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No. 4 TCU Routs Cornell, Advances to Super Regionals - TCU Athletics
FORT WORTH – Cornell proved a game opponent in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, but No. 4 TCU proved once more there are levels to this game.
GoFrogs: No. 4 TCU Routs Cornell, Advances to Super Regionals
FORT WORTH – Cornell proved a game opponent in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, but No. 4 TCU proved once more there are levels to this game.
The Horned Frogs blanked the 35th-ranked Big Red 4-0 on Saturday at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center.
TCU (24-4) clinched the doubles point with consecutive 6-3 wins at two and three. The Horned Frogs then took the opening set on four of five courts in singles and firmly put Cornell (19-7) on its heels.
Tomas Jirousek increased TCU's lead to 2-0 via a 6-3, 6-2 walloping of Nathan Mao on five. Jack Pinnington then picked up a signature win and put TCU within a point of the clinch. The sophomore bettered No. 14 Radu Papoe, the Ivy League Player of the Year, 6-1, 7-5. Jake Fearnley, No. 7 in the ITA singles rankings, earned the match clincher for the second time in as many days, rallying past No. 103 Adit Sinha, 7-5, 6-4, on court two.
"Before anything about the match, I want to thank all of our volunteers who came out early and dried the courts," said head coach David Roditi. "We had a little bit of rain, and it didn't even delay the match at all. I thought the staff and the volunteers did a great job. Obviously, Cornell wanted to go indoors and instead, we got to play at the time we wanted to play, and it was a beautiful day.
"I just want to say thank you and congratulate our guys," Roditi continued. "They dealt with a lot. There was a lot of uncertainty about whether it would rain or not, and obviously, the stakes are high, so the emotions are high, and I thought our guys handled it really well and our coaches handled it really well. I'm really proud to advance. We get to play the Super Regional against Duke. Again, for our crowd, I just want to say thank you, see you next Saturday, three o'clock, Go Frogs."
TCU advances to Super Regional weekend, where it will meet No. 13 Duke at 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 11, on the purple courts.
The Horned Frogs have now reached a Super Regional in nine straight seasons. With a victory over the Blue Devils, TCU will reach the NCAA National Championships for the seventh time in the last nine years. No program nationwide has notched more quarterfinal appearances in that span.
The Horned Frogs have not dropped a point in six consecutive NCAA Regional matches, producing a combined 24-0 margin of victory in a streak that dates back to 2021-22.
With Saturday's win, TCU is now 52-33 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and 25-1 at home. Roditi improved to 26-9 in NCAA Tournament tilts.
The Horned Frogs are 12-0 in home duals this season and have claimed 19 consecutive contests on the purple courts dating back to the 2023 campaign.
Doubles Rundown
For the second straight night, TCU was hardly threatened in doubles.
Sebastian Gorzny and Pinnington struck first on court three, breezing by Cornell's Papoe and Samuel Paquette for their first collegiate win as partners. Duncan Chan and Lui Maxted clinched seconds later, defeating Petar Teodorovic and Eric Verdes.
All three Horned Frog pairs jumped out to 1-0 head start. Neither Chan and Maxted nor Gorzny and Pinnington dropped a game on serve.
Gorzny and Pinnington took the lead for good with a break point ahead 3-2.
Chan and Maxted broke to assume a 2-0 advantage and won all four subsequent games on serve.
The duo went 9-0 on service games over the course of the Fort Worth Regional. Saturday's win improved their overall season record to 24-14 overall and 15-9 in duals. Chan leads TCU in total doubles victories with 30.
The 63rd-ranked pairing of Fearnley and Pedro Vives anchored the top court for TCU for the fourth straight match. They were down a break to Mao and Sinha, 2-4, at the time of the clinch.
TCU improved to 19-9 overall in doubles and 10-2 at home. The Horned Frogs are now 17-2 when taking the doubles point.
Doubles Results
- #63 Jake Fearnley / Pedro Vives (TCU) vs. Nathan Mao / Adit Sinha (Cornell): 2-4, unfinished
- Duncan Chan / Lui Maxted (TCU) def. Petar Teodorovic / Eric Verdes (Cornell): 6-3
- Sebastian Gorzny / Jack Pinnington (TCU) def. Radu Papoe / Samuel Paquette (Cornell): 6-3
Singles Rundown
Jirousek built 3-0 leads in both frames of his straight set takedown of Mao. He won back-to-back games in set two and increase TCU's advantage to 2-0.
The fifth-year senior picked up his 13th singles victory – the most he's earned in a season in his TCU tenure. He is a team-best 6-1 on court five.
The match was all-but-decided in around a minute's time following Jirousek's triumph. Pinnington, Fearnley and Vives played simultaneous deuce points deep in set two. Pinnington had a break point opportunity on Papoe ahead 6-1, 5-5, Fearnley was on serve up 7-5, 4-3 and while Vives needed one final point to break back twice, leading 6-2, 4-5.
All three Frogs won their points and essentially end Cornell's prospects of a victory.
Pinnington won five straight games trailing 2-5 to clinch his match. Fearnley clinched the match on receive in a deuce point after a coach's code penalty was assessed on the prior point. Vives was serving for his match ahead 6-5 when play was stopped.
Maxted split sets with Verdes, 4-6 6-2, on court four.
Pinnington improved to 29-7 overall in singles in 2023-24. He is 21-6 vs. ranked opponents. Papoe is the second-highest ranked player he has defeated.
Fearnley is 13-2 and has won four straight matches since his return from the disabled list on April 18.
Singles Results
- #13 Jack Pinnington (TCU) def. #14 Radu Papoe (Cornell): 6-1, 7-5
- #7 Jake Fearnley (TCU) def. #103 Adit Sinha / Cornell): 7-5, 6-4
- #73 Pedro Vives (TCU) vs. Bradley Paliska (Cornell): 6-2, 6-5, unfinished
- #78 Lui Maxted (TCU) vs. Eric Verdes (Cornell): 4-6, 6-2, unfinished
- Tomas Jirousek (TCU) def. Nathan Mao (Cornell): 6-3, 6-2
- Duncan Chan (TCU) vs. Felipe Pinzon (Cornell): 1-0, unfinished
