By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
WACO, Texas – When
Alexandru Chirita was brought in as a mid-year transfer, Baylor coach
Michael Woodson knew he could make an impact on a top-20 team.
That played out in Saturday's Big 12 Championship semifinal at the Hurd Tennis Center, when Chirita overcame a 4-1 third-set deficit to defeat Arizona's Filip Gustafsson, 6-2, 1-6, 7-5, on Court 4. But the No. 11 Wildcats (23-4) pulled out a pair of second-set tiebreakers and two three-setters in a 4-2 win in advancing to Sunday's 4 p.m. final versus No. 18 UCF (21-7).
"It says a lot about him, and it's always about him. When he's dialed in and focused, his opponent doesn't really have much of a chance," said Woodson, whose 16
th-ranked Bears fell to 22-10. "I think he's got a very high ceiling. His upside potential is massive. He's done nothing short of lifting our team's level immensely. It's impressive."
Baylor claimed the doubles point and won three of the six first sets in singles, putting the Bears in position to win the match.
Dominating at all three doubles spots, the Bears got a 6-1 win from the 27
th-ranked duo of
Oskar Brostrom Poulsen and Marko Mladinovic at No. 1 and clinched the first point with
Devin Badenhorst and
Luc Koenig beating the 62
nd-ranked tandem of Jay Friend and Eric Padgham at No. 2.
"From the beginning, we knew it was going to be tough," Chirita said, "so we needed to focus on the doubles point. And we did a great job. We knew they were going to fight in singles, so we were prepared for the battle."
Facing two of the top-5 players in the country, Badenhorst lost a second-set tiebreaker in falling to No. 4 Colton Smith, 6-4, 7-6(6) at No. 1; and
Zsombor Velcz took the fifth-ranked Friend to a third set before losing, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3, at No. 2.
"They fought hard," Woodson said. "Their expectation is that they can win these matches, and to not get over the hump, its nothing short of disappointing for them. These guys have a reputation and a high ranking for a reason. They're great players. Our guys do as well, and we feel like we can win at every spot. And we showed we were capable of that at different times in every match."
Similar to Badenhorst,
Louis Bowden was able to take Arizona's Alexander Rozin to a second-set tiebreaker at No. 5, but couldn't finish in a 6-1, 7-6(5) loss that gave the Wildcats a 2-1 lead.
Still trailing 3-2 after Chirita's dramatic third-set rally, Baylor had three-setters going at Nos. 3 and 6. Brostrom Poulsen was a point away from knotting the match at 3-3, holding a 7-4, 3-6, 6-4, 40-40 lead at No. 3, but Mladinovic struggled to hold his serve in a 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-1 loss to Casper Christensen at No. 6 in the clincher.
"We had some momentum early in the singles," Woodson said. "Thought we played some really good tennis in a lot of places. We just let them, as great teams will do, work their way back into it. There were a few key moments where we didn't play the big points with enough courage. The great teams are going to take openings, and they pushed back."
At 16 in the latest ITA rankings, Baylor could be in position to host the first and second round when the NCAA Tournament selections are announced on April 28.
"I hope we get another chance to play at home," Chirita said. "it's always nice to play at home and have the fans watching us."
WACO, Texas – The No. 16 Baylor men's tennis team (22-10, 6-2) battled for over three hours but fell short against No. 11 Arizona, 4-2, in the Big 12 Championship semifinals on Saturday at the Hurd Tennis Center. Every singles match went to a third set or tiebreaker.
THE RUN DOWN
The Bears claimed the doubles point with commanding performances. The No. 27 pair of
Marko Miladinovic and
Oskar Brostrom Poulsen rolled past Arizona's No. 29 Cabrera-Bello/Smith on Court One, 6-1.
Devin Badenhorst and
Luc Koenig followed with a 6-4 upset over No. 62 Friend/Padgham on Court Two to give the Bears an early advantage.
Zsombor Velcz and
Alexandru Chirita went unfinished on Court Three, trailing Christensen/Gustafsson, 3-5.
Arizona responded in singles, leveling the match when No. 5 Jay Friend defeated No. 108
Zsombor Velcz on Court Two, 6-1, 2-6, 6-3. The Wildcats took a 2-1 lead as
Louis Bowden narrowly lost a second-set tiebreaker to Alexander Rozin, 6-1, 7-6 (7-5), on Court Five.
After dropping the first set, No. 37 Badenhorst pushed No. 4 Colton Smith to a tiebreaker on Court One but fell, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6).
Alexandru Chirita held out hope for Baylor with a gritty comeback on Court Four. There, he rallied past Filip Gustafsson in the third set, 6-2, 1-6, 7-5, to trim Arizona's led to 3-2.
The clinch came on Court Six, where Miladinovic won a first-set tiebreaker but ultimately lost to Casper Christensen, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-1.
Brostrom Poulsen led No. 99 Zoran Ludoski 7-5, 3-6, 5-4 on Court Three when play was halted.
FROM HEAD COACH MICHAEL WOODSON
"We knew it was going to be tough. I thought they got on top of us last time we played, we let the doubles slip away, and they really ran away with the singles. So, this time, we knew what to expect. I thought we were prepared. We did a fantastic job coming out in doubles, got on top of them everywhere, and, yeah, it was not that competitive, which was awesome. We had some momentum early in the singles, and I thought we played some pretty good tennis in a lot of places. We just let them, as you know, a great team will do, work their way back into it. There were a few key moments where we just didn't play the big points with enough courage. We lost a couple of key tie breakers. Like we lost the deuce point early in the third set on two and, yeah, like I said, great teams are going to take openings, and they push back. They got the momentum, and they ran with it."
On his players' toughness…
"They fought hard. Their expectation is that they can win those matches. So, you know, to not get over the hump, I think it's nothing short of disappointing for them. I know that these guys have a reputation and a high ranking for a reason. They're great players, but our guys are as well. So, we feel like we can win in every spot. I think we showed that we were capable of that at different times throughout the match, on every spot, which was a big improvement from last time, but not enough to get the win."
WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor awaits seeding for the 2025 NCAA First and Second Rounds.
