The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
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No. 3 Men’s Tennis advances to NCAA Final Four
05.16.2025 | Men's Tennis
The Longhorns topped No. 16 UCLA, 4-1, on Friday to move on to the NCAA Tournament semifinals for the third-straight season and fifth time in the last six years.
Waco, Texas – No. 3 Texas Men's Tennis advanced to the NCAA Tournament Final Four with a 4-1 win over No. 16 UCLA on Friday at the Hurd Tennis Center in Waco. It marks the third-straight trip to the semifinals for the Longhorns, the fifth time there in the last six years, and the ninth total in program history. They will next face No. 2 TCU on Saturday, May 17, at 7 p.m. CT.
With the win, Texas is now 29-4 this season with the 29 victories matching the 2019 team for the most in a season dating back to 1975 when teams began playing shorter schedules. The 2019 team went 29-3 on their way to the program's first National Championship.
In a match that was delayed almost two-and-a-half hours due to extended play in the day's previous matches, the Longhorns emerged from a back-and-forth doubles point by collecting a 6-4 win at No. 2 and a 7-6 (3) victory at No. 1 in the deciding match after the Bruins had won at No. 3 in between those. All four singles matches that finished then did so in just a span of six minutes. UCLA was first off the court with a win at No. 2, but right after that, Texas rattled off three-straight wins from freshman No. 1 Timo Legout at No. 1, freshman Sebastian Eriksson at No. 4, and senior No. 54 Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 3 for the clinch.
"I was super proud of the team," head coach Bruce Berque said. "I was happy with the way the guys took care of business. Today was a long day, and I thought they did a great job of handling their business, being professional, taking care of the bodies and staying focused. The competitive effort was awesome. It was a great win at No. 2 doubles for us – that team for UCLA is pretty good – then No. 1 doubles with Timo and Lucas (Brown) stepped up at the end. There was a lot good tennis out there, a lot of great fight, and I think it was a great win from Sebastian Eriksson at No. 4 today, and these two guys (Bailly and Legout) did what they usually do and stepped up and took care of business, and were decisive and played some great tennis, and I'm looking forward to another opportunity tomorrow."
In doubles, the No. 66 duo of juniors Sebastian Gorzny and Jonah Braswell were first off the court with a 6-4 win over Spencer Johnson and Aadarsh Tripathi at No. 2. It was the Bruins who broke first for a 2-0 lead on a deuce point, but the Longhorns broke right back to set out on a 4-0 run, including a stretch of nine-straight points to sweep the middle two games of that. The rest of the match was then on serve to the Texas win with the first two of the last four games held at deuce.
UCLA evened the point as the No. 81 pair of Bailly and Eriksson narrowly fell to Gianluca Ballotta and Emon van Loben Sels, 7-5, at No. 3. Despite three of the first 10 games reaching deuce, the match stayed on serve until the Bruins picked up the only break of the contest for a 6-5 lead on another deuce point before serving it out. Earlier in the match, Texas had held at deuce for a 2-1 lead and did so again for 4-3, while UCLA's deuce-point hold evened it, 4-4.
That left it to No. 1 where the No. 10 combo of Legout and sophomore Lucas Brown fought back from being down a late break to force a tiebreaker, which they won, 7-6 (3), over Alexander Hoogmartens and Giacomo Revelli. The Bruins broke first on a deuce point for a 2-1 lead, but the Longhorn broke right back for 2-2. UCLA later broke again for a 4-3 lead and consolidated for 5-3, but Texas stormed back with a 3-0 run during which they deflected a UCLA match point for a break when it was deuce at 5-4. With the Longhorns up, 6-5, the Bruins held to send it to a tiebreaker. There, Texas served first, and the breaker stayed on serve until the Longhorns collected the first mini-break for a 4-2 advantage. The next three points were also on serve for 6-3 when Texas broke again to claim the match and the point.
UCLA evened the overall match as junior No. 26 Gorzny was downed by No. 110 van Loben Sels, 6-3, 7-6 (2), at No. 2. After Gorzny held his opening serve, van Loben Sels went on a 4-0 run that included a deuce-point break for 2-1. Gorzny got one break back for 4-2 and held to get within 4-3, but van Loben Sels captured the next two games for the set. The players exchanged breaks to start the second set, but then Gorzny broke again, and this time consolidated it for a 3-1 lead. The next four games were all swept at love by the server for a 5-3 lead for Gorzny, and it looked like the next game was on its way to that, but Gorzny won a point on van Loben Sels' serve even though it was still held for 5-4. It was van Loben Sels who ended up breaking next for 5-5 on a deuce point, and the last two games were on serve to the tiebreaker. In that frame, van Loben Sels broke a 2-2 tie with a 5-0 run for the win.
