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Horned Frogs Blank Oklahoma 4-0 in Big 12 Opener - TCU Athletics
FORT WORTH – TCU and Oklahoma met for potentially the final time on the purple courts as Big 12 adversaries on Friday.
GoFrogs: Horned Frogs Blank Oklahoma 4-0 in Big 12 Opener
FORT WORTH – TCU and Oklahoma met for potentially the final time on the purple courts as Big 12 adversaries on Friday.
And if the dual was indeed their final in Funky Town with a shared conference affiliate, TCU took care to get the last laugh.
The third-ranked Horned Frogs rolled over the Sooners 4-0 in their Big 12 conference-opener. TCU (17-1, 1-0 Big 12) claimed 11-of-12 sets in a match contested as clinch-clinch. The Horned Frogs took the doubles point from the Sooners (10-8, 0-1 Big 12) courtesy of victories on courts two and three from the tandems of Sebastian Gorzny and Pedro Vives and Sander Jong and Jack Pinnington. Vives earned the match-clincher in singles play in the No. 6 post. His triumph was preceded by respective sweeps in the fourth and second flights by Jong and Luc Fomba.
"Good start to Big 12 play," head coach David Roditi said. "We knew what to expect. It was hard to play with the windy conditions in doubles and our players did a great job getting out of some tough situations in critical moments. Once singles started and we won all six first sets, it put OU in a rough spot. Proud of our guys' sportsmanship and the way they represent our awesome university. I'm very proud of them. I felt our crowd was great once singles started and I wish our crowd was even louder during doubles. We love our fans. Go Frogs!"
Friday's victory extended TCU's winning streak against OU to 12 dating back to 2016. The Horned Frogs moved to 21-9 all-time vs. the Sooners.
TCU also notched its 10th ranked win and 10th shutout of the spring with the result.
The Horned Frogs are now 8-2 in Big 12 regular season openers.
Doubles Rundown
Jong and Pinnington gave TCU a head start to the doubles point with a 6-2 win over Siphos Montsi and Jordan Hasson. The duo broke at 2-2 and won four straight games to close the set.
Vives and Gorzny then rallied from a brief 4-5 deficit vs. Alex Martinez and Justin Schlageter to take a 7-5 decision and stake TCU to a 1-0 head start.
Vives proved invaluable in deciding the end result. He claimed three break points in the set. The sophomore won all four points in the sixth game to gridlock the set 3-3. His second break point forced a 5-5 tie. Vives earned his third-and-final on an ace to give he and Gorzny the lead for good at 6-5.
Jake Fearnley and Fomba, the nation's No. 13 doubles team, earned a simultaneous break point with Gorzny and Vives to even their match vs. Baptiste Anselmo and Nathan Han at 5-5. Their match was left unfinished at 6-6, as the pairs alternated all 12 completed games.
Gorzny and Vives swelled their record together to 13-2 this spring and 16-3 overall in 2022-2023. They are the lone TCU doubles team to own victories on all three courts.
The Horned Frogs improved to 6-2 this season when deploying a double lineup combination featuring the three pairings.
Collectively, TCU is now 33-10 in doubles sets and undefeated when claiming the doubles point in 2022-2023. Court by court, the Horned Frogs are 8-4 on court one, 11-4 on court two and 14-1 on court three.
Doubles Results
- #13 Jake Fearnley / Luc Fomba (TCU) vs. Baptiste Anselmo / Nathan Han (OU): 6-6
- Sebastian Gorzny / Pedro Vives (TCU) def. Alex Martinez / Justin Schlageter (OU): 7-5
- Sander Jong / Jack Pinnington (TCU) vs. Siphos Montsi / Jordan Hasson (OU): 6-2
Singles Rundown
The Sooners offered minimal resistance after expanding ample energy – both with their racquets and verbally – in doubles.
TCU took the opening set on all six courts.
Jong, No. 43 in the ITA singles rankings, was the first player off the court, as he downed Schlageter again, this time 6-4, 6-3, in a head-to-head. He improved his spring singles record to 12-1 and leads all Horned Frogs in victories.
Fomba and Vives clinched less than a minute apart to seal the victory. The 16th-ranked Fomba was entered the winner's circle seconds earlier, besting Montsi 6-3, 6-3. Vives clawed out of a 1-4 hole in set one vs. Anselmo to take set one 7-5, then cruised to a 6-1 takedown in the conclusive second frame.
Had the umpires allowed the match to continue for mere minutes, the final score almost certainly would have morphed to 6-1. Gorzny and Pinnington took the opening set in their matches and led 5-4 in set two at the time of Vives' match-clincher.
Pinnington bettered Hasson on court two in set one. Gorzny picked up a 6-3 aet one win opposite Han.
Fearnley, the No. 21 ITA singles player and TCU's leader in ranked win (12) this season, battled Martinez to a standstill on court one. Fearnley took the first set 6-3 while Martinez responded with a 6-2 win in the ensuing period. Fearnley led 1-0 in set three.
Pinnington, 5-2 in singles play, extended his unbeaten streak to six with the draw.
Fomba improved his 2023 spring singles mark to 11-1 and picked up career combined victory No. 186. Should he reach 200 wins before season's end, the fifth year senior will become the first player in TCU's Big 12 era and ninth in program history to accomplish the milestone.
Jong stretched his streak of consecutive singles wins to seven.
Gorzny is one of two undefeated Horned Frogs in singles play at 11-0.
Vives, now 6-1 in 2023, is 4-0 on the outdoor courts.
Singles Results
- #21 Jake Fearnley (TCU) vs. Alex Martinez (OU): 6-3, 2-6, 1-0
- Jack Pinnington (TCU) vs. Jordan Hasson (OU): 6-2, 5-4
- #16 Luc Fomba (TCU) vs. Siphos Montsi (OU): 6-3, 6-3
- #43 Sander Jong (TCU) def. Justin Schlagater (OU): 6-4, 6-3
- #71 Sebastian Gorzny (TCU) vs. #124 Nathan Han (OU): 6-3, 5-4
- Pedro Vives (TCU) def. Baptiste Anselmo (OU): 7-5, 6-1
Up Next
TCU concludes its weekend twin bill vs. No. 34 Oklahoma State on Sunday. First serve is set for 2:30 p.m. or 30 minutes following the conclusion of TCU women's tennis' dual vs. Baylor.
The Horned Frogs then conclude an eight-match homestand vs. No. 47 Baylor on Thursday. The program will host Senior Night as a part of the festivities.
