Men’s Tennis: TCU Breezes Through Rounds One and Two of NCAA Tournament

TCU (24-4) easily won its first and second-round duals in the 2024 NCAA D1 Men’s Tennis Championship.

TCU was the No. 1 seed in the Fort Worth Regional. On Friday, they swept No. 4 seed UC Irvine (17-7) 4-0. Then, on Saturday, the Horned Frogs swept No. 3 seed Cornell (19-7) 4-0. The wins advanced TCU to the Fort Worth Super Regional. TCU will host No. 13 Duke on Saturday, May 11.

Over the weekend, TCU only lost one set along its routs of the Anteaters and Big Red.

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.

TCU is now 52-33 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and 25-1 at home.

The Horned Frogs began postseason play on Friday afternoon with a dual against UC Irvine. TCU won on two doubles courts and then won in straight sets on three singles courts to clinch the win.

TCU was able to play its top six players. It was the first time all were healthy and available to play in nearly two months. Sebastian Gorzny returned to the courts for the first time since March 13.

Duncan Chan and Lui Maxted were the first to win their set, winning 6-2 on Court Two. It was their 14th dual doubles victory as a pair, which leads all pairs on the TCU squad.

Jake Fearnley and Pedro Vives, playing together for just their third match, were the next to win, winning 6-1 on Court One to clinch the doubles point.

Gorzny and Jack Pinnington on Court Three were officially listed as an unfinished match at 5-3. However, they won their set 6-3 just moments after Fearnley/Vives clinched the point.

It was a quick, straight-set victory on three singles courts. All five Frogs who took the courts broke twice in their opening sets.

Maxted won his match first, going 6-3, 6-3 on Court Four. His 18-4 duals record leads the team. No. 13 Pinnington followed with a 6-1, 7-5 match on Court One. No. 7 Fearnley clinched the dual victory with a 6-2, 6-2 win on Court Two.

When the dual was clinched, Vives was up 6-4, 2-4 on Court Three, and Tomas Jirousek was up 6-3, 3-3 on Court Five. Duncan Chan, on Court Six, did not start his match.  

On Friday, Cornell, the No. 3 seed, swept No. 2 seed Arkansas 4-0. That win set the Big Red up to meet TCU in Saturday’s Round Two dual. It was the first time the two teams met on the hardcourt.

TCU swept Cornell 4-0, but the Big Red put up a good fight. Maxted lost his first singles set, and that was the only set the Frogs lost all weekend. The second sets were very competitive and tense, with Cornell staying right with TCU on multiple courts. The Frogs would have a surge on multiple courts late in those second sets to secure the sweep and advance to the Super Regionals.

The Horned Frogs are 12-0 in home duals this season and have claimed 19 consecutive contests on the purple courts sincewon the 2023 campaign.

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.

Gorzny and Pinnington won their set first, 6-3, on Court Three. It was their first doubles win as partners. Seconds later, Maxted and Chan won their set 6-3 on Court Two. Fearnley and Vives, on Court One, were down a break 2-4 when the doubles point was clinched.

Though TCU won in straight sets on three courts to clinch the dual, it was not as much of a blowout as we saw on Friday.

Jirousek had no problem on Court Five, putting the Frogs up 2-0 after a 6-3, 6-2 win. He started both sets up 3-0. Pinnington, Fearnley, and Vives played simultaneous deuce points deep in set two. Pinnington was down 2-5 and came back to win five straight games to win 7-5 on Court One.

Fearnley clinched the match on receive in a deuce point after a coach's code penalty was assessed on the prior point. He won 7-5, 6-4 on Court Two. Vives was serving for his match ahead 6-5, when play was stopped. He won his opening set 6-2 on Court Three.

Maxted lost his opening set 4-6 on Court Four. He came back and won his second set 6-2. He was tied up at 1-1 in Set Three when the dual was clinched. Chan, on Court Six, did not start his match until after Jirousek’s was done. When the dual was won, he was up 1-0 in the first set.

Next up: No. 4 national seed TCU will host No. 13 national seed Duke. The Blue Devils defeated UNC Asheville on Friday 4-0 in Round One and then beat Alabama 4-0 on Saturday in Round Two to earn their berth in the Fort Worth Super Regional. The dual will be held on the purple courts in Fort Worth on Saturday, May 11, at 3 p.m.