April 25, 2014
Final Stats
FORT WORTH, Texas – The No. 47 TCU men’s tennis team bowed out of the 2014 Big 12 Tennis Championships on Friday afternoon with a 4-2 loss to No. 3 Oklahoma at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center.
The Horned Frogs (12-12) were barely edged by the Sooners (22-2) after pulling off the doubles point and No. 57 Nick Chappell recording the biggest upset of his career with a win over No. 5 Guillermo Alcorta at No. 1 singles. In the end, Oklahoma proved to be too much and will be moving into the semifinals of the championships.
“At the end of the day I am really proud of our team and what they have endured all year,” coach David Roditi said. “We have had every opportunity on the court and we let it slip, but these guys never gave up and we almost pulled off a big upset today. I am really proud of our team for that.”
Arnau Dachs and Trey Daniel were the first duo to put TCU on the board at No. 3 doubles with an 8-4 victory over Peerakit Siributwong and Nick Papac. Oklahoma would even the score with a tiebreaking win on court two, with the final doubles point decision coming down to the two best pairs on court one.
No. 10 Chappell and Will Stein did not let No. 29 Dane Webb and Andrew Harris even close on the first court, as the duo recorded their 24th win of the season and seventh over a ranked opponent with an 8-5 victory.
Into singles action, Oklahoma took the lead with victories on courts four and six, but the biggest win of the day for TCU came on court one, as Chappell upended Alcorta and earned his highest ranked opponent victory. Chappell took control from the start and limited Alcorta to only two points in the first set on his way to a 6-2 win. The second set was a close battle, as the two broke each other before holding serve to send the match into a tiebreaker. Chappell was once again in control and took out Alcorta 7-3 to win the straight-set fight on court one.
Chappell’s win would be the final victory for TCU on its home courts this season, as Austin Siegel took down Daniel on court five for an Oklahoma 3-1 lead. The final point for the Sooners would come on court two as, No. 6 Axel Alvarez Llamas came back to defeat Dachs. The Vic, Spain native split the first two sets with his opponent, before the match decision coming down to a tiebreaker in the third set. Llamas showed why he was highly ranked as he blanked Dachs 7-0 to clinch the match for the Sooners.
“For us to almost beat them at their best position, I think it shows how good this team is,” Roditi said. “It is a shame due to lack of capitalization of opportunities and being a little unlucky in the tiebreaker that we may not make the NCAAs. Today we showed we should be in the NCAAs, but because of not taking care of our opportunities earlier in the year, we may or may not be in the tournament. We can almost beat the No. 3 team in the nation and it’s a shame if this team doesn’t get in, but that is the way it is and we didn’t take care of our opportunities.”
TCU will now await word of a possible at-large bid to the NCAA Championships First and Second Rounds, which will be held May 9-11 at selected campus sites.
Tennis Match ResultsOklahoma vs TCUApril 25, 2014 at Fort Worth, Texas(Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center)
#3 Oklahoma 4, #47 TCU 2Singles competition1. #57 Nick Chappell (TCU) def. #5 Guillermo Alcorta (OU) 6-2, 7-6 (7-3)2. #6 Axel Alvarez Llamas (OU) def. Arnau Dachs (TCU) 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-0)3. Facundo Lugones (TCU) vs. #48 Andrew Harris (OU) 7-6 (7-2), 4-6, 2-4, unfinished4. #38 Dane Webb (OU) def. Rodolfo Bustamante (TCU) 6-2, 6-45. Austin Siegel (OU) def. Trey Daniel (TCU) 6-2, 7-6 (4-7)6. Alex Ghilea (OU) def. Andres Alfonzo (TCU) 6-2, 6-2
Doubles competition1. #10 Nick Chappell/Will Stein (TCU) def. #29 Dane Webb/Andrew Harris (OU) 8-52. Axel Alvarez Llamas/Guillermo Alcorta (OU) def. Hudson Blake/Facundo Lugones (TCU) 8-7 (7-4)3. Arnau Dachs/Trey Daniel (TCU) def. Peerakit Siributwong/Nick Papac (OU) 8-4
Match Notes:Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (4,6,1,5,2)...