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Tennessee
No. 3 Men’s Tennis falls at No. 17 Tennessee, 4-2
04.13.2025 | Men's Tennis
The Longhorns were again without three regulars and came up short in their regular-season finale for their first conference loss.
Knoxville, Tenn. – No. 3 Texas Men's Tennis fell, 4-2, at No. 17 Tennessee on Sunday in Knoxville. The Longhorns were again without three regulars and came up short in their regular-season finale for their first conference loss. They conclude the regular season 22-4 overall and 13-1 in the SEC.
Texas will be the top seed in next week's SEC Championship, which will be played April 16-20 in Columbia, S.C. The Longhorns receive a double bye and begin play on Friday, April 18, at 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT against the winner of 8 seed Auburn and 9 seed Kentucky.
Tennessee took the doubles point with wins at Nos. 1 and 2, and although Texas evened the match with a singles victory by freshman Sebastian Eriksson at No. 4, the Volunteers claimed wins at Nos. 6 and 2 for a 3-1 lead. Freshman No. 2 Timo Legout pulled the Longhorns back within 3-2 with a win at No. 1, but Tennessee clinched at No. 5.
After doubles, Eriksson quickly responded for Texas with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Jose Garcia at No. 4. Eriksson broke first for a 2-1 lead, and although Garcia broke back, Eriksson won on deuce points in three of the next four games as part of a 9-0 run for the set and a 5-0 lead in the second. Garcia picked up one game on a deuce-point hold, but Eriksson served it out from there.
The Volunteers retook the lead as freshman Rahul Sachdev fell to Ian Cruz, 6-3, 6-2, at No. 6. Cruz secured the only break of the first set for a 3-1 lead on the way to a 6-3 win. Cruz broke again to start the second set, and although Sachdev had break point to potentially get back on serve for 3-3, Cruz held for 4-2 and completed a 4-0 run for the win.
Tennessee pushed the lead to 3-1 as senior No. 49 Pierre-Yves Bailly was downed by No. 25 Shunsuke Mitsui, 6-1, 7-5, at No. 2. Mitsui used two deuce-point breaks along with three holds to move out to a 5-0 lead in the first set. Bailly then held for 5-1, but Mitsui served out from there. In the second, Mitsui broke first, but Bailly broke back on a deuce point. Later in the set, Bailly had a break chance leading 4-3, however Matsui held at deuce for 4-4. Matsui then ended up being the next to break for a 6-5 lead before holding for 7-5 and the win.
A short time later, Legout registered a top-40 win with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 win over No. 33 Alex Kotzen at No. 1. Kotzen broke and held to begin the match, and after Legout held and broke to get back on serve, he collected the next break to take the set, 6-4. The first three games of the second set were then all breaks until Kotzen held for a 3-1 lead. Legout also held for 3-2, but Kotzen closed on a 3-0 run by breaking on Legout's next serve at deuce. In the third set, Kotzen broke Legout's first serve of a set for a third time and held for a 2-0 lead. Legout avoided another break by holding on a deuce point for 2-1 before his own break in the next game for 2-2. Later, Legout again held on a deuce point for a 4-3 lead to start a 3-0 run to his win.
The clinch then came at No. 5 where freshman Evan Burnett suffered a late deuce-point break in his third set and fell to Jan Kobierski, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. The deuce points for the match went in favor of Kobierski as he won seven of the eight. Five of those came in the first set, including four straight that were all won by Kobierski to provide him a 4-1 lead after Burnett held in the opening game. Kobierski then extended for 5-1 and held on one more deuce point for 6-2 and the set. With only one deuce point in the second set, Burnett moved out to a 3-0 lead. Kobierski held and broke for 3-2, but Burnett broke again on his lone deuce-point win and consolidated for 5-2. Kobierski got back within 5-4 with a hold and a break, but Burnett broke back for the win. In the third set, Kobierski broke for a 4-3 lead on the first of consecutive deuce-point wins and then broke again for the match.
In the remaining match, junior No. 66 Jonah Braswell was down a break after the opening game of the third set against Alejandro Moreno, 5-7, 7-5, 0-1, at No. 3. After the first eight games stayed on serve, the next three were breaks for a 6-5 lead for Moreno before he served out the set. It was Braswell who broke first in the second set for a 4-2 lead, which he consolidated for 5-2, but Moreno tied it with a 3-0 run that he completed with consecutive deuce-point wins. However, Braswell responded with a hold and a break to send it to a third.
Earlier, the Texas doubles lineup again was forced to shift without sophomore Lucas Brown at No. 1, and junior Sebastian Gorzny, who was once again limited to playing only doubles, again moved up to partner Legout. However, the duo fell to the No. 8 pair Kotzen and Moreno, 6-1, at No. 1. The Volunteers first two service games both went to deuce, but they managed to hold both with the second starting a 5-0 run to their win.
Tennessee then clinched the point as Bailly and Eriksson were downed by Mitsui and Alan Jesudason, 6-3, at No. 2. After holding their opening serve, the Volunteers collected consecutive deuce points for a 3-0 lead with the break in the second game ending up being the only one in the match on the way to Tennessee's win.
At that same time, Texas had a match point at deuce in the remaining contest at No. 3 where Braswell and Burnett led Kobierski and Lance Nisbet, 5-2 (40-40). The Volunteers also served first in that match and held to start it, but the Longhorns went on a 3-0 run after that. The next two games were then on serve for 4-2, and although Braswell and Burnett broke on a deuce point for 5-2 and again reached deuce in the next game, they were unable to get a chance for their win as the doubles point was clinched and play halted.
#17 Tennessee 4, #3 Texas 2
Singles – Order of Finish (4,6,2,1,5)
1. #2 Timo Legout (TEX) def. #33 Alex Kotzen (TENN) 6-4, 2-6, 6-3
2. #25 Shunsuke Mitsui (TENN) def. #49 Pierre-Yves Bailly (TEX) 6-1, 7-5
3. Alejandro Moreno (TENN) vs. #66 Jonah Braswell (TEX) 7-5, 5-7, 1-0, unf.
4. Sebastian Eriksson (TEX) def. Jose Garcia (TENN) 6-2, 6-1
5. Jan Kobierski (TENN) def. Evan Burnett (TEX) 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
6. Ian Cruz (TENN) def. Rahul Sachdev (TEX) 6-3, 6-2
Doubles – Order of Finish (1,2)
1. #8 Alex Kotzen/Alejandro Moreno (TENN) def. Sebastian Gorzny/Timo Legout (TEX) 6-1
2. Shunsuke Mitsui/Alan Jesudason (TENN) def. Pierre-Yves Bailly/Sebastian Eriksson (TEX) 6-3
3. Lance Nisbet/Jan Kobierski (TENN) vs. Jonah Braswell/Evan Burnett (TEX) 2-5, unf.
Players Mentioned
