The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
South Carolina
No. 4 Men’s Tennis preview: No. 26 South Carolina
03.29.2025 | Men's Tennis
The Longhorns celebrate Senior Day and complete their regular-season home schedule with the first visit by South Carolina to Austin since 1981.
No. 4 Men's Tennis preview: No. 26 South Carolina
Team Records: Texas (18-3, 9-0 SEC), South Carolina (14-5, 8-2 SEC)
When: Sunday, March 30, 2025, 1 p.m. CT
Where: Texas Tennis Center, Austin, Texas
Live Stats: https://hookem.at/MTN-Stats
Live Video: https://hookem.at/MTN-Watch
Updated Statistics
Notes
-South Carolina Series: Texas leads, 9-1
Texas and South Carolina have met 10 times since 1975, including three times in the last four seasons with all of those won by the Longhorns by a combined 13-3 score. The teams faced each other last season in an ITA Indoors consolation match in New York with Texas producing a 5-0 sweep. The year before, they squared off in the NCAA quarterfinals in Orlando, which resulted in another sweep (4-0) by the Longhorns. Prior to that, they played in 2021, which was a 4-3 comeback win by the Longhorns in the NCAA Round of 16, also in Orlando. The previous meeting before that came in 2013, a 4-1 win by the Longhorns during the ITA Kickoff Weekend in Lexington, Ky. It was the last of three-straight meetings (2013, 1991, 1986) that came in the state of Kentucky with the other two during National Team Indoors, making it the state in which the two teams have faced each other the most. Additionally, they met each year from 1978-81 with the first and last of those in Austin, one in Madison, Wisc., at the ITA Team Championships (1979), and one in Columbia, S.C. (1980). The Gamecocks' victory in the series came in 1978, which was a 5-4 decision in Austin, the same score as the last time they played each other in Austin in 1981, but in favor of the Longhorns.
All-Time Series
2024: 5-0 W, New York, N.Y. (ITA Indoors Consolation)
2023: 4-0 W, Orlando, Fla. (NCAA Quarterfinals)
2021: 4-3 W, Orlando, Fla. (NCAA Round of 16)
2013: 4-1 W, Lexington, Ky. (ITA Kickoff)
1991: 6-2 W, Louisville, Ky. (National Indoors)
1986: 5-2 W, Louisville, Ky. (National Indoors)
1981: 5-4 W, Austin, Texas
1980: 7-2 W, Columbia, S.C.
1979: 6-3 W, Madison, Wisc. (ITCA Team Championships)
1978: 4-5 L, Austin, Texas
Last Two Box Scores
#3 Texas 5, #4 South Carolina 0
Sunday, February 18, 2024
New York, N.Y. • USTA Billie Jen King National Tennis Center (ITA Indoors Consolation)
Singles – Order of Finish (5,1,2,4)
1. #1 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) def. #50 Toby Samuel (SC) 6-3, 6-2
2. #2 Micah Braswell (UT) def. Casey Hoole (SC) 6-2, 6-4
3. Gilles-Arnaud Bailly (UT) vs. James Story (SC) 6-3, 5-3, unf.
4. #53 Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) def. #76 Jelani Sarr (SC) 6-3, 6-1
5. Cleeve Harper (UT) def. Lucas da Silva (SC) 6-2, 6-1
6. #37 Jonah Braswell (UT) vs. Sean Daryabeigi (SC) 3-6, 4-1, unf.
Doubles – Order of Finish (3,1,2)
1. Casey Hoole/Toby Samuel (SC) def. #5 Eliot Spizzirri/Cleeve Harper (UT) 6-4
2. Pierre-Yves Bailly/Eshan Talluri (UT) def. Lucas da Silva/James Story (SC) 7-6 (5)
3. Micah Braswell/Gilles-Arnaud Bailly (UT) def. Carter Morgan/Jelani Sarr (SC) 6-3
#1 Texas 4, #8 South Carolina 0
Friday, May 19, 2025
Orlando, Fla. • USTA National Campus (NCAA Quarterfinals)
Singles – Order of Finish (4,3,5)
1. #10 Toby Samuel (SC) vs. #1 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) 7-6 (4), 2-3, unf.
