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South Carolina
No. 4 Men’s Tennis wins 2025 SEC Championship title
04.20.2025 | Men's Tennis
The Longhorns defeated host No. 13 South Carolina, 4-1, to sweep the SEC regular season and tournament championships in their debut season.
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Columbia, S.C. – No. 4 Texas Men's Tennis captured the 2025 SEC Championship title with a 4-1 win over host and 3 seed No. 13 South Carolina on Sunday at the Carolina Tennis Center in Columbia, S.C.
With the win, the Longhorns improved to 25-4 this season and swept both the regular season and tournament championships in their debut season in the SEC. It marks the second-straight year Texas has accomplished winning both titles in its conference, after doing so last season, its final one in the Big 12. After the match, freshman Timo Legout was named the tournament MVP and to the All-Tournament team, while junior Sebastian Gorzny also earned All-Tournament honors.
Your 2025 @SEC Tournament Champs! #HookEm 🤘🎾 pic.twitter.com/FH9kJOslwB
— Texas Men's Tennis (@TexasMTN) April 20, 2025
"I'm super happy for our guys and proud of our team for sure," head coach Bruce Berque said. "They've continued to show their consistency and resiliency all season and have come through at each step along the way. No matter how much adversity they've had to face, they've stepped up and responded, and above all, they've supported each other, which really goes to show the culture that they've created."
The Longhorns clinched the doubles point with a 6-2 win at No. 2, and 6-3 win in the deciding match at No. 1 after the Gamecocks picked up a 6-4 win at No. 3. In singles, No. 2 Legout was then first off the court with a win at No. 1, and after South Carolina won at No. 6, the Longhorns closed with victories by No. 22 Gorzny at No. 2, and junior No. 72 Jonah Braswell at No. 4 for the clinch.
handled business 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/4Ctoqj6R42
— Texas Men's Tennis (@TexasMTN) April 20, 2025
After doubles, Legout produced an efficient 6-1, 6-2 top-20 win over No. 20 Connor Thomson for a 2-0 overall lead. Legout came out of the gate with hold at love, a deuce-point break and another hold for a 3-0 lead. Thomson got one game on a deuce-point hold for 3-1, but Legout finished the set with another 3-0 run, including a deuce-point break for 5-1. In the second set, Thomson held his opening serve, but Legout set out on a 4-0 run to take control. Thomson registered one more game on a deuce-point break, but Legout broke back and served out the match at love.
A short time later, South Carolina made it 2-1 overall, as freshman Evan Burnett fell to Gabe Avram, 6-1, 6-3, at No. 6. Avram opened on a 5-0 run that included two deuce-point holds for 2-0 and 4-0. Burnett then held for 5-1 and had a break opportunity at deuce in the next game, but Avram managed to hold for the set. In the second, Avram broke and held for a 2-0 lead, but Burnett broke back and held for 2-2. The players then exchanged deuce-point breaks for 3-3, but Avram closed the match on a 3-0 run.
A short time later, Gorzny came through with a decisive 6-2, 6-3 win over Lucas da Silva at No. 2. The first five games stayed on serve for a 3-2 lead for Gorzny even though both of da Silva's service games in that span went to deuce. Gorzny grabbed the first break for 4-2 and followed that with a hold and deuce-point break to complete a 4-0 run for the set. He extended that to a 7-0 run as he took a 3-0 lead in the second set with a hold, another deuce-point break and a hold. The remainder of the match was then on serve to Gorzny's win, including one game that reached deuce, which Gorzny won for a 4-1 lead.
At that point, Braswell was up a set and even at 4-4 in the second on the way to a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Atakan Karahan at No. 4 for the clinch. Braswell broke first in the match for a 2-1 lead on a deuce point, which initiated a 4-0 run for 5-1. The last two games were then held for his win. The players began the second set by exchanging breaks, starting with Braswell. The next six games were on serve for 4-4, including a deuce-point hold for Karahan that had given him a 3-2 lead. Braswell then snapped the string of holds with a break for a 5-4 lead, and although he fell behind 15-40 in the next game, he rallied to win at deuce on championship point to send his teammates streaming onto his court.
