The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Baylor
No. 7 Men’s Tennis preview: vs. No. 19 Baylor (ITA Indoors Semifinals)
02.15.2026 | Men's Tennis
The Longhorns will face the Bears in the semifinals of the ITA Indoors on Monday at 6:30 p.m. CT.
No. 7 Men's Tennis preview: vs. No. 19 Baylor (ITA Indoors Semifinals)
PURCHASE TICKETS
No. 7 (3 seed Waco) Texas vs. No. 19 (5 seed Waco) Baylor
Team Records: Texas (7-3, 0-0 SEC), Baylor (7-2, 0-0 Big 12)
When: Monday, Feb. 16, 2026, 6:30 p.m. CT
Where: Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex, Dallas, Texas
Live Stats: https://hookem.at/MTN-Stats
Live Video: https://hookem.at/MTN-Watch
Web Broadcast: Cracked Racquets (YouTube)
Updated Statistics
Tournament Central
-Tournament Results/Schedule
Friday, February 13 (Round of 16)
Waco
(3) Texas def. (6) Texas A&M, 4-2
Saturday, February 14 (Quarterfinals)
Waco
(3) Texas def. (2) TCU, 4-3
Monday, February 16 (Semifinals)
Dallas (Waco bracket seeds)
(3) Texas vs. (5) Baylor, 6:30 p.m. CT
Tuesday, February 17 (Finals)
Dallas
Texas-Baylor winner vs. Ohio State-Virginia winner, 6:30 p.m. CT
Notes
-Two top-10 wins to reach ITA Indoors semifinals
Texas defeated two top-10 opponents to reach the semifinals of ITA National Indoor Championships on February 13 and 14. The Longhorns were placed in Waco and topped No. 8 Texas A&M, 4-2, on Friday, and then No. 5 TCU, 4-3, on Saturday. It marks the second-straight year and third time in the last for Texas has advanced to the semifinals.
Although Texas A&M moved out to a 2-0 lead with the doubles point that came via wins at Nos. 3 and 1, along with the first singles contest at No. 6, Texas responded with four-straight singles victories by Abel Forger at No. 2, Sebastian Eriksson at No. 3, Sebastian Gorzny at No. 1, and Lucas Marionneau at No. 5 for the clinch.
Then for the second-straight match, the Longhorns found themselves in a 2-0 deficit after dropping the doubles point via matches at Nos. 1 and 2, along with the first singles contest at No. 5. However, they again responded with four singles wins, starting with a top-five victory for Sebastian Gorzny at No. 1, and a win by Kalin Ivanovski at No. 2 to even it, 2-2. The Horned Frogs briefly retook the lead with a win at No. 3, but Texas completed the comeback with wins by Sebastian Eriksson at No. 4 and Oliver Ojakaar at No. 6 to clinch it. The match for Ojakaar was just his second singles match in the 2025-26 year with the other coming in fall play, making it first in a dual match since March 2 of last year.
-Eight-straight trips to the ITA National Indoor Championships
In winning the 2026 ITA Kickoff Weekend Texas Regional, the Longhorns advanced to the ITA National Indoor Championships for the eighth-straight year. This will be the second-straight year Texas and Texas A&M have faced off in the round of 16 in the state of Texas, even holding the same seeds as last year with that meeting resulting a 4-1 win for the Longhorns in Dallas. Texas went on to defeat No. 5 Virginia, 4-1, in the quarterfinals before falling to No. 2 Wake Forest, 4-3, in the semifinals. The year before, the Longhorns lost a tight opening round match to No. 14 Arizona before going on to sweeps of No. 13 Michigan and No. 4 South Carolina in consolation matches in New York. In 2023, Texas achieved a program first by reaching the final with wins over No. 9 Wake Forest, No. 1 Ohio State and No. 4 Michigan, before falling to No. 3 TCU in the title match. Texas has reached the quarterfinals in six of the seven of the previous years, which includes 2021 when the national site hosted only eight teams and started in the quarters.
