TopFrog
Lifelong Frog
TCU Advances to Fourth Consecutive Elite Eight with 4-1 Win vs. Mississippi State - TCU Athletics
FORT WORTH – A time change, venue uncertainty and a stiff challenge from Mississippi State failed to prevent No. 2 TCU from booking a return trip the quarterfinals
GoFrogs: TCU Advances to Fourth Consecutive Elite Eight with 4-1 Win vs. Mississippi State
FORT WORTH – A time change, venue uncertainty and a stiff challenge from Mississippi State failed to prevent No. 2 TCU from booking a return trip the quarterfinals of the NCAA D1 Men's Tennis Championship.
The Horned Frogs outlasted the No. 15 seed Bulldogs 4-1 on Saturday on the Bartzen Varsity Courts in an NCAA Super Regional match.
The victory punched TCU's fourth consecutive ticket to the Elite Eight and sixth in the last eight seasons. No program nationwide has notched more quarterfinal berths than TCU since 2015.
TCU (25-2) moves on to face No. 7 seed Michigan (25-4) at 4 p.m. CT on Thursday in Lake Nona, Florida, for a spot in the semifinals.
"What a tough team," head coach David Roditi said of Mississippi State. "We've played Mississippi State a lot and they compete so well. Congratulations to coaches Matt Roberts and Jake Jacoby. Unbelievable the way they just kept battling. It took everything we had to get through this match.
"Really proud of our guys with the way they got through the match," Roditi continued. "The best part is that here we are, in the Elite Eight, and there's still things we can do better. I'm proud as a coach, proud as an alumnus. Thank you to all the fans who came out, not just today, but all season. It was a great way to send off Luc Fomba and Sander Jong in their last home match. I'm just glad we didn't have to go indoors, and the rain stayed out of the way. Thanks for everything, everybody. Go Frogs."
Forecasted rain bumped first serve three hours earlier to noon with the possibility of shifting the dual indoors mid-match had precipitation fell.
TCU emerged unblemished from doubles to secure the early lead. Sebastian Gorzny and Pedro Vives got it done 6-3 in the second flight opposite Petar Jovanovic and Ewen Lumsden. The Horned Frogs clinched the doubles point behind a 6-4 win on court three from the No. 22 ranked team of Sander Jong and Lui Maxted over Gregor Ramskogler and Benito Sanchez Martinez.
The Horned Frogs then stretched their advantage to 3-0 behind singles sweeps from Jake Fearnley and Lui Maxted on courts one and six, respectively. Fearnly, No. 21 in the ITA singles rankings, downed No. 78 Nemanja Malesevic 6-3, 6-3. Maxted bettered Ramskogler 6-2, 7-5.
The Bulldogs (21-8) took court three in straight sets to create a slight stir of uncertainty. All three remaining courts saw a third frame. Gorzny, though, emphatically put an end to any prospects of an MSU comeback. The freshman staged a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 match-clinching comeback over Lumsden on court four.
TCU garnered its 13th quarterfinal berth with the victory and improved its all-time postseason record to 49-32. The Horned Frogs also swelled their home postseason record to 22-1.
Roditi notched his 249th career head coaching victory at the helm of his alma mater. He is now 23-8 in the NCAA Tournament. He will join Tut Bartzen as one of only two coaches in program history to reach 250 career head coaching victories should TCU defeat the Wolverines.
Doubles Rundown
Doubles saw the return of five-time All-American Luc Fomba, who sat out the NCAA Regional due to injury, on court one as one-half of the nation's No. 2 tandem alongside Jake Fearnley. The Fomba-Fearnley reunion certainly helped stabilize the Horned Frogs' lineup, but in the end, TCU was not dependent on a victory from the pair.
Fomba and Fearnley built a 5-4 edge over MSU's top-ranked team of Malesevic and Michal Novansky and led 30-15 on receive at the time of the clinch.
Gorzny and Vives broke twice vs. Jovanovic and Lumsden in the second flight, first at 3-3 and later at 5-3 to close their match.
Jong and Maxted fell behind 0-3 to Ramskogler and Sanzhez Martinez but came roaring back to clinch the doubles point. The duo broke to pull within a game at 2-3, evened the set 4-4 with a deuce point and broke once more to take their first lead at 5-4. Jong held on serve to call a stop to doubles play.
Gorzny and Vives improved their season doubles record to 20-5 overall and 18-4 in duals.
Jong and Maxted, the 2022 ITA National Fall Championship runner-up, are 38-12 as a pair over the last two seasons.
Doubles Results
- #2 Jake Fearnley / Luc Fomba (TCU) vs. Nemanja Malesevic / Michal Novansky (MSU): 5-4
- Sebastian Gorzny / Pedro Vives (TCU) def. Petar Jovanovic / Ewen Lumsden (MSU): 6-3
- #22 Sander Jong / Lui Maxted (TCU) def. Gregor Ramskogler / Benito Sanchez Martinez (MSU): 6-4
Singles Rundown
The Bulldogs claimed the opening frame on courts three, four and six, but not before Fearnley and Maxted took a firm grip on opposite ends of the singles spectrum.
Fearnley, No. 21 in the ITA singles rankings, won five of his last six games vs Malesevic in the top flight on his way to a 6-3 opening set victory.
The victory over Malesevic was Fearnley's 26th singles victory in 2022-2023 and 15th over a ranked opponent. He continues to lead TCU in both total and ranked singles wins. The Scotland native is 5-0 combined in the NCAA Tournament.
Maxted was equally impressive on court six in set one. He never trailed outside in set one of a 0-1 opening-game deficit. Maxted rallied out of an 0-3 hole for the second time in the match in the second set. He knotted the best-of-three 4-4, broke at 5-5 and ended his match on serve.
The sophomore improved his 2023 dual singles record to 11-0. He is the lone Horned Frog to not have suffered a singles setback.
Carles Hernandez defeated Jong 6-3, 7-5 out of the No. 3 post to give MSU a brief pulse.
Gorzny, currently No. 72 in the ITA singles rankings, picked up two break points in a winner-take-all third set over the 95th-ranked Lumsden on his way to the match clincher.
No. 71 Jack Pinnington trailed Jovanovic 6-4, 4-6, 2-3 on court two while Vives was gridlocked with Martinez 4-6, 6-3, 2-2 when the match ended.
Singles Results
- #21 Jake Fearnley (TCU) def. #78 Nemanja Malesevic (MSU): 6-3, 6-3
- #71 Jack Pinnington (TCU) vs. #124 Petar Jovanovic (MSU): 6-4, 4-6, 2-3
- #120 Carles Hernandez (MSU) def. #62 Sander Jong (TCU): 6-3, 7-5
- #72 Sebastian Gorzny (TCU) def. #95 Ewen Lumsden (MSU): 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
- Pedro Vives (TCU) vs. Benito Sanchez Martinez (MSU): 4-6, 6-3, 2-2
- Lui Maxted (TCU) def. Gregor Ramskogler (MSU): 6-2, 7-5
