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Tennessee
No. 3 Men’s Tennis advances to NCAA Elite Eight
05.10.2025 | Men's Tennis
The Longhorns swept No. 14 Tennessee, 4-0, on Saturday to move on to the quarterfinals for the third-straight season and fifth time in the last six years.
Austin, Texas – No. 3 Texas Men's Tennis advanced to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight with a 4-0 sweep over No. 14 Tennessee on Saturday at the Texas Tennis Center. It marks the third-straight trip to the quarterfinals for the Longhorns, and the fifth time there in the last six years. They will next face No. 16 UCLA on Friday, May 16, at 7 p.m. CT at the championship site in Waco.
With the win, Texas is now 28-4 this season with the 28 victories being the second-most in a season dating back to 1975 when teams began playing shorter schedules. The 2019 team has the most since then when the Longhorns went 29-3 on their way to the program's first National Championship.
It was the second win for Texas over Tennessee this season after also defeating the Volunteers, 4-2, in the SEC Championship semifinals on April 19, while Tennessee had won by the same score in Knoxville six days earlier in the last match of the regular season.
Texas secured the doubles point with wins at Nos. 1 and 3, while Tennessee won at No. 2 in between those. After the singles matches had moved into their second sets, weather delayed the match for two and a half hours, but the Longhorns struck quickly after that with three singles victories that all finished within seconds of each other, first by senior No. 54 Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 3, then freshman Sebastian Eriksson at No. 5, and finally sophomore Lucas Brown at No. 6 for the clinch.
It was the first time in three matches Texas had won the doubles point, and the No. 10 duo of Brown and freshman Timo Legout got it going quickly with a 6-1 top-10 win over No. 9 Alex Kotzen and Alejandro Morena at No. 1. The Longhorns raced out to a 5-0 lead, including deuce-point wins in the first two games. After the Volunteers picked up one game on serve for 5-1, Legout and Brown served out the match.
Tennessee evened doubles as the No. 81 pair of Bailly and Eriksson were downed by Shunsuke Mitsui and Alan Jesudason, 6-2, at No. 2. The Volunteers grabbed a break in the second game to start on a 3-0 run, and after the next four games were held, they broke again for the match.
That left it to No. 3 where the No. 66 combo of juniors Sebastian Gorzny and Jonah Braswell clinched the point with a 7-5 win over Lance Nisbet and Jose Garcia. The Longhorns opened with a hold and had an opportunity to break on a deuce point in the second game, but the Volunteers held, and the first four remained on serve until Tennessee broke and consolidated for a 4-2 lead. Texas then held and got the break back on a deuce point to start a 3-0 run for a 5-4 lead of their own. After the next two games were also on serve, Gorzny and Braswell got the break they needed for the victory and 1-0 team lead.
After doubles, Bailly put together a decisive 6-0, 6-3 win over Moreno at No. 3. Bailly immediately set out on an 8-0 run to begin the match, including deuce point breaks on the last three Moreno service games in that stretch. With the last of those giving Bailly a 2-0 lead in the second set, Moreno responded with two deuce-point breaks surrounding a hold for his own 3-2 lead. However, Bailly took it from there with a 4-0 run to the finish.
Seconds later, Eriksson completed his 6-3, 6-2 win over Jan Kobierski at No. 5. Kobierski served first and later pushed both of Eriksson's first two serves to deuce, grabbing a break on the second of those for a 3-1 lead. However, Eriksson rebounded with a 6-0 run that included three deuce-point wins for 3-3, a 4-3 lead and the 6-3 first-set win. He then held to begin the second set, and after Kobierski also held his first two serves for 2-2, Eriksson went on a 4-0 run to the finish that included the first break of the set for a 4-2 lead on a deuce point.
A few more seconds later, Brown delivered an ace to cap his 6-1, 6-2 win over Ian Cruz at No. 6. Brown maintained control throughout most of the match, starting out on a 5-0 run that included two deuce-point breaks. After Cruz held for 5-1, Brown captured the first set on a deuce-point hold. In the second set, Cruz held in the first game, but Brown used a couple more deuce-point breaks for a 4-0 run. Cruz got one game back on a deuce-point break for 4-2, but Brown broke again and served out the match for the clinch.
That left three matches unfinished with the Longhorns leading in two of them. No. 1 Legout was up a set and a break on No. 23 Kotzen, 7-5, 4-2, at No. 1. Legout broke first on a deuce point and then consolidated for a 4-1 lead, but Kotzen came back with a 4-0 run for the lead, winning the first two and last one of those at deuce. However, Legout rallied back for a 3-0 run to take the set. In the second, Kotzen broke and held for a 2-0 lead, but Legout closed on a 4-0 run before play halted.
No. 72 Braswell was also up a set and a break on Garcia, 6-4, 3-2, at No. 4. Braswell broke first in the match and consolidated for a 4-2 lead, and although Garcia got the break back on a deuce point for 4-4, Braswell broke again at deuce and served out the set. That was part of a 4-0 run into the second set where Braswell led 2-0 before Garcia claimed the next two games on a hold and deuce-point break, but Braswell broke again for the 3-2 lead when play stopped.
In the last match, No. 26 Gorzny was behind against No. 29 Mitsui, 3-6, 4-4, at No. 2. Mitsui broke on a deuce point to start the match and held for 2-0, and although Gorzny evened it, Mitsui went back up by two with a 4-2 lead. Gorzny got back within one with a hold in the next game, but Mitsui secured consecutive deuce points for the set. Mitsui began the second set with the first two games on a hold and a break, and after Gorzny broke back on a deuce point, the rest of the set was on serve, including the last two games at deuce before play concluded.
#3 Texas 4, #14 Tennessee 0
Singles – Order of Finish (3,5,6)
1. #1 Timo Legout (TEX) vs. #23 Alex Kotzen (TENN) 7-5, 4-2, unf.
2. #26 Sebastian Gorzny (TEX) vs. #29 Shunsuke Mitsui (TENN) 3-6, 4-4, unf.
3. #54 Pierre-Yves Bailly (TEX) def. Alejandro Moreno (TENN) 6-0, 6-3
4. #72 Jonah Braswell (TEX) vs. Jose Garcia (TENN) 6-4, 3-2, unf.
5. Sebastian Eriksson (TEX) def. Jan Kobierski (TENN) 6-3, 6-2
6. Lucas Brown (TEX) def. Ian Cruz (TENN) 6-1, 6-2
Doubles – Order of Finish (1,2,3)
1. #10 Timo Legout/Lucas Brown (TEX) def. #9 Alex Kotzen/Alejandro Moreno (TENN) 6-1
2. Shunsuke Mitsui/Alan Jesudason (TENN) def. #81 Pierre-Yves Bailly/Sebastian Eriksson (TEX) 6-2
3. #66 Sebastian Gorzny/Jonah Braswell (TEX) def. Lance Nisbet/Jose Garcia (TENN) 7-5
Players Mentioned