2. #16 Connor Thomson (SC) vs. #28 Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) 6-7 (2), 1-2, unf.
3. #61 Micah Braswell (UT) def. #116 James Story (SC) 6-4, 6-2
4. #54 Siem Woldeab (UT) def. #122 Raphael Lambling (SC) 6-4, 6-3
5. Cleeve Harper (UT) def. #102 Casey Hoole (SC) 6-3, 6-4
6. Lucas da Silva (SC) vs. Nevin Arimilli (UT) 5-7, 2-3, unf.
Doubles – Order of Finish (3,2,1)
1. #3 Eliot Spizzirri/Cleeve Harper (UT) def. #1 Toby Samuel/Connor Thomson (SC) 7-5
2. #75 Pierre-Yves Bailly/Siem Woldeab (UT) def. #48 Jake Beasley/James Story (SC) 6-4
3. Casey Hoole/Raphael Lambling (SC) def. Chih Chi Huang/Evin McDonald (UT) 6-2
-ITA Team Rankings
Texas was tabbed No. 1 in the preseason coaches poll released January 6 by the ITA, held that through the first two weeks, moved to No. 3 on February 5, to No. 4 for two weeks, back to No. 3 on March 11, and again to No. 4 currently, which is the 103rd-straight week in the top 15 dating back to April 2018. Meanwhile, South Carolina is No. 26.
-ITA Individual National Rankings
Texas had five listings in the ITA individual in the most recent rankings that were released March 18 with four in the singles top-60 and one top-10 doubles pair. Texas claimed both the No. 3 and No. 19 players in Timo Legout and Sebastian Gorzny, while Pierre-Yves Bailly was also in the top-50 at No. 46, and Jonah Braswell was No. 53. In doubles, Legout and Brown were No. 8.
Texas
Singles
No. 3 Timo Legout
No. 19 Sebastian Gorzny
No. 46 Pierre-Yves Bailly
No. 53 Jonah Braswell
Doubles
No. 8 Timo Legout/Lucas Brown
South Carolina
Singles
No. 54 Connor Thomson
No. 82 Sean Daryabeigi
No. 106 Jelani Sarr
Doubles
No. 15 Lucas Andrade Da Silva/Connor Thomson
No. 87 Atakan Karahan/Jelani Sarr
-Blue sweep
Texas swept No. 35 Kentucky, 4-0, on March 29 at the Texas Tennis Center. The Longhorns took the doubles point wins at Nos. 2 and 3 and followed with singles victories from Sebastian Gornzy at No. 2, Jonah Braswell at No. 4, and Sebastian Eriksson at No. 5 for the clinch.
-First win in Baton Rouge since 2003
The Longhorns defeated LSU, 4-3, on March 23 at the LSU Tennis Complex in Baton Rouge. After Texas took the doubles point with wins at Nos. 1 and 3, LSU won the first singles match at No. 2 to even it. The Longhorns then received three-straight singles victories from Sebastian Eriksson at No. 5, Timo Legout at No. 1, and Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 3 to clinch at 4-1. The Tigers then picked up a superbreaker win at No. 6, and a second-set tiebreaker victory at No. 4 for the final margin.
-Hog wild in Fayetteville
Texas defeated No. 36 Arkansas, 4-1, on March 16 at the Billingsley Tennis Center in Fayetteville. After the Longhorns took the doubles point with a win at No. 1 and a tiebreaker victory at No. 2, Texassecured singles wins from Evan Burnett at No. 6 and Timo Legout at No. 1. Arkansas then won at No. 2 before Lucas Brown clinched the match at No. 5.
-Legout named SEC Men's Tennis Co-Freshman of the Week
Timo Legout was named the SEC Men's Tennis Co-Freshman of the Week for the week of March 19. It marks the fourth weekly conference honor of the season for Legout and the third time as Freshman of the Week. Legout posted two impressive and decisive wins over highly ranked opponents in leading Texas to a 4-0 sweep over No. 31 Alabama. In his singles contest, Legout was first off the court with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Spring 2024 NCAA Singles Champion Filip Planinsek at No. 1. It was Planinsek's first singles loss of the season after starting 12-0. Legout was also first off the doubles court with partner Lucas Brown with a 6-1 win over the No. 42 pair of Planinsek and Matic Kriznik at No. 1.
