April 28, 2018 Complete Results
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation €‹Losing the opening doubles point against seventh-ranked and top-seeded TCU was a "punch in the gut."
€‹But, it wasn't a knockout blow.
€‹Freshman Matias Soto rallied from a 4-1 deficit in the third set and then scored the last five points in the tiebreaker to pull out a 5-7, 7-5, 7-6(5) win over 59th-ranked Trevor Johnson, clinching the fifth-seeded and 27th-ranked Bears' 4-2 upset of the Horned Frogs Saturday in the Big 12 Championship semifinals at the Texas Tennis Center in Austin.
€‹"It was a team effort. I think everybody fought hard," said Baylor coach Matt Knoll, whose team improved to 20-8 with its second straight upset win. "Matias had a birthday yesterday. His dad reached out to the coaching staff and said, `Would you please give my son a hug,' because his family was lonesome for him on his birthday, and just going away as a freshman.
€‹"I know he felt really good about having a chance to be out here with his teammates and play a big match and come through."
€‹The Bears advance to Sunday's 1 p.m. final and will face second-seeded and 15th-ranked Texas (16-6), a 4-0 winner over third-seeded and 14th-ranked Oklahoma. This will be the sixth meeting between the two programs in the Big 12 Championship final, the last one coming in 2009, with Baylor holding a 3-2 edge.
€‹"Another great opportunity for us," Knoll said. "We're thrilled to have a chance to go out and compete again."
€‹Those hopes seemed to dim when the Bears dropped the doubles point. Splitting at Nos. 1 and 2 doubles, Baylor's No. 3 team of Will Little and Constantin Frantzen was up a break, but fell to the Frogs' Max Kurzban and Reese Stalder, 7-6(2).
€‹"To be honest, the doubles was a punch in the gut," Knoll said. "We were up a break at 3 and really felt like we had a lot of momentum there. We really let that one get away from us, so it was a challenge in the locker room after to try to bounce back. I have to give the guys a lot of credit, how they came back out here and got into their matches and played hard and gave ourselves a chance."
€‹Baylor turned things around in the singles, getting three first-set wins. It was freshman Sven Lah that got the first point on the board for the Bears, however, when TCU's 55th-ranked Alastair Gray had to retire with an injury up a set but trailing 4-2 in the second.
€‹Straight-set wins by Frantzen and Little at Nos. 6 and 3, respectively, gave Baylor a 3-1 lead. Frantzen took down Eduardo Roldan, 6-4, 6-2, then Little closed out a 6-4, 6-4 win over 107th-ranked Gullermo Nunez.
€‹Stalder closed the gap with a 7-6(2), 6-3 win over Roy Smith at No. 5, with the match coming down to three-setters at Nos. 1 and 2.
€‹Johannes Schretter split sets with 19th-ranked Alex Rybakov and was tied at 4-4 in the third set when Soto closed it out.
€‹"TCU is really good. I think their players have proven over the course of their career that they're exceptionally talented and very, very good," Knoll said of the Horned Frogs, who clinched their third straight Big 12 regular-season title with a 4-1 win over Baylor on April 19 in Fort Worth.
€‹"(For us) to be able to improve the way we have over the last several weeks and even compete with a team like that was really a good sign. I'm just really proud of the guys (that) when the chips were down, being assertive and going for their shots and playing with confidence."
THE RUNDOWN
AUSTIN, Texas -- The 27th-ranked and No. 5 seed Baylor men's tennis team (20-8, 1-4 Big 12) clinched a spot in Sunday's Big 12 Championship match with a dramatic 4-2 upset over No. 7 and top-seeded TCU Saturday afternoon at the Texas Tennis Center.
With the win, Baylor advances to the Big 12 Championship final for the 15th time in the 22-year history of the tournament. BU will face No. 2 seed and 15th-ranked Texas Sunday at 1 p.m. CT for the tournament crown.
