The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Cornell
No. 3 Men’s Tennis advances to NCAA Sweet 16
05.04.2025 | Men's Tennis
The Longhorns downed No. 37 Cornell, 4-1, on Sunday to move on to the round of 16 for the 11th-straight year.
Austin, Texas – No. 3 Texas Men's Tennis advanced to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 with a 4-1 victory over No. 37 Cornell on Sunday at the Texas Tennis Center.
It marks the 11th-straight year the Longhorns have reached at least the round of 16 where they will face No. 14 Tennessee next Saturday at 1 p.m. CT at the Texas Tennis Center. That match will be the third meeting between the teams this season after the Volunteers took a 4-2 decision in Knoxville in the last match of the regular season on April 13, and the Longhorns won by the same score just six days later in the semifinals of the SEC Championship in Columbia, S.C.
With the win against Cornell, Texas is now 27-4 this season, which matches the final record from last year. In addition to being the second-straight season with 27 wins, it's also only the fourth time reaching that total since teams began playing shorter schedules in 1975. Along with the past two seasons, the Longhorns registered 29 wins in 2019 and 27 in 2010.
Texas secured the doubles point with a pair of 6-3 wins at Nos. 3 and 1 and followed with singles victories by senior No. 54 Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 3 and freshman Sebastian Eriksson at No. 5 for a 3-0 lead. The Big Red picked up a win at No. 2, but the Longhorns closed with a victory by sophomore Lucas Brown at No. 6 for the clinch.
After doubles, Bailly delivered the second 6-0, 6-0 sweep for Texas in as many days after Eriksson produced one in the first round against Montana. Bailly downed Rodrigo Fernandes with only two games even reaching deuce, including for 3-0 and 6-0 in the second set.
Eriksson extended the overall lead with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Nathan Mao at No. 5. The first set stayed on serve all the way to 4-4 until Eriksson broke on a deuce point for 5-4 and then served it out. Eriksson was also the only one to break in the second set, which he did twice for a 3-2 lead and for 6-3 and the match.
Cornell recorded its point as junior No. 26 Sebastian Gorzny fell to No. 100 Adit Sinha, 6-2, 6-3, at No. 2. Sinha won all five deuce points in the match, including three in the first set. Gorzny broke to open the match, but Sinha broke back to start a 4-0 run that included a deuce-point break on Gorzny's next serve. After Gorzny held for 4-2, Sinha won three-straight deuce points as part of a 5-0 run to give him the first set and establish a 3-0 lead in the second. Gorzny rallied to even it, 3-3, however Sinha was able to take the last three games, including a deuce-point hold for the match.
Shortly after that, the Longhorns had simultaneous opportunities for the clinch as both Brown and freshman No. 1 Timo Legout were attempting to break for their matches. It would be Brown who secured his for a 7-5, 6-2 win over Felipe Pinzon at No. 6 to send Texas to the Sweet 16. Pinzon broke in the opening game on a deuce point and maintained that break lead until Brown got it back on a deuce point for 5-5. Brown had trailed 5-3 during that stretch and capped a 4-0 run for the set with another deuce-point break. In the second set, Brown held at deuce for a 2-1 lead to initiate a 3-0 run for a 4-1 lead. Pinzon picked up one more game on a deuce-point hold, but Brown finished it with the next two games for his win. In all, Brown claimed 10 of the last 12 games in the match.
That left two matches unfinished, starting with Legout, who had come up just short of breaking for his match on a deuce point, leaving him with a 6-2, 6-6 lead over No. 49 Radu Papoe at No. 1. The first five games of the match were on serve with Legout holding on deuce points for 1-0 and 2-1. Then with the set even, 2-2, Legout set out on a 6-0 run to secure the first set and establish a 2-0 lead in the second. Legout had also held at deuce for a 5-2 lead in that stretch. After Legout held and broke to start the second set, Papoe broke back, but Legout broke again and held for a 4-1 lead. Papoe recovered to even it, 4-4, and the rest of the set stayed on serve despite the last two games reaching deuce. The players had yet to start their tiebreaker when the match was clinched.
In the last match, junior No. 72 Jonah Braswell trailed Jack McCarthy, 5-7, 2-5, at No. 4. McCarthy broke first for a 2-1 lead, but Braswell eventually got that break back to knot it, 5-5. However, McCarthy broke again and claimed the set on a deuce-point hold. Braswell held on a deuce point to start the second set, but McCarthy went on a 5-0 run before Braswell held again for 5-2 when play concluded.
Earlier in doubles, Texas' wins by the same 6-3 score also finished at close to the same time with the No. 81 duo of Bailly and Eriksson crossing the line first with their victory over Sinha and McCarthy at No. 3. The Longhorns bookended the match with breaks and also had a deuce-point hold in the second game on the way to their win.
The No. 10 pair of Legout and Brown then clinched the point against Eric Verdes and Rushil Khosla at No. 1. Texas captured the only break of the match in the second game and made it stand up the rest of the way, including a deuce-point hold for Cornell for 5-3 that had also been a match point for the Longhorns.
In the remaining match, the No. 66 combo of Gorzny and Braswell had a 4-3 lead on Papoe and Mao at No. 2 when play stopped. Like the match at No. 1, the Longhorns had also gotten out to a 3-0 lead with a break in the second game. Although the Big Red pulled back within 3-2 with a hold and a break, Texas broke back on a deuce point for 4-2, and Cornell made it three-straight breaks for 4-3. The following game was also on a deuce point at the finish.
#3 Texas 4, #37 Cornell 1
Singles – Order of Finish (3,5,2,6)
1. #1 Timo Legout (TEX) vs. #49 Radu Papoe (COR) 6-2, 6-6, unf.
2. #100 Adit Sinha (COR) def. #26 Sebastian Gorzny (TEX) 6-2, 6-3
3. #54 Pierre-Yves Bailly (TEX) def. Rodrigo Fernandes (COR) 6-0, 6-0
4. #72 Jonah Braswell (TEX) vs. Jack McCarthy (COR) 5-7, 2-5, unf.
5. Sebastian Eriksson (TEX) def. Nathan Mao (COR) 6-4, 6-3
6. Lucas Brown (TEX) def. Felipe Pinzon (COR) 7-5, 6-2
Doubles – Order of Finish (3,1)
1. #10 Timo Legout/Lucas Brown (TEX) def. Eric Verdes/Rushil Khosla (COR) 6-3
2. #66 Sebastian Gorzny/Jonah Braswell (TEX) vs. Radu Papoe/Nathan Mao (COR) 4-3, unf.
3. #81 Pierre-Yves Bailly/Sebastian Eriksson (TEX) def. Adit Sinha/Jack McCarthy (COR) 6-3
Players Mentioned
