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Mississippi State
No. 4 Men’s Tennis tops No. 22 Mississippi State, 4-3
03.06.2025 | Men's Tennis
The Longhorns secured the win in the final singles match and moved to 4-0 in SEC play.
Austin – No. 4 Texas Men's Tennis topped No. 22 Mississippi State, 4-3, on Thursday at the Texas Tennis Center. The Longhorns secured the win in the final singles match and moved to 4-0 in SEC play.
After Mississippi State 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. The Bulldogs 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.
After doubles, Gorzny defeated No. 88 Petar Jovanovic, 6-3, 6-3, to even the overall match. Three of the first five games went to deuce, including one in the opening game on Jovanovic's serve and consecutive ones for 2-2 and a 3-2 Jovanovic lead, but all remained on serve. Gorzny then set out on a 5-0 run to take the first set and hold serve in the opening game of the second. Once again, there were three deuce points in the first five games, this time for 1-1, 2-2 and a break by Jovanovic for a 3-2 lead. Gorzny then closed that set in the same way he did in the first with a 4-0 run that he capped with a deuce-point hold.
Just a few minutes later, Eriksson also notched a 6-3, 6-3 ranked victory with his coming against No. 92 Mario Martinez Serrano. In the first set, Eriksson moved out to a 3-0 lead with a break in the second game. Martinez Serrano got the break back to get within 4-3, but Eriksson answered with a deuce-point break and served out the set. Eriksson then sandwiched the second set with deuce-point breaks in the first and last games for the win, along with having held on a deuce-point for 5-3 just before capturing the victory.
Mississippi State drew back even as senior No. 64 Pierre-Yves Bailly fell to No. 125 Niccolo Baroni, 6-2, 6-3, at No. 3. Baroni jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first set, capped by a deuce-point break. Although Bailly broke back and held for 4-2, Baroni held and broke again at deuce for the set. In the second, Bailly would be the first to break for a 3-2 lead, but Baroni closed on a 4-0 run for the match, including a hold on a deuce point for 4-3 that would have put Bailly back up a break had he won it.
The Bulldogs then regained the overall lead when sophomore Lucas Brown was downed by Roberto Ferrer Guimaraes, 6-2, 7-6 (1) at No. 6. In the first set, Ferrer Guimaraes won four of the first five games with the exception being a deuce-point break by Brown for 2-1. Brown then held for 4-2, but Ferrer Guimaraes also held and then broke for the set. Brown began the second set with a break, but Ferrer Guimaraes broke back on a deuce point. Ferrer Guimaraes broke again for a 4-2 lead that he consolidated at deuce for 5-2, but Brown came storming back with a 4-0 run to take a 6-5 lead. That had included a deuce-point break to fend off a match point and get to within 5-4. However, Ferrer Guimaraes broke back to send the set to a tiebreaker where he pushed out to a 5-0 lead on the way to a 7-1 win.
With Texas holding leads on the remaining two courts, Braswell was the first one home with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Dusan Milanovic at No. 4. In the first set, Braswell broke first for a 3-2 lead, but Milanovic broke back on a deuce point. After the next three games were held for a 5-4 lead for Milanovic, Braswell fought off a set point at deuce to even it, and then broke on a deuce point for the lead before serving out the set. Those would be the first three games of a 6-0 run that provided Braswell a 3-0 lead in the second set, including a deuce-point break to open it. Milanovic got one break back and held for 3-2, but Braswell later broke again for the 6-3 win.
That turned all eyes to court 1 where Legout clinched the match with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 win over No. 72 Benito Sanchez Martinez in the only three-set contest of the match. Legout broke on a deuce point in the second game of the first set to spur a 4-0 start. Sanchez Martinez then got both breaks back during a 3-0 run that also included a deuce-point hold to get back on serve, but Legout broke again and served out the set. In the second, it was Sanchez Martinez who used a deuce-point break in the second game for a 3-0 run. Although Legout got the break back for 3-2, the next game went to deuce and Sanchez Martinez was able to break and consolidate for 5-2. Legout rallied and got the break back on a deuce point for 5-4, but Sanchez Martinez broke again to send it to a third set. There, Legout broke twice in the first three games surrounding a deuce-point hold for a 3-0 lead. The next two games were also breaks for a 4-1 lead for Legout, who then held at deuce for 5-1. Although Sanchez Martinez kept the match alive with a deuce-point hold, Legout served it out from there to clinch and send his teammates sprinting onto his court.
Earlier in doubles, Mississippi State was off the court first as Gorzny and Eriksson fell to Milanovic and Michal Novansky, 6-2, at No. 3. With the match tied, 2-2, the Bulldogs closed on a 4-0 run with breaks for 4-2 and the match.
The No. 10 duo of Legout and Brown then evened doubles with a 6-3 win over the No. 29 pair of Baroni and Martinez Serrano at No. 2. The Longhorns earned the match's only break with a deuce-point win for 5-3 before serving it out.
However, moments later, Bailly and freshman Oliver Ojakaar were downed by the No. 4 pair of Jovanovic and Sanchez Martinez, 6-3, at No. 1. Mississippi State broke for a 3-2 lead, and although Texas later had a chance to get the break back three games later on a deuce point, the Bulldogs held for 5-3 and then broke on another deuce point for the win.
The Longhorns (13-2) will next host No. 32 Auburn on Saturday, March 8, at 1 p.m. CT at the Texas Tennis Center.
#4 Texas 4, #22 Mississippi State 3
Singles – Order of Finish (2,5,3,6,4,1)
1. #7 Timo Legout (TEX) def. #72 B. Sanchez Martinez (MSU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-2
2. #13 Sebastian Gorzny (TEX) def. #88 Petar Jovanovic (MSU) 6-3, 6-3
3. #125 Niccolo Baroni (MSU) def. #64 Pierre-Yves Bailly (TEX) 6-2, 6-3
4. #39 Jonah Braswell (TEX) def. Dusan Milanovic (MSU) 7-5, 6-3
5. Sebastian Eriksson (TEX) def. #92 M. Martinez Serrano (MSU) 6-3, 6-3
6. R. Ferrer Guimaraes (MSU) def. Lucas Brown (TEX) 6-2, 7-6 (1)
Doubles – Order of Finish (3,2,1)
1. #4 Petar Jovanovic/B. Sanchez Martinez (MSU) def. Pierre-Yves Bailly/Oliver Ojakaar (TEX) 6-3
2. #10 Timo Legout/Lucas Brown (TEX) def. #29 Niccolo Baroni/M. Martinez Serrano (MSU) 6-3
3. Michal Novansky/Dusan Milanovic (MSU) def. Sebastian Gorzny/Sebastian Eriksson (TEX) 6-2
Players Mentioned