Playing with its new doubles lineup for the second-straight match, BU kept it competitive across the board and jumped out on top first when freshmen Roy Smith and Sven Lah took down 83rd-ranked Alastair Gray and Trevor Johnson, 6-3, at the No. 2 spot. It was the duo's first win over a ranked opponent in their freshmen seasons.
TCU would battle back as Johannes Schretter and Akos Kotorman dropped a 6-4 decision to fourth-ranked Guillermo Nuñez and Alex Rybakov at the top of the lineup, leaving the point up to court three.
After Constantin Frantzen and Will Little evened it up at 6-all and forced a tiebreaker, TCU's Max Kurzban and Reese Stalder took a 7-6(2) win to clinch the doubles point for the Horned Frogs.
Down 1-0, the Bears took three opening sets in singles play and got on the board after Constantin Frantzen bested Eduardo Roldan on court six, 6-4, 6-2. Sven Lah earned a singles win after 83rd-ranked Alastair Gray retired midway through set two, 2-6, 4-2.
Baylor went up 3-1 when Will Little closed the door on Guillermo Nuñez at the No. 3 spot, 6-4, 6-4. The Horned Frogs captured its lone singles point after Roy Smith dropped a 7-6(2), 6-3 loss to Reese Stalder on court five.
With the final two matches in a third set, Matias Soto clinched the team win after he ran off five straight points in the tiebreaker for the 5-7, 7-5, 7-6(5) victory over 59th-ranked Trevor Johnson on court two.
68th-ranked Johannes Schretter was tied up at 7-5, 6-7(5), 4-4 with 19th-ranked Alex Rybakov at the top of the lineup before it was suspended.
NOTABLES
• BU advances to the Big 12 Championship for the 15th time in the 22-year history of the tournament.
• BU improves to 38-13 all-time and 15-5 in semifinal matches at the Big 12 Championship.
• BU pushes its tournament record to 3-0 all-time against TCU.
• BU is now 3-1 as the No. 5 seed at the Big 12 Championship.
• Saturday's match snapped a three-match losing streak to the Horned Frogs.
• Baylor still trails the all-time series against TCU, 25-34, but is 20-8 under Knoll.
• Baylor improves to 4-3 in neutral site matches in 2018.
• Baylor is now 21-7 in doubles points this season and 2-5 when dropping the opening point.
• Sven Lah is now on an eight-match singles winning streak while Will Little has won four consecutive singles matches.
• Sven Lah and Roy Smith upset their first ranked opponent in doubles play and improved to 16-1 in dual-match play.
• For the 17th time under 22-year head coach Matt Knoll, the Bears have eclipsed 20 wins in a season with a 20-8 record heading into Sunday's match.
STAT OF THE MATCH
5 -- the amount of points freshman Matias Soto ran off to clinch the win.
TOP QUOTE #1
"It was a team effort. I think everybody fought hard. I was really proud of the effort from everybody. TCU is really good. I think their players have proven over the course of their careers that they're exceptionally talented and very good. To be able to prove the way that we have in the last several weeks and compete with a team like that really is exciting for us. I'm just really proud of the guys. When the chips are down, they're being assertive, going for their shots and playing with confidence." --head coach Matt Knoll on the match
TOP QUOTE #2
"The doubles (point) was a real punch in the gut. We were up a break at No. 3 and felt like we had a lot of momentum. As the match went on, we let that one get away from us. It was a challenge in the locker room after (doubles) to bounce back. I've got to give the guys a lot of credit. They came back out and got into their matches and played hard and gave themselves a chance." --head coach Matt Knoll on heading into singles play
WHAT'S NEXT
The Bears will play for the program's ninth Big 12 Championship tournament crown with a Sunday afternoon final against No. 2 seed and 15th-ranked Texas at 1 p.m. at the Texas Tennis Center. Live scoring and a live video stream will be available for the match.
Baylor holds a 4-5 all-time record against the Longhorns at the Big 12 Championship but is 3-2 against UT in the championship match. BU will meet Texas in the tournament for the first time since 2009. Baylor won 4-3 over UT in the final that season.
Follow the Bears all season long on their official social media accounts: @BaylorMTennis.