-Sweeping the Tide
Texas swept No. 31 Alabama, 4-0, on March 16 at the Texas Tennis Center. After Texas took the doubles point with a pair of 6-1 wins at Nos. 1 and 2, the Longhorns received victories from Timo Legout at No. 1, Lucas Brown at No. 6 and Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 3 for the clinch.
-Split with TCU
Texas fell at No. 2 TCU, 4-1, at the Friedman Tennis Center in Fort Worth on March 11. With the result, the Longhorns and Horned Frogs split a pair of regular season matches by the same 4-1 score. After TCU took the doubles point with wins at Nos. 1 and 2, Pierre-Yves Bailly was first off the singles court with a victory at No. 3 to even the overall score. However, the Horned Frogs then claimed wins at Nos. 1, 4 and 5 to clinch the win. The Longhorns also held a lead at No. 2 when play stopped and had earlier opportunities at Nos. 5 and 6 where they came up short in first-set tiebreakers.
-The Acres over the Plains
Texas defeated No. 32 Auburn, 4-1, on March 8 at the Texas Tennis Center. After Texas took the doubles point with a pair of 6-2 wins at Nos. 2 and 3, the Longhorns received victories from Lucas Brown at No. 6 and Sebastian Eriksson at No. 5 for a 3-0 lead. Auburn picked up its point with a win at No. 2, but Texas clinched with a victory by Jonah Braswell at No. 4.
-Rally over Mississippi State
The Longhorns topped No. 22 Mississippi State, 4-3, on March 6 at the Texas Tennis Center. After the Bulldogs took the doubles point with wins at Nos. 3 and 1, Texas responded by capturing the first two singles matches by junior No. 13 Sebastian Gorzny at No. 2 and freshman Sebastian Eriksson at No. 5. Mississippi State regained the lead with wins at Nos. 3 and 6. However at that point, the Longhorns had leads on the remaining two courts and went on to receive victories from junior No. 39 Jonah Braswell at No. 4, and freshman No. 7 Timo Legout at No. 1 in the only three-set match of the night.
-Four straight over Florida
Texas defeated No. 37 Florida, 5-2, on March 2 in Gainesville. The Longhorns earned their fourth-straight win over Florida and collected a victory in their first SEC road match to move to 3-0 in conference play. The Gators won the doubles point with wins at Nos. 3 and 1, but the Longhorns responded with singles victories by Lucas Brown at No. 6, Oliver Ojakaar at No. 5, Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 3, and Timo Legout at No. 1 to clinch, 4-1. The match was then played out with Florida winning at No. 4, but Texas closed with a victory by Sebastian Gorzny at No. 2.
-SEC weekend sweep
Texas completed a sweep of its opening SEC homestand with a 6-1 win over No. 51 Ole Miss on February 24. The Longhorns took the doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 1, and after Ole Miss earned its lone point with a singles win at No. 4, Texas collected victories from Timo Legout at No. 1, Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 3, Sebastian Gorzny at No. 2 for the clinch, Lucas Brown at No. 5, and Evan Burnett at No. 6. The win for Burnett was the first of his UT career in a dual match.
-Victorious over Vandy in SEC opener
The Longhorns swept No. 34 Vanderbilt, 7-0, in the program's first-ever conference match as a member of the SEC on February 22 at the Weller Indoor Tennis Center. After Texas took the doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 3, the Longhorns received singles wins from Sebastian Eriksson at No. 5, Sebastian Gorzny at No. 2, Oliver Ojakaar at No. 4 for the clinch, Lucas Brown at No. 6, Timo Legout at No.1, and Jonah Braswell at No. 3.