A few moments later, Legout put Texas back in front with a 7-5, 6-2 win over No. 20 Rudy Quan at No. 1. Legout broke to begin the match and held for 2-0, but Quan responded with a 3-0 run that he completed with a deuce-point hold. Legout broke again at deuce for 4-3, which he consolidated for 5-3, but in the next game, Quan fended off two set points to hold at deuce for 5-4 before breaking at love for 5-5. Not to be outdone, Legout broke back at love and then finished a run of eight-straight points to end the set by holding at love. After Quan opened the second set by holding with another love game, Legout set out on a 5-0 run, including a deuce-point break that provided a 2-1 lead. Quan managed one more game on a hold for 5-2, but Legout served it out from there for the UT overall lead.
Moments after that, Eriksson extended the lead with a 6-4, 6-4 win over No. 35 Spencer Johnson at No. 4. The first eight games of the match were all on serve until Eriksson won consecutive deuce points to break and hold for the set. He then started the second set with a break, but Johnson broke back at deuce. With the set even, 2-2, the players exchanged deuce-point breaks. Eriksson then broke again for 4-3 and consolidated for 5-3, and although he had a match point at deuce in the next game get staved off, he served out the match in the following game for a 3-1 Texas lead.
Bailly then matched Eriksson's score for the clinch over Kaylan Bigun at No. 3. Five games reached deuce in the first set, including the first one, which Bigun held. Bailly then held and broke for the 2-1 lead, but Bigun broke back on a deuce point after Bailly had a 40-15 lead. However, Bailly broke again at deuce and then held for a 4-2 edge, but Bigun secured consecutive deuce points for 4-4. From there, the set belonged to Bailly, who swept the final two games at love. Bigun began the second set with a deuce-point hold. Bailly also held and then broke for a 2-1 lead, but Bigun broke back and held to take a 3-2 advantage. The next two games were held for a 4-3 lead for Bigun, but Bailly registered consecurive deuce-point wins to take a 5-4 lead before he served out the victory.
That left two matches unfinished, staring with No. 72 Braswell, who won an opening set tiebreaker and was leading, 7-6 (7), 2-1, over No. 116 Tripathi at No. 5. Tripathi grabbed consecutive deuce points to start the match with a hold and a break before holding again for 3-0. Tripathi later held at deuce for 4-1, but Braswell answered it for 4-2. Braswell broke for 4-3, but after Tripathi held at love for 5-3, Braswell came back with consecutive deuce points to start a 3-0 run. Braswell then had a chance to serve out the set, but Tripathi held to send it to a tiebreaker. In the breaker, the players exchanged three 2-0 runs starting with Tripathi, who claimed the first mini-break for a 5-2 lead. Braswell won the next three points for 5-5, and after Tripathi took one last lead, 6-5, Braswell secured the next two points and the last two for the win. The second set was then on serve through three games before play stopped.
That left only No. 6 where Brown had split sets with Revelli, 6-2, 5-7. Brown controlled the first set, getting out to a 4-0 lead, including a deuce-point break for 3-0. Revelli held for 4-1, but Brown held the first of two-straight deuce points for 5-1 and then had a set point at deuce in the next game. Revelli fended that off for 5-2, but Brown served out the set in the next game. Three of the first four games of the second set went to deuce, but stayed on serve for 2-2. Brown then won the next two games, while Revelli bounced back with the next three, including at deuce for 4-4. The following three games were on serve until Revelli broke again for the set before play halted.
#3 Texas 4, #16 UCLA 1
Singles – Order of Finish (2,1,4,3)
1. #1 Timo Legout (TEX) def. #20 Rudy Quan (UCLA) 7-5, 6-2
2. #110 Emon van Loben Sels (UCLA) def. #26 Sebastian Gorzny (TEX) 6-3, 7-6 (2)
3. #54 Pierre-Yves Bailly (TEX) def. Kaylan Bigun (UCLA) 6-4, 6-4
4. Sebastian Eriksson (TEX) def. #35 Spencer Johnson (UCLA) 6-4, 6-4
5. #72 Jonah Braswell (TEX) vs. #116 Aadarsh Tripathi (UCLA) 7-6 (9-7), 2-1, unf.
6. Lucas Brown (TEX) vs. Giacomo Revelli (UCLA) 6-2, 5-7, 0-0, unf.
Doubles – Order of Finish (2,3,1)
1. #10 Lucas Brown/Timo Legout (TEX) def. A. Hoogmartens/Giacomo Revelli (UCLA) 7-6 (3)
2. #66 Jonah Braswell/Sebastian Gorzny (TEX) def. Spencer Johnson/Aadarsh Tripathi (UCLA) 6-4
3. Gianluca Ballotta/Emon van Loben Sels (UCLA) def. #81 Pierre-Yves Bailly/Sebastian Eriksson (TEX) 7-5
Players Mentioned
