The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Sigsgaard to conclude his career at Texas
06.10.2020 | Men's Tennis
Christian Sigsgaard, who is tied for seventh in career singles wins in UT Men’s Tennis history, will forego the additional year of eligibility he was granted following the shortened 2020 season.
Austin – Texas Men's Tennis standout Christian Sigsgaard, who is tied for seventh in career singles wins (105) in UT Men's Tennis history and was an integral part of the program's first team National Championship, will forego the additional year of eligibility he was granted following the shortened 2020 season, he announced Wednesday.
"This was not an easy decision, but I have decided to graduate this summer and not use my extra year of eligibility," Sigsgaard said. "You don't always get to pick your own perfect ending, and this is not how I envisioned finishing my college career, but looking back over my whole time at Texas, I've achieved way more than I ever thought I would, and for me, that is what's most important. First of all, I want to thank my teammates for all the battles throughout the years. I'm sure they will all accomplish great things in the future and the relationships I have with them will carry on for the rest of our lives. I want to thank coach Berque for being so supportive and for setting such a high standard for his players, and I want to thank all of the coaches during my time at UT. Lastly, I want to thank the staff who always work extremely hard away from the spotlight in order to make us shine in it. Thank you Texas for the best four years of my life."
"Although our entire team will miss Christian tremendously, I couldn't be more excited for him as he enters the next chapter of his tennis career," head coach Bruce Berque said. "Over his four years in Austin, Christian has played at the top of our lineup, and established himself as one of the best players in the country in both singles and doubles. As our No. 1 singles and doubles player in 2019, he was a huge part of our program's first NCAA Team Championship. Most importantly though, Christian was first class in every way, and could not have been a better ambassador for our program and for the University of Texas. He set a great example for our younger players, and I enjoyed watching him grow into his leadership role towards the end of his career. He is ready for professional tennis, and I know he will continue to improve and raise his game to meet that next level. I will always be one of his biggest fans."
Sigsgaard posted overall career marks of 105-41 (.719) in singles and 78-33 (.703) in doubles, including dual match records of 53-28 (.654) in singles and 51-21 (.708) in doubles. All but two of his career dual singles matches were played at either the No. 1 or No. 2 position with Sigsgaard playing the entirety of the 2019 season at No. 1 when the Longhorns won their first team National Championship. In the title match against Wake Forest, Sigsgaard captured the team's first point with a win over No. 11 Borna Gojo.
Sigsgaard departs Texas with three ITA All-America honors, earning them in singles in 2019 and 2020, and in doubles in 2019. He placed in the top 10 of the ITA final rankings in singles and doubles both of those years, finishing at No. 6 in singles in 2019 and 2020 and in doubles in 2019, along with No. 9 in doubles in 2020.
The 2019 Big 12 Co-Player of the Year and No. 1 singles co-champion, he was a first-team All-Big 12 selection in both singles and doubles in 2018 and 2019. He was named to the second team in singles in 2017 when was also the Big 12 Freshman of the Year. With the 2020 shortened season not reaching conference play, the Big 12 did not issue its yearly awards. Throughout his career, Sigsgaard was named the Big 12 Player of the Week six times, which is the second-most in conference history behind teammate Yuya Ito's eight.
A native of Naestved, Denmark, Sigsgaard has represented his home country in Davis Cup play and has won multiple national singles, doubles and mixed doubles championships in Denmark. He will complete his bachelor's degree in philosophy from Texas this summer.
Players Mentioned