-Baylor Series: Texas leads, 86-30-1
Texas leads the all-time series, 86-30-1, including a 7-0 sweep in the last meeting in Austin in 2024, which was also Senior Day and the last regular-season match ever in the Big 12 for the Longhorns. Texas also secured a 4-0 sweep in Waco in 2023. Prior to that, Baylor had won four-straight and seven of eight. That includes three in 2022 – 6-1 in a non-conference match on Feb. 7 in Waco, 6-0 in conference play on April 1 in Austin, and 4-2 in the Big 12 Championship semifinals in Fort Worth. The teams met four times in 2021 including a non-conference contest in Austin, the quarterfinals of the ITA Indoor Nationals in Champaign, Ill., a conference match in Waco, which the Longhorns won, 5-2, and in the Big 12 Championship final, which was also in Waco. The teams did not meet in 2020 due to the pandemic, however prior to that, Texas had won four of the previous five, including four-straight from 2017-19, until the Bears won in the 2019 Big 12 Championship final.
-Last 13 Meetings
2024: #4 Texas 7, #37 Baylor 0 – Austin, Texas
2023: #1 Texas 4, #41 Baylor 0 – Waco, Texas
2022: #4 Baylor 4, #12 Texas 2 – Fort Worth, Texas (Big 12 Championship Semifinals)
2022: #4 Baylor 6, #11 Texas 0 – Austin, Texas
2022: #2 Baylor 6, #9 Texas 1 – Waco, Texas
2021: #3 Baylor 4, #2 Texas 0 – Waco, Texas (Big 12 Championship Final)
2021: #7 Texas 5, #2 Baylor 2 – Waco, Texas
2021: #4 Baylor 4, #5 Texas 0 – Champaign, Ill. (ITA National Indoors Quarterfinals)
2021: #6 Baylor 4, #4 Texas 1 – Austin, Texas (non-conference)
2019: #8 Baylor 4, #2 Texas 1 – Lawrence, Kansas (Big 12 Championship Final)
2019: #4 Texas 4, #6 Baylor 3 – Austin, Texas
2018: #15 Texas 4, #27 Baylor 2 – Austin, Texas (Big 12 Championship Final)
2018: #15 Texas 4, #23 Baylor 0 – Waco, Texas
Last Meeting
#4 Texas 7, #37 Baylor 0
Saturday, April 13, 2024
Austin, Texas • Texas Tennis Center
Singles – Order of Finish (5,1,2,6,3,4)
1. #1 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) def. #90 Zsombor Velcz (BU) 6-2, 6-2
2. #2 Micah Braswell (UT) def. #62 Tadeas Paroulek (BU) 7-5, 6-1
3. #35 Gilles-Arnaud Bailly (UT) def. #110 Devin Badenhorst (BU) 6-7 (3), 6-3, 1-0 (8)
4. #84 Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) def. Louis Bowden (BU) 6-2, 7-6 (5)
5. Cleeve Harper (UT) def. Oskar Brostrom (BU) 6-0, 6-3
6. Jonah Braswell (UT) def. Marko Miladinovic (BU) 6-2, 6-4
Doubles – Order of Finish (1,2)
1. #35 Eliot Spizzirri/Siem Woldeab (UT) def. #33 Tadeas Paroulek/Zsombor Velcz (BU) 6-1
2. Cleeve Harper/Micah Braswell (UT) def. Oskar Brostrom/Devin Badenhorst (BU) 6-4
3. Eshan Talluri/Evin McDonald (UT) vs. Christopher Frantzen/Louis Bowden (BU) 3-5, unf.
-ITA Team Rankings
Texas was tabbed No. 2 in the preseason poll released January 7 by the ITA, then was No. 4 on January 21, No. 5 on January 28 and No. 7 on February 4. It's the 113th-straight week in the top 15 dating back to April 2018.
-ITA Individual National Rankings
Texas had four listings in the initial ITA individual spring rankings that were released February 24 with two in singles and two doubles pairs. Sebastian Gorzny returned to the top-10 at No. 10, while Sebastian Eriksson was No. 51. Meanwhile, Eriksson and Oliver Ojakaar came in at No. 27 in doubles, and Gorzny and Lucas Brown were No. 64.
