that came out. Amazing atmosphere, so proud of our guys. Go Frogs."
Indeed, Maxted's win was a story of redemption. Tennessee knocked off the Horned Frogs 4-3 on Jan. 16, 2022, in Fort Worth. Maxted led 7-5, 4-0 against Diaz on court five before coming up short in three sets. It remains the last time TCU has fallen on the indoor courts. The Horned Frogs have since won 30 consecutive indoor matches, a streak that includes a 2022 ITA Indoor National Championship victory against Tennessee and a 4-1 waxing of the Volunteers in 2023 in Knoxville.
"I knew I had to win if we were to have a chance," Maxted said. "Me getting off to a good start was the most important thing. Letting everyone know we're still here, we're still in it, and trying to give out tons of energy to Jake and Tommy. I think that really helped us pull through."
TCU improved to 5-0 in 2024 while the Volunteers dropped to 7-1. Both teams qualified for the ITA Indoor National Championships, held from Feb. 16-19 in New York City, and could conceivably cross paths for a fifth time in the last 24 months in the Big Apple.
The Horned Frogs improved to 29-4 on the indoor courts since 2018 and are now 46-13 at the indoor Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center.
Doubles Rundown
Duncan Chan and Lui Maxted drew first blood in the match, outclassing Tennessee's Filip Apltauer and Younes Lalami 6-1 on court three. The nation's No. 15 tandem, Chan and Maxted improved to 4-0 in duals and 15-4 overall in 2023-24.
But Tennessee secured double breaks on the top-two courts to clinch the doubles point.
Monday and Diaz downed Sebastian Gorzny and Pedro Vives 6-3 in a 'ranked vs. ranked' collision on court one. Gorzny and Vives entered the match ranked seventh while Monday and Diaz are slotted at 26th in the ITA doubles rankings.
No. 34 Filip Pieczonka and Shunsuke Mitsui defeated Fearnley and Jack Pinnington by an identical score to conclude doubles play.
The Volunteers became the first team to take the doubles point from TCU this season. The Horned Frogs are 54-10 in doubles since 2022.
Doubles Results
- #26 Johannus Monday / Angel Diaz (TENN) def. #7 Sebastian Gorzny / Pedro Vives (TCU): 6-3
- #34 Filip Pieczonka / Shunsuke Mitsui (TENN) def. Jake Fearnley / Jack Pinnington (TCU): 6-3
- #15 Duncan Chan / Lui Maxted (TCU) def. Filip Apltauer / Younes Lalami (TENN): 6-1
Singles Rundown
TCU was left for dead following the first sets of singles play. The Volunteers took the opening frame on three-of-four courts. Singles matches were contested on the four outer courts of the indoor Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center to allow for increased spectator seating.
Monday secured a late break point vs. Fearnley to edge his friendly rival 7-5.
Vives, 14th in the ITA singles rankings, built an early 3-1 lead over Pieczonka on court three, only for the tilt to see a tiebreaker. He assumed a 5-2 head start but lost five straight points and control of the match.
Mitsui widened Tennessee's advantage to 2-0, defeating Pinnington 6-4, 6-2 in the second flight.
The 30th-ranked Gorzny, though, gave TCU a pulse, defeating Apltauer 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 on court four.
Gorzny moved to 19-2 in singles duals in his two-year TCU career.
Pieczonka took set two 6-4 from Vives to put the Volunteers within a point of the upset.
TCU mounted its comeback from there. Fearnley broke Monday at two games apiece in the second set on his way to a 6-3 victory and decisive third frame.
Maxted did his part, building a 3-0 set one lead vs. Diaz before finishing him on serve.
The sophomore closed the show in set two on a five-game winning streak to set stage for Fearnley and Jirousek
Fearnley and Monday played to a 4-4 gridlock with the dual hinging on the outcome of their third set. Both players broke one another in the subsequent pair of games. Fearnley worked built a 3-1 head start in the tiebreaker. Monday was issued a penalty for hooking two points later to inch Fearnley further ahead at 4-2. He won his next two points on serve before ending the math two points later.
Jirousek earned his second match-clincher vs. Tennessee in as many seasons. He punctuated TCU's 4-1 takedown in 2023 with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Martin Prata on court five.
Singles Results
- Jake Fearnley (TCU) def. #20 Johannus Monday (TENN): 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 [7-3]
- #33 Shunsuke Mitsui (TENN) def. #3 Jack Pinnington (TCU): 6-4, 6-2
- Filip Pieczonka (TENN) def. #14 Pedro Vives (TCU): 7-6 [7-5], 6-
- #30 Sebastian Gorzny (TCU) def. Filip Apltauer (TENN): 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
- #64 Lui Maxted (TCU) def. Angel Diaz (TENN): 6-3, 6-2
- Tomas Jirousek (TCU) def. Chris Li (TENN): 6-3, 6-2
Up Next
TCU travels north to Ann Arbor, Michigan to square off with the 11th-ranked Wolverines on Feb. 13 in its final match before the grand finale of indoor tennis. The Horned Frogs ousted Michigan in the quarterfinals of the 2023 NCAA Championships in their most recent dual.