-Legout picks up another SEC honor
Timo Legout was named the SEC Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week for the week ending February 18. It marked the third weekly conference honor of the season for Legout who had twice been named Freshman of the Week, but it was his first as Athlete of the Week. It was also the second consecutive time a Longhorn earned the Athlete of the Week honor after Pierre-Yves Bailly did so the week before. Legout led Texas to the semifinals of the ITA National Indoor Championships, which is the furthest any team from the SEC advanced. The Longhorns only fell to eventual champion Wake Forest, 4-3, with two singles matches that both went against them in third sets. Legout went 2-0 in singles with an unfinished match he was leading in a third-set tiebreaker, all against top-60 opponents at No. 1. He won his last match by a decisive 6-4, 6-2 score against No. 17 Stefan Dostanic of No. 2 Wake Forest, who clinched the championship for the Demon Deacons in the next round over Jack Pinnington of TCU.
-ITA Indoors semifinalists
In winning the 2025 ITA Kickoff Weekend Texas Regional, the Longhorns advanced to the ITA National Indoor Championships for the seventh-straight year and has now reached the quarterfinals in all seven of those. The Longhorns advanced to the semifinals this year for the second time in the last three by defeating No. 14 Texas A&M (4-1) and No. 5 Virginia (4-1) before falling to No. 2 Wake Forest (4-2). Against the Aggies, Texas rallied in doubles to take the point with wins at Nos. 2 and 3 and then followed with singles victories by Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 3, Timo Legout at No. 1, and Lucas Brown at No. 6. The Longhorns avenged what been their only loss of the season against the Cavaliers. After Virginia took the doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 1, Texas rebounded for singles victories from Sebastian Eriksson at No. 6, Oliver Ojakaar at No. 5, Bailly at No. 3, and Jonah Braswell at No. 4. The match against Wake Forest came down to the third set of the final singles match. After the Demon Deacons took the doubles point with wins at Nos. 1 and 3, the Longhorns collected the first two singles points from Legout at No. 1 and Ojakaar at No. 5. Wake Forest then won the next two singles matches at Nos. 6 and 2, and while Bailly evened the score with a win at No. 3, WFU secured the final match at No. 4.
-Sweeping the SEC weekly awards
Texas swept the two SEC weekly awards for the week ending Feb. 11. Pierre-Yves Bailly was named the Athlete of the Week, while Timo Legout was Freshman of the Week after both helped the Longhorns to a 4-1 win over No. 1 TCU. For Bailly, it marked his first career conference weekly award, while for Legout it was his second after being Co-Freshman of the Week two weeks earlier. Bailly won both his singles and doubles matches, registering a decisive 6-3, 6-3 top-10 win over No. 9 Lui Maxted at No. 3, and partnering with Sebastian Gorzny for a 7-6 (3) victory over Jack Pinnington and Cooper Woestendick at No. 2. Legout posted an impressive 6-1, 6-1 win over No. 18 Jack Pinnington at No. 1 and paired with Lucas Brown in coming up just short in doubles against the No. 2 pair of Maxted and Pedro Vives, 7-5, at No. 1 after TCU broke in the last game to win.
-Not so fast, No. 1
After being ranked No. 1 themselves the week before, No. 3 Texas hosted No. 1 TCU in the Weller Indoor Tennis Center and came away with a 4-1 win over the Horned Frogs. It marked the fifth win for the Longhorns over a No. 1-ranked team in the last five years. That includes victories over Ohio State in 2024, Ohio State and TCU in 2023, and USC in 2021. Texas captured a dramatic doubles point with two tiebreaker wins at Nos. 2 and 3, and followed with singles victories by Timo Legout at No. 1, Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 3, and Jonah Braswell at No. 4.
-Just short in Charlottesville
Texas came up just short on the road at No. 5 Virginia, 4-3, at the Boar's Head Sports Club in Charlottesville, Va., on Jan. 2. The Longhorns had match points that would have secured the overall win before the Cavaliers rallied. Texas took the doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 1, and after Virginia won at No. 5 singles, the Longhorns reclaimed the lead with wins by Jonah Braswell at No. 4, and Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 3. However, the Cavaliers responded with three-straight three-set wins in matches at Nos. 2, 1 and 6 after Texas had won the first set in each of them. The Longhorns also had three match points in a second-set tiebreaker at No. 1.
