No. 4 TCU falls to No. 13 Cal in Sweet 16 at tennis championship

The season came to an abrupt end for the No. 4-ranked TCU men’s tennis team in a 4-3 loss Friday to No. 13 California in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Championship on the indoor courts at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center.

The match, moved indoors because of rain, came down to the final match on Court 2 where Cal’s No. 31 Andrew Goransson defeated TCU’s No. 24 Alex Rybakov 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 to seal the victory.

TCU had fought back after losing the doubles point, then falling behind on four of six singles matches. No. 5 Cameron Norrie quickly pulled TCU even with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over No. 30 Florian Lakat on Court 1.

TCU then took a big hit on Court 5 when freshman Eduardo Nava was injured during a first-set tiebreaker. Nava slid into the splits while chasing down a wide shot to his forehand by Oskar Wikberg. Nava stayed down until a trainer arrived. He was then helped to his chair. After receiving treatment, Nava came back and attempted to resume the tiebreaker, but he was limping heavily. After Wikberg won the set, Nava retired.

Cal then moved within a match of clinching the victory when Filip Bergevi defeated Jerry Lopez 6-2, 6-3 for a 3-1 overall lead.

However, TCU began to fight back, winning the second sets on courts 2, 3 and 6. Guillermo Nunez picked up a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Billy Griffith on Court 3, and TCU captain Trevor Johnson battled back from a set down, then trailed 3-0 in the third set before winning the final six games for a 4-6 6-3, 6-3 victory that evened match 3-3.

Rybakov, who lost the first set against Goransson 6-4, rallied to win the second set 6-3. The match was tied at 5-5 in the third set before Goransson held serve, then broke Rybakov to end end the Frogs’ season.

It was TCU’s second loss to the Bears (20-6) this season. They handed the Frogs (26-4) their first loss of the season 4-2 in the Big 12/Pack-12 Challenge on Feb. 7 in Austin. TCU reached the semifinals at the NCAA Championships last year in Waco.

While the TCU team’s season came to an end, Norrie and Rybakov will compete in the NCAA men’s individual championships next week in Tulsa.

This story was originally published May 20, 2016 at 1:32 PM with the headline "No. 4 TCU falls to No. 13 Cal in Sweet 16 at tennis championship."