No. 16 Baylor MT Falls to No. 11 Arizona in Big 12 Semifinal

[Hutton, Josie]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – April 19, 2025

No. 16 Baylor MT Falls to No. 11 Arizona in Big 12 Semifinal
For more information contact: Josie Hutton; 254-709-7720, josie_hutton at baylor.edu<mailto:josie_hutton at baylor.edu>



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.



- BaylorBears<http://www.baylorbears/>.com -



Josie Hutton | Associate Director of Athletics Communications (FB, T&F/XC, MTEN)
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
C: (254) 709-7720

[signature_2230589939]<http://www.baylorbears.com/>


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