-Ojakaar representing Estonia in Davis Cup
Freshman Oliver Ojakaar is representing his home country of Estonia in Davis Cup play and will miss the match against Virginia. Ojakaar won his singles match against Ignacio Parisca, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4.
-Legout named SEC Co-Freshman of the Week
Timo Legout was named the SEC Co-Freshman of the Week on Jan. 29. It was his first career conference award and also the first SEC award ever for the program. Legout went a combined 4-0, all at No. 1 singles and doubles, including three ranked wins, and only dropped a total of nine games in leading Texas to wins over Rice and Georgia Tech to claim the ITA Kickoff Weekend regional title. It also advanced the Longhorns to the ITA National Indoor Championships for the seventh-straight year.
-Texas sweeps its way to the ITA Indoors and regional title
Texas won the championship of the ITA Kickoff Weekend Austin Regional with a 4-0 sweep of Georgia Tech at the Weller Indoor Tennis Center on Jan. 26. With the win, the Longhorns advanced to the ITA National Indoor Championships for the seventh-straight year with this year's tournament taking place from February 14-17 in Dallas and Waco, Texas. Texas took the doubles point with wins at Nos. 3 and 1 and continued with singles victories from Timo Legout at No. 1, Sebastian Gorzny at No. 2, and Sebastian Eriksson at No. 5, who clinched the sweep of the overall match. The day before, the Longhorns had swept Rice, 4-0, with double point wins at Nos. 1 and 2 and victories by the same players at the same positions in the same order.
-Horns cool the Sun Devils
Texas topped No. 18 Arizona State, 6-1, at the Weller Indoor Tennis Center on January 19. Although the Sun Devils took the doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 1, the Longhorns responded with victories from Timo Legout at No. 1, Lucas Brown at No. 6, Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 3, Jonah Braswell at No. 4 for the clinch, Oliver Ojakaar at No. 5, and Sebastian Gorzny at No. 2.
-UT system win
The Longhorns produced their second-straight 7-0 sweep with win over UTRGV on January 15 at the Texas Tennis Center. After sweeping the doubles point, the Longhorns received victories from Sebastian Gorzny at No. 1, Oliver Ojakaar at No. 4, Jonah Braswell at No. 3 for the clinch, Sebastian Eriksson at No. 5, Rahul Sachdev at No. 6, and Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 2.
-Two for two on opening weekend
Texas opened the 2025 dual match season with a pair of home wins at the TTC on Jan. 11 and 12 over Lamar (6-1) and ACU (7-0). The wins marked the dual match debuts of several player, including freshmen Sebastian Gorzny, Oliver Ojakaar and Rahul Sachdev, and junior transfer Sebastian Gorzny. Against Lamar, the Longhorns swept the doubles matches and earned singles victories from Eriksson at No. 5, Lucas Brown at No. 3, Gorzny at No. 1 for the clinch, Jonah Braswell at No. 2, and Ojakaar at No. 4. UT again swept three doubles matches against ACU and earned singles victories from Brown at No. 4, Gorzny at No. 1, Eriksson at No. 6, Braswell at No. 3, Ojakaar at No. 5, and Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 2.
