The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Virginia
No. 3 Men’s Tennis tops No. 5 Virginia, 4-1
02.15.2025 | Men's Tennis
The Longhorns advanced to the semifinals of the ITA Indoors for the second time in the last four years.
Dallas – No. 3 Texas Men's Tennis topped No. 5 Virginia, 4-1, to advance to the semifinals of the ITA National Indoor Championships on Saturday at the Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex in Dallas. It marks the second trip to the semifinals in the last three years for the Longhorns.
After Virginia took the doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 1, Texas rallied for singles victories from freshman Sebastian Eriksson at No. 6, freshman Oliver Ojakaar at No. 5, senior No. 121 Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 3, and junior No. 21 Jonah Braswell at No. 4.
Following doubles, Eriksson was first off the singles court, evening the overall score with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Jangjun Kim. Eriksson grabbed the only break of the first set on a deuce point in the opening game even though Kim had two deuce point holds along the way. In the second set, Kim held his opening serve, but Eriksson took it from there with a 6-0 run that included two deuce-point breaks for 4-1 and then on match point.
Ojakaar gave Texas the lead with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 win over Måns Dahlberg. Ojakaar opened the match with a break and then held at love for a 2-0 lead. He later broke again for 4-1 and consolidated at deuce for 5-1. Both players then held, giving Ojakaar the set. In the second, Dahlberg collected the only break of the set for a 4-2 lead, and though the last three games were on serve for Dahlberg's win, both of his holds were at deuce. Both players held their opening serve in the third set, but it was all Ojakaar from there as he set out on a 5-0 run to the win with none of those games reaching deuce.
A short time later, Bailly completed his three-set win over James Hopper, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3. Three deuce points – all won by Hopper for two breaks and a hold – defined the first set. The first came in the second game for a break, which Hopper then consolidated for a 3-0 lead. Bailly answered with a 3-0 run of his own and had an opportunity for 4-0 on a deuce point, but Hopper held serve to retake the lead, 4-3. The final deuce point then resulted in a break for the set for Hopper. After Hopper held on yet another deuce point to start the second set, Bailly broke out on a 10-0 run to capture the second set and establish a 4-0 lead in the third. Only two of those games reached deuce, which were the last game of the second set and for the 4-0 lead in the third. The run might have lasted a game longer as the next one also went to deuce, but Hopper was able to break to begin a 3-0 run. The deuce point momentum finally went Bailly's way after that, as he broke and held at deuce to win the match.
The clinch then came from Braswell, who won in a third-set tiebreaker over No. 103 Keegan Rice, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5). Despite two deuce points, the first set stayed on serve until Rice broke on another for a 5-3 lead and served out the set. In the second, Braswell collected his first break on a deuce point for a 2-0 lead, however Rice broke back for 2-1 and then evened it. The set stayed on serve from there until Braswell broke again for a 5-3 lead and then held at deuce to go to a third. In that set, it was Rice who broke first on a deuce point for 2-0 and Braswell who broke back and evened it. The rest of then set was then on serve to the tiebreaker. There, Rice held serve on the first point, but Braswell responded with a 4-0 run that he never relinquished despite Rice getting within one at 5-4 and 6-5. That's when Braswell came through with a final mini-break for the win, sending his teammates streaming onto his court.
Two matches remained unfinished that were also in third-set tiebreakers with each team leading one of them. Freshman No. 11 Timo Legout was up on No. 44 Rafael Jodar, 4-6, 6-4, 6-6 (3-1), while junior No. 10 Sebastian Gorzny trailed No. 26 Dylan Dietrich, 7-6 (6), 3-6, 6-6 (2-5).
In Legout's match, Jodar opened it with a deuce-point hold and a break for a 2-0 lead. Legout then broke back and held to even it, but Jodar broke again for 4-2 and consolidated for 5-2. Legout got the second break back on a deuce point for 5-4 to get back on serve, but Jodar answered the break for the set. In the second, Legout secured the only break for a 4-3 lead and later held on a deuce point for the set. In the third, after Legout held on a deuce point for 2-2, he broke for a 3-2 lead. However, Jodar broke back and the rest of the set stayed on serve to a tiebreaker despite each player registering a deuce-point hold along the way. In the breaker, Legout won the first three points before play halted with the score 3-1.
Gorzny's match featured two sets with tiebreakers. The first set stayed on serve the entire way with each player having one deuce-point hold. In its tiebreaker, Gorzny pushed out to a 4-1 lead, but Dietrich responded with a 3-0 run to tie it. Dietrich later took his first lead at 6-5, but Gorzny came right back with a 3-0 run to win it. In the second, five of the first six games went to deuce but all stayed on serve, as did the seventh game, until Dietrich secured the only break for 5-3 and served it out. The third stayed on serve for the first 10 games even though there were three deuce points. Dietrich finally recorded the first break for a 6-5 lead, but Gorzny broke back to keep the match alive and go to the tiebreaker. There, Dietrich moved out to a 4-1 lead, and it stood at 5-2 when play stopped.
Earlier in doubles, Virginia claimed the first match with a 6-3 win by the No. 75 pair of Dietrich and Dahlberg over Gorzny and Bailly at No. 2. The match was decided on the only deuce point, which provided the Cavaliers the only break for a 4-2 lead.
Virginia then clinched the point by the same score in a win for No. 65 Hopper and Rice over the No. 5 duo of Legout and sophomore Lucas Brown at No. 1. After the Longhorns held on a deuce point for 2-2, they then broke for a 3-2 lead. However, the Cavaliers closed on a 4-0 run, including a deuce-point break that gave them a 5-3 lead.
Virginia also led the remaining match, 4-3, at No. 3 that was between Braswell and Ojakaar and Kim and Jodar. The Cavaliers broke in the opening game and held for a 2-0 lead, and although the Longhorns got the break back on a deuce point for 3-3, Virginia answered it for the lead when play stopped.
The Longhorns will next have Sunday off before facing 1 seed No. 2 Wake Forest in the semifinals at 3:30 p.m. CT on Monday in Dallas.
#3 Texas 4, #5 Virginia 1
Singles – Order of Finish (6,5,3,4)
1. #44 Rafael Jodar (VA) vs. #11 Timo Legout (TEX) 6-4, 4-6, 6-6 (1-3), unf.
2. #26 Dylan Dietrich (VA) vs. #10 Sebastian Gorzny (TEX) 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-6 (5-2), unf.
3. #121 Pierre-Yves Bailly (TEX) def. James Hopper (VA) 4-6, 6-1, 6-3
4. #21 Jonah Braswell (TEX) def. #103 Keegan Rice (VA) 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5)
5. Oliver Ojakaar (TEX) def. Mans Dahlberg (VA) 6-2, 3-6, 6-1
6. Sebastian Eriksson (TEX) def. Jangjun Kim (VA) 6-4, 6-1
Doubles – Order of Finish (2,1)
1. #65 Keegan Rice/James Hopper (VA) def. #5 Lucas Brown/Timo Legout (TEX) 6-3
2. #75 Mans Dahlberg/Dylan Dietrich (VA) def. Pierre-Yves Bailly/Sebastian Gorzny (TEX) 6-3
3. Jangjun Kim/Rafael Jodar (VA) vs. Jonah Braswell/Oliver Ojakaar (TEX) 4-3, unf.
Players Mentioned
