No. 4 Baylor Men's Tennis Beats No. 1 TCU 4-2 for Third-Straight Big 12 Tournament Title

FORT WORTH, Texas – The No. 4-ranked and second-seeded Baylor men’s tennis team took the Big 12 Championship for the third-straight time, winning 4-2 over the top-seeded and No. 1-ranked TCU for the crown on Sunday at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center.

The Bears (26-3) secured the program’s 25th Big 12 title with the victory over TCU (23-4). It was the second time on the season that BU downed the Frogs when they were at the top of the ITA rankings.

Baylor’s Tadeas Paroulek earned the Most Outstanding Player honor from the Big 12 after going undefeated in the tournament, 1-0 on the doubles courts and 2-0 in singles.

THE RUNDOWN

Baylor continued to start hot in doubles, with court one getting the first win and then court two serving as the clincher for the point. No. 6-ranked Sven Lah and Finn Bass bested second-ranked Luc Fomba and Jake Fearnley, 6-3. The No. 15 pair of Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi and Matias Soto clinched it for the Bears with a 6-4 win over ninth-ranked Sander Jong and Lui Maxted. On court three, Adrian Boitan and Tadeas Paroulek went unfinished, up 5-4 over Juan Carlos Aguilar and Pedro Vives Marcos when the point was earned.

In singles, Grassi Mazzuchi kept it kicking on court six, winning with a swift 6-3, 6-1 win over Tomas Jirousek. Next came No. 70 Paroulek, who bested Vives Marcos on court five, winning 7-5, 6-1 to put the Bears up 3-0. On court one, No. 3 Boitan was in an absolute battle with No. 18 Fomba, but fell 6-4, 7-5.

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Bass went into a third set with No. 86 Fearnley on court four, with the Horned Frog taking the point with a 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 win. With two courts left to finish, a lightning delay went into effect. Moving indoors, the match was picked up again at 6:40 p.m. With fans sandwiching on courts one and five, No. 43 Soto and No. 14 Aguilar played on court two, while No. 77 Lah and No. 67 Jong played on court four. In a race to the finish with the team score at 3-2, Soto pulled it out on court two, winning 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-3. The Bears dogpiled Soto as he clinched the match and secured the Bears’ third-straight Big 12 Championship.

To stay up to date throughout the season on all things Baylor men’s tennis, follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @BaylorMTennis.

TENNIS RESULTS

#4 [2 seed] Baylor (4) vs. #1 [1 seed] TCU (2)

Fort Worth, Texas – Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center

SINGLES COMPETITION

1. #18 Luc Fomba (TCU) def. #3 Adrian Boitan (BU) 6-4, 7-5
2. #43 Matias Soto (BU) def. #14 Juan Carlos Aguilar (TCU) 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-3
3. #77 Sven Lah (BU) def. #67 Sander Jong (TCU) 3-6, 7-6(0), 6-6(5-1) unfinished
4. #86 Jake Fearnley (TCU) def. Finn Bass (BU) 3-6, 6-4, 7-5
5. #70 Tadeas Paroulek (BU) def. Pedro Vives Marcos (TCU) 7-5, 6-1
6. Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi (BU) def. Tomas Jirousek (TCU) 6-3, 6-1

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

DOUBLES COMPETITION

1. #6 Sven Lah/Finn Bass (BU) def. #2 Luc Fomba/Jake Fearnley (TCU) 6-3
2. #15 Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi/Matias Soto (BU) def. #9 Sander Jong/Lui Maxted (TCU) 6-4
3. Adrian Boitan/Tadeas Paroulek (BU) vs. Juan Carlos Aguilar/Pedro Vives Marcos (TCU) 5-4 unfinished

Order of finish: 1, 2