-Berque at the Helm
An accomplished coaching veteran with three decades of experience with some of the nation's top tennis programs, Bruce Berque was named the fifth head coach of The University of Texas Men's Tennis program on May 23, 2019. Berque has now completed six seasons as head coach in Austin and has led the Longhorns to a 141-33 overall record (.810) that includes 18-3 this season, 27-4 last season, 26-4 in 2023, 18-11 in 2022, 24-6 in 2021, 13-3 in a 2020 season that was shortened by the pandemic, and 15-2 in 2019 en route to the guiding Texas to its first team National Championship. During Berque's six seasons at the helm, Texas is the only program in the nation to finish in the top four in five of those six seasons, and it is the only program nationally to make four NCAA Final Fours in that span. It is also one of just two programs to reach the NCAA championship match twice (2019, 2024), along with Virginia. The Longhorns are additionally one of five teams to have been ranked No. 1 at some point during the regular season or post-season in at least three of those years (Ohio State, Virginia, Florida, TCU). Adding in the recent preseason ranking of No. 1, Texas is the only program to be No. 1 in four of those years. During his career, Berque has helped produce four national team champions, seven national individual champions and 12 conference team titles. He has coached 28 All-Americans who collectively have amassed 58 All-America honors, along with two more players who have already qualified for three All-America honors in the upcoming year. Additionally, he has guided seven singles players and three doubles teams to a No. 1 national ranking. Texas came within a point of its second national title before coming up just short by a 4-3 score to TCU to finish as NCAA runners-up and with a No. 2 final ranking. As part of a 27-4 overall record, it had been the fourth time the teams had met during the season, resulting in a 2-2 split that also saw the Longhorns claim the Big 12 tournament championship over the Horned Frogs. Meanwhile, UT also secured an outright Big 12 regular season title with a perfect 7-0 record. That marked the fourth time in the five years under Berque where a conference slate was played that Texas took home at least a share of the regular season championship (2019, '21, '23, '24), including three outright (2019, '23, '24). The 2020 season was halted due to the pandemic prior to conference play. The 27 wins was second-most for the program since 2010, trailing only the 29 from the 2019 National Championship season. Berque has additionally guided Texas to the semifinals of the ITA National Indoor Championships in two of the last three years (2023, 2025), including the program's first finals appearance in 2023.
-Back from 2024
In the seventh season under head coach Bruce Berque, Texas will have a different look from 2024, but at the same time return a number of familiar faces. Returning with match experience will be a trio of players including senior Pierre-Yves Bailly, junior Jonah Braswell and sophomore Lucas Brown. In addition, three players were on the team last season and redshirted, including Timo Legout, who had a sensational fall season and moved all the way up to No. 3 and No. 7, respectively, in the preseason singles and doubles rankings, along with Evan Burnett and Rahul Sachdev.
-Three newcomers arrive for their first dual match season on the 40
The Longhorns add three new faces for 2025, all who are expected to be impact players, starting with Sebastian Gorzny, who transferred from TCU in the summer and is a junior. Two other players just arrived on the 40 Acres this month in Oliver Ojakaar from Estonia, and Sebastian Eriksson from Sweden.
-Fall/Summer Wrap-up
In the first year of the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships being moved to the fall, Timo Legout reached the semifinals of both this past November, combining with Lucas Brown in doubles to qualify as All-Americans. Earlier, Legout and the combination of Legout and Brown won both titles at the ITA Texas Regionals, and junior Jonah Braswell also made the singles final. Sebastian Gorzny additionally finished as the singles runner-up at the ITA All-American Championships.
-Year eight at the Texas Tennis Center
Texas is in its eighth year at the Texas Tennis Center with a 91-9 (.910) overall record in its history. Already 9-0 this season, the Longhorns were 10-1 last season, including wins over both No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 TCU with the only loss being a 4-3 decision to No. 1 Virginia. In 2023, Texas was 13-0, and additionally, set an all-time Texas Tennis attendance record of 1,332 against TCU in a match that saw them clinch the Big 12 regular season title. The season before, the Longhorns posted a 10-3 record with the only losses coming to top-five teams by 4-3 scores against No. 1 Florida and No. 2 Ohio State, and 6-0 to No. 4 Baylor. Texas posted a 14-2 mark in 2021, which included wins over No. 6 Texas A&M, No. 9 Florida and No. 15 Arizona. In a shortened season in 2020, UT recorded a 9-0 record with wins against No. 8 Stanford, No. 18 Georgia and No. 21 Florida State. The Longhorns finished 2019 at 15-1, including wins over No. 1 Ohio State, No. 6 Baylor and No. 12 Columbia, along with three NCAA Tournament victories. The lone loss that year came to No. 15 USC. During its inaugural season, Texas posted a 10-2 record, including winning the 2018 Big 12 Tournament.
Players Mentioned
