Michigan men’s tennis fails to convert early lead, bested by TCU to end season

After a hard-fought match against Southern California, the No. 7 Michigan men’s tennis team made its way to Lake Nona, Florida to continue its quest for a national title in the NCAA quarterfinals.

However, the Wolverines (27-5) season ended after falling to No. 2 TCU (26-2), 4-1. The Horned Frogs got the better of Michigan, as the latter failed to win meaningful points and capitalize on its early advantages.

The Wolverines started off strong in doubles, as senior Ondrej Styler and junior Jacob Bickersteth broke early en route to a 6-2 victory over TCU’s Lui Maxted and Sander Jong.

The remaining two doubles matches went to tiebreakers, where senior Patrick Maloney and junior Nino Ehrenschneider persevered against the Horned Frogs’ Sebastian Gorzny and Pedro Vives, 7-6 (5).

With this win, Michigan captured the doubles point, and took an early advantage. And similar to  the majority of the season, the Wolverines hoped to increase their lead.

“Doubles was great,” Michigan coach Adam Steinberg said. “We had great energy and we played well. I was so happy to see that in our doubles. We didn’t lose the doubles point in the NCAA tournament, (and) the guys deserve a lot of credit for that.”

However, singles turned the tide for the rest of the match. Many matches, though, were deadlocked early on.

One such match was between Jong and Ehrenschneider, which went to a first set tiebreaker. There, Jong got out to an early lead, and eventually won the set. And from there, he beamed through the second set, winning the match, 7-6 (4), 6-1.

Maloney was also stride for stride in a tough battle, as he and TCU’s Luc Fomba couldn’t break each other for the majority of the first set. Then, Fomba finally broke Maloney’s serve, winning the first set. Afterwards Fomba cruised, winning the second set and defeating Maloney, 7-5, 6-3.

Fifth-year Andrew Fenty faced similar challenges to Ehrenschneider, as he fell in a first-set tiebreaker. From there, his opponent made quick-work in the second set, winning the match, 7-6 (4), 6-1. 

“That first set was very tough,” Young said. “It would’ve been really nice to get that first set under my belt… (and) it could have gone either way. I think that if I was able to somehow pull out that first set it would’ve been a different outcome. Credit to those guys, they came out with a lot of heart and were ready to fight.” 

With Young’s defeat, the Horned Frogs picked up four straight singles match victories, taking care of a Wolverine team that couldn’t attain the most important points at the right moments.

In three separate singles matches, Michigan failed to claim a first-set tiebreak win, and lost momentum going forward. In the blazing Florida heat, TCU outworked the Wolverines as the latter struggled.

“Obviously, we’re extremely disappointed,” Steinberg said. “Our goals are to win a national championship but I also told the guys that there’s so much to be proud of.”

With the season over, Michigan now can look back at its efforts. Throughout the year, the Wolverines dominated their opponents and proved to be a threat for a National Championship. However, with an offseason to prepare ahead, their goal will remain unchanged as they chase the elusive title.