Texas
Singles
No. 10 Sebastian Gorzny
No. 51 Sebastian Eriksson
Doubles
No. 27 Sebastian Eriksson/Oliver Ojakaar
No. 64 Sebastian Gorzny/Lucas Brown
Baylor
Singles
No. 17 Devin Badenhorst
No. 41 Connor Van Schalkwyk
No. 99 Alexandru Chirita
No. 106 Zsombor Velcz
Doubles
No. 38 Zsombor Velcz/Connor Van Schalkwyk
-Sweeping Corpus Christi
Texas swept Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 7-0, at the Texas Tennis Center on February 7. The Longhorns did not drop a set throughout the overall match in winning doubles contests at Nos. 2 and 3, and following with singles victories by Abel Forger at No. 2, Sebastian Gorzny at No. 1, Mariano Dedura-Palomero at No. 5 for the clinch, Evan Burnett at No. 6, Lucas Marionneau at No. 4, and Jonah Braswell at No. 3.
-Facing the best
Although the Longhorns have three losses this season, the week after the third one against Ohio State on January 30, the three opponents they were defeated by were then ranked Nos. 1, 2 and 3 in the nation – Virginia, Ohio State and Wake Forest, respectively.
-Downed at Ohio State
Texas fell on the road at No. 6 Ohio State, 4-1, on January 30 at the Ty Tucker Tennis Center in Columbus. The Longhorns secured two individual top-five wins during the match but came up short in their first road match of the season. Ohio State came into the match with three top-10 doubles teams and took the doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 1 surrounding Texas' victory at No. 3, which was one of the Longhorns' top-five victories. The Buckeyes went up 2-0 after freshman Kalin Ivanovski was forced to retire in singles, and although Texas pulled within one when senior No. 39 Sebastian Gorzny earned the other top-five win at No. 1, the Buckeyes closed by taking Nos. 6 and 5.
-Gorzny earns first SEC Athlete of the Week honor
Sebastian Gorzny was named the SEC Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week for the week of January 21-27, the conference announced January 28. It marked the first weekly SEC honor of his career. Gorzny went a combined 6-0 in leading Texas to wins over UNC Wilmington and South Florida to earn the ITA Kickoff Weekend Austin Regional Championship, along with a close loss to top-ranked Wake Forest. Gorzny did not drop a set during his six wins and collected two top-30 singles victories over No. 12 DK Suresh of Wake Forest and No. 28 Hugo Car of South Florida, in addition to defeating Jordi Domenech of UNCW, all of which came at No. 1 singles. He was also first off the respective doubles or singles court in five of his six matches. In doubles, he paired with Lucas Marionneau in all three wins, all of which came in decisive fashion.
-Back to the ITA Indoors
Texas won the championship of the ITA Kickoff Weekend Austin Regional with a pair of 4-0 sweeps over UNC-Wilmington on January 23 and South Florida on January 24 at the Weller Indoor Tennis Center. With the wins, the Longhorns advanced to the ITA National Indoor Championships for the eighth-straight year with this year's tournament taking place from February 13-17 in Dallas and Waco, Texas. Against UNCW, Texas claimed the doubles point with wins at Nos. 1 and 3, and followed with singles wins from Sebastian Gorzny at No. 1, Lucas Brown at No. 3, and Mariano Dedura-Palomero at No. 5 for the clinch. Versus USF, the Longhorns earned the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and 2, followed by singles wins from Abel Forger at No. 3, Gorzny at No. 1, and Kalin Ivanovski at No. 2 for the clinch.
-Back-to-Back Top-Five Contests
Texas hosted a pair of top-five contests in Austin and had paths to victory in both, but came up short against No. 5 Virginia on January 18, 4-1, and No. 1 Wake Forest on January 21, 4-2. Against the Demon Deacons, the Longhorns claimed doubles with wins at Nos. 3 and 1, while Sebastian Gorzny provided a 2-0 lead by topping No. 12 DK Suresh at No. 1. However, Wake Forest rallied with singles wins at Nos. 2, 3, 5, and 4. Against Virginia, the Cavaliers won doubles at Nos. 2 and 1 and took a 2-0 lead with a singles win at No. 3. Although Abel Forger made it 2-1 with a win at No. 2, Virginia closed with wins at Nos. 1 and 4.