That left two matches unfinished at Nos. 3 and 5 with the Longhorns holding third-set leads in both after dropping their opening sets. At No. 3, senior No. 46 Pierre-Yves Bailly was ahead of No. 119 Sean Daryabeigi, 4-6, 6-3, 1-0. In the first set, Daryabeigi had pushed out to a 4-0 lead, but Bailly gradually got back into the set starting with a break and a deuce-point hold. Daryabeigi then held for 5-2, and although Bailly held and broke for 5-4 to get back on serve, Daryabeigi broke back for the set. Bailly had two break points in the opening game of the second set, and even though Daryabeigi managed to hold, Bailly broke his next serve for a 2-1 lead. Daryabeigi responded by breaking back and holding for his own 3-2 lead, but the rest of the set was Bailly's as he closed on a 4-0 run that included two deuce-point breaks for 4-3 and 6-3. Bailly then held in the only game of the third set when play halted.
Eriksson was then leading, 1-6, 6-3, 3-1, against Jelani Sarr at No. 5. Eriksson began the match with an impressive break at love in the opening game, but Sarr broke back on a deuce point to start a 6-0 run for the set. After the first six games of the second set were on serve for 3-3, capped by a deuce-point hold by Sarr, Eriksson secured consecutive deuce points for a hold and a break for 5-3 and then served out the set. In all, it turned out to be a 5-0 run for Eriksson after he won the first seven points of the third set to begin with a break and a hold. He then had two break points in the next game, but Sarr was able to hold for 2-1. Eriksson held after that for 3-1 and was attempting break again in the following game on a deuce point when play stopped.
Earlier in doubles, Texas captured the point with a pair of top-50 wins, first by Gorzny and Braswell who defeated No. 50 Karahan and Sarr, 6-2, at No. 2. The Longhorns won consecutive deuce points to begin the match for a break and a hold. The next four games were then on serve until they broke again at deuce for 5-2 and served out the match.
South Carolina evened doubles as the No. 78 pair of Bailly and Eriksson fell to Daryabeigi and Max Stenzer, 6-4, at No. 3. The Gamecocks broke first on a deuce point for a 4-2 lead, and that started a string of five-straight breaks to end the match for South Carolina's win. One of those came at deuce, which the Gamecocks won for a 5-3 lead.
That left it to No. 1 where the No. 9 duo of Legout and sophomore Lucas Brown topped No. 3 da Silva and Thomson, 6-3, for the clinch. The Longhorns opened the match with a hold and took a 0-40 lead in the next game, but the Gamecocks rallied to hold for 1-1. Four games later, Texas came through with a deuce-point break for a 4-2 lead and then held on a deuce point for 5-2. South Carolina got one more game on serve, but Legout and Brown closed with a hold for the clinch.
Next, the Longhorns will await their NCAA Tournament bid and seeding with anticipated hosting of first and second rounds on May 3-4 at the Texas Tennis Center. The tournament selection show will take place on Monday, April 28, at 4:30 p.m. CT.
#4 Texas 4, #13 South Carolina 1
Singles – Order of Finish (1,6,2,4)
1. #2 Timo Legout (UT) def. #20 Connor Thomson (SC) 6-1, 6-2
2. #22 Sebastian Gorzny (UT) def. Lucas da Silva (SC) 6-2, 6-3
3. #119 Sean Daryabeigi (SC) vs. #46 Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) 6-4, 3-6, 0-1, unf.
4. #72 Jonah Braswell (UT) def. Atakan Karahan (SC) 6-2, 6-4
5. Jelani Sarr (SC) vs. Sebastian Eriksson (UT) 6-1, 3-6, 1-3, unf.
6. Gabe Avram (SC) def. Evan Burnett (UT) 6-1, 6-3
Doubles – Order of Finish (2,3,1)
1. #9 Lucas Brown/Timo Legout (UT) def. #3 Lucas da Silva/Connor Thomson (SC) 6-3
2. Sebastian Gorzny/Jonah Braswell (UT) def. #50 Atakan Karahan/Jelani Sarr (SC) 6-2
3. Sean Daryabeigi/Max Stenzer (SC) def. #78 Pierre-Yves Bailly/Sebastian Eriksson (UT) 6-4
Players Mentioned
