Baylor will play for Big 12 Championship after knocking off No. 7 TCU

WACO, Texas – No. 3-ranked and second-seeded Baylor men’s tennis outlasted No. 7-ranked and No. 3-seed TCU 4-3 Sunday evening at the Hurd Tennis Center to advance to the Big 12 Championship finals.

The Bears (28-4) came back after dropping the doubles point to collect four singles victories, including the clincher by Spencer Furman with the match tied 3-3. 

TCU (16-7) struck first in the doubles with a 6-2 win by Jake Fearnley/Bertus Kruger over Finn Bass/Charlie Broom in the third spot, then gathered the opening tally with a 6-4 win on the top court by No. 7 Luc Fomba/Alastair Gray against No. 12 Constantin Frantzen/Sven Lah. No. 67 Matias Soto/Nick Stachowiak were trailing 5-4 to TCU’s Sander Jong/Tomas Jirousek when play was stopped.

Moving into singles, the Bears responded quickly with blistering wins by Lah and Broom. On court four, Lah topped No. 105 Fearnley 6-1, 6-2 in under an hour of play, then Broom was next to finish with a 6-3, 6-3 decision on five over No. 100 Jirousek to give BU a 2-1 match lead.

Baylor carried momentum, going on to take four first-sets including leads by No. 41 Adrian Boitan and Furman on courts one and six, respectively. After dropping his opener on court three, Stachowiak forced a third set against No. 75 Jong, while on court two No. 8 Matias Soto was slowed by No. 19 Fomba.

As the Horned Frogs began to make their move, it was Boitan who was next off the court. The third-year sophomore showcased great skill over No. 12 Gray at No. 1 singles, winning in straight-sets 6-4, 6-4 to give the Bears a 3-1 advantage.

Then, TCU tied things up as Soto was unable to mount a comeback, dropping a narrow 6-4, 7-5 decision to Fomba, and Jong finished off Stachowiak in three, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

All eyes then shifted to court six, where Furman found himself battling Tadeas Paroulek in another third set. Furman had taken the first, 6-4, but dropped the second set, 6-3. He put BU ahead with a 5-2 advantage in the decisive third, but Paroulek scratched back to knot things at 5-5. After holding serve, Furman was able to come up with the big break and seal the match for the Bears.

With the win, Baylor advances to face No. 2-ranked and No. 1-seeded Texas in Monday’s final set for 2 p.m. CT at the Hurd.