-Starting the season 2-0
The Longhorns opened the season with a pair of home wins over ACU on January 10, 7-0, and UIW on January 14, 6-1. Texas did not drop a set against ACU in sweeping played out doubles and singles, while they did the same against UIW except for a 7-5, 7-5 loss at No. 1 singles.
-Berque at the Helm
An accomplished coaching veteran with three decades of experience with some of the nation's top tennis programs, Bruce Berque was named the fifth head coach of The University of Texas Men's Tennis program on May 23, 2019. Berque begins his eighth season as head coach in Austin and has led the Longhorns to a 158-38 overall record (.806) that includes 7-3 this season, 28-5 last season (missed the NCAA first round match vs. Montana due to illness), 27-4 in 2024, 26-4 in 2023, 18-11 in 2022, 24-6 in 2021, 13-3 in a 2020 season that was shortened by the pandemic, and 15-2 in 2019 en route to the guiding Texas to its first team National Championship. In reaching the NCAA Final Four last year, Texas is the only program nationally to reach it five times in the last six full seasons. During Berque's previous seven seasons at the helm, Texas is the only program in the nation to finish in the top four in six of those. It is also one of just four programs to reach the NCAA championship match twice (2019, 2024), along with Virginia, TCU and Wake Forest in that span. The Longhorns are one of three teams to have been ranked No. 1 at some point during the season in four of the last seven years along with Ohio State and TCU.
During his career, Berque has helped produce four national team champions, seven national individual champions and 14 conference team titles. He has coached 30 All-Americans who collectively have amassed 62 All-America honors. Additionally, he has guided eight singles players and three doubles teams to a No. 1 national ranking, including Timo Legout last season. Legout went on to be the ITA National Player of the Year, giving Texas three-straight years earning that honor, along with Eliot Spizzirri in 2023 and 2024. The 2025 SEC Coach of the Year, Berque guided the Horns to both the regular season and tournament championships in their debut season in the SEC. In 2024, Texas came within a point of its second national title before coming up just short by a 4-3 score to TCU to finish as NCAA runners-up and with a No. 2 final ranking. It had been the fourth time the teams had met during the season, resulting in a 2-2 split that also saw the Longhorns claim the Big 12 tournament championship. Meanwhile, UT also secured an outright Big 12 regular season title with a perfect 7-0 record. In six years under Berque where a conference slate was played, Texas has taken home at least a share of the regular season championship five times (2019, '21, '23, '24, '25), including four outright (2019, '23, '24, '25). The 2020 season was halted due to the pandemic prior to conference play. The 29 wins last season were tied with the 2019 team for the most in program history in the era since 1975 when teams began playing shorter schedules. Berque has additionally guided Texas to the semifinals of the ITA National Indoor Championships in two of the last three years (2023, 2025), including the program's first finals appearance in 2023.
-Back from 2025
In the eighth season under head coach Bruce Berque, Texas will have a different look from 2025, but at the same time return a number of familiar faces. The roster will feature six returners, all of whom had match experience, including seniors Sebastian Gorzny and Jonah Braswell, junior Lucas Brown, and sophomores Sebastian Eriksson, Oliver Ojakaar, and Evan Burnett.
-Five newcomers arrive for their first dual match season on the 40
The Longhorns add five new faces for 2026, all who are expected to be impact players, starting with Mariano Dedura-Palomero from Germany and Lucas Marionneau from France who arrived in the summer and competed in fall tournament play. Three other players just arrived on the 40 Acres this month, including Jeremiah Braswell, who is the brother of current Longhorn Jonah Braswell and former All-American Micah Braswell, along with Abel Forger from The Netherlands and Kalin Ivanovski from North Macedonia.
-Summer/Fall Wrap-up
A number of players on the roster spent the summer and fall nursing injuries, leading to some of them not qualifying for fall ITA rankings. However, around those injuries, Lucas Brown started the summer off with the singles title at the ITA Summer Nationals. At the ITA All-Americans, Sebastian Gorzny reached the singles round of 16, while Gorzny and Brown combined to advance to the doubles quarterfinals. Sebastian Eriksson later made it to the ITA Texas Regionals final, however the title match was not played. Gorzny and Eriksson both closed fall play in the NCAA Singles Championship round of 32.
Players Mentioned
