King of College Tennis! TCU Wins First NCAA Championship - TCU Athletics (2024)

Men's Tennis 5/19/2024 10:38:00 PM

Horned Frogs defeat Texas in 4-3 thriller

Box Score STILLWATER, Okla. –TCU presides over the college tennis world.

The Horned Frogs won their first NCAA D1 Men's Tennis Championship on Sunday, defeating No. 2 Texas, 4-3, at the Greenwood Tennis Center.

With TCU (28-4) down 3-2, Jack Pinnington, picked up without question the most significant victory of his career to even the score. Pinnington, who defeated 25 ranked opponents over the 2023-24 campaign, rallied past No. 2 Elliot Spizzirri, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, on court one. Spizzirri sat atop the ITA singles rankings for the entirety of the regular season.

Tied 3-3, the match was decided in a winner-take-all third set on five between TCU's Sebastian Gorzny and the Longhorns' Jonah Braswell. Gorzny, No. 78 nationally, took set one over the 56^th-ranked Braswell, 7-5, but dropped the second frame via a 4-6 margin. Gorzny earned three consecutive break points at Braswell's expense, punctuating a 6-3 third set match-clincher.

TCU became the second Big 12 program to hoist the NCAA chalice. Texas claimed the crown in 2019.

The Horned Frogs have now claimed three national titles in as many seasons, having captured consecutive ITA Indoor National Championships in 2022 and 2023. No program across the NCAA ranks has won more in that span.

Fittingly, TCU's first-ever outdoor national championship came at the expense of Texas (27-4) in their final battle as Big 12 rivals. Sunday's grand finale marked their eighth meeting in the last two years and second with a national title hanging in the balance. TCU blanked the Longhorns 4-in the 2023 Indoor National Championship. The Horned Frogs are 3-1 vs. Texas since 2023 in duals levying championship merits. The programs split the last two Big 12 Championship tournament finals.

Gorzny clinched his second straight national championship for TCU at Texas' expense on court five. He polished off the Horned Frogs' 4-0 shutout in the 2023 Indoor Nationals final with a 6-4, 6-1 walloping of Cleeve Harper.

TCU defeated four conference champions on its run to NCAA glory. The Horned Frogs bettered Big West champ UC Irvine in the first round and took out No. 4 Kentucky and No. 1 Ohio State, the consensus SEC and Big 12 top dogs, in quarterfinal and semifinal play.

The 2024 NCAA Championships also represented a TCU revenge tour of sorts. TCU entered the Big Dance in 2022 as the No. 1 seed but was upset by Kentucky in the quarterfinals. Ohio State upended the Horned Frogs in the 2023 semifinals and February's ITA Indoor National Championship, denying TCU a three-peat in the latter. Texas won the 2024 Big 12 regular season and tournament titles with shutouts of the Horned Frogs.

David Roditi is one of two active Horned Frog head coaches to win an NCAA Championship alongside TCU rifle's Karen Monez. TCU men's tennis joined rifle and women's golf as one of three Horned Frog athletic programs with an NCAA title under its belt since 1983.

The championship triumph guarantees TCU will hold the No. 1 final ITA team ranking for the first time ever. TCU will also finish inside the top-10 of the final rankings for the 10^thstraight season, a feat no other program has achieved.

TCU improved to 56-33 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. Roditi is now 30-9 in outdoor postseason play.

Doubles Results

1. #63 Jake Fearnley / Pedro Vives (TCU) def. #26 Elliot Spizzirri / Siem Woldeab (Texas): 6-4
2. Sebastian Gorzny (TCU) / Jack Pinnington (TCU) def. Micah Braswell / Eshan Talluri (Texas): 6-3
3. Duncan Chan / Lui Maxted (TCU) vs. Lucas Brown / Cleeve Harper (Texas): 4-5, unfinished

Order of finish: 2, 1

Singles Results

1. #13 Jack Pinnington (TCU) def. #2 Elliot Spizziri (Texas): 2-6, 6-4, 6-2
2. #5 Micah Braswell (Texas) def. #7 Jake Fearnley (TCU): 4-6, 6-3, 6-1
3. #40 Gilles-Arnaud Bailly (Texas) def. #73 Pedro Vives (TCU): 6-2, 6-1
4. #77 Lui Maxted (TCU) def. #90 Pierre-Yves Bailly (Texas): 6-2, 6-4
5. #78 Sebastian Gorzny (TCU) def. #56 Jonah Braswell (Texas): 7-5, 4-6, 6-3
6. Cleeve Harper (Texas) def. Tomas Jirousek (TCU): 6-3, 6-2

Order of finish: 4, 3, 6, 2, 1, 5

Up Next

Four members of the Horned Frogs' national champion roster will extend their stay in Stillwater to partake in the NCAA Individual Championships, beginning Monday with the opening round of singles play. Fearnley and Pinnington earned national seeds and automatic All-American status in singles. Gorzny and Vives will team up in doubles as the No. 9 ranked pair.