The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Alabama
No. 3 Men’s Tennis preview: at Alabama
02.20.2026 | Men's Tennis
Coming of an ITA Indoors National Championship, the Longhorns open SEC play with their first-ever trip to Tuscaloosa.
No. 3 Men's Tennis preview: at Alabama
No. 3 Texas at Alabama
Team Records: Texas (9-3, 0-0 SEC), Alabama (3-5, 0-0 SEC)
When: Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026, 1 p.m. CT
Where: Alabama Tennis Stadium, Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Live Stats: https://hookem.at/MTN-Stats
Live Video: https://hookem.at/MTN-Watch
TV: Cracked Racquets CrossCourt Coverage (SEC Network+)
Notes
-Alabama Series: Texas leads, 8-0
Texas leads the all-time series with Alabama, 8-0, including 4-0 sweeps in the last three meetings in 2014 in Austin, in 2008 in the ITA Indoors Round of 16 in Seattle, and last year in Austin on March 16 in their first contest as conference opponents. The teams have played a total five times in Austin with the three others being in 1990 (5-1), 1984 (5-2), and 1975 (6-3). The two other contests came in 1988 in the ITA Indoors Round of 16 in Louisville (5-3), and an ITCA Team Championships consolation match in 1977 in Madison, Wisc. (5-4), so this will be the first time the teams have played in Tuscaloosa.
Last Meeting
#3 Texas 4, #31 Alabama 0
Sunday, March 16, 2025
Austin, Texas • Texas Tennis Center
Singles – Order of Finish (1,6,3)
1. #7 Timo Legout (TEX) def. #17 Filip Planinsek (UA) 6-1, 6-4
2. #13 Sebastian Gorzny (TEX) vs. #75 Roan Jones (UA) 4-6, 6-3, 0-1, unf.
3. #64 Pierre-Yves Bailly (TEX) def. Enzo Aguiard (UA) 6-3, 6-2
4. #39 Jonah Braswell (TEX) vs. Andrii Zimnokh (UA) 6-3, 2-4, unf.
5. Sebastian Eriksson (TEX) vs. Damien Nezar (UA) 6-4, 4-5, unf.
6. Lucas Brown (TEX) def. Zach Foster (UA) 6-2, 6-2
Doubles – Order of Finish (1,2)
1. #10 Timo Legout/Lucas Brown (TEX) def. #42 Matic Kriznik/Filip Planinsek (UA) 6-1
2. Sebastian Gorzny/Jonah Braswell (TEX) def. Damien Nezar/Andrii Zimnokh (UA) 6-1
3. Pierre-Yves Bailly/Sebastian Eriksson (TEX) vs. Enzo Aguiard/Zach Foster (UA) 5-1, 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, No. 7 on February 4, and No. 3 on February 19. It's the 114th-straight week in the top 15 dating back to April 2018.
-ITA Individual National Rankings
Texas had seven listings in the most recent ITA individual rankings that were released February 19 with four in singles and three doubles pairs. In singles, Sebastian Gorzny returned to the top-10 at No. 10 the previous week and moved up to No. 3, while Sebastian Eriksson elevated from No. 51 to No. 40, and Kalin Ivanovski (No. 25) and Abel Forger (No. 67) made their first career appearances. Meanwhile in doubles, Eriksson and Oliver Ojakaar rose to No. 12, and Gorzny and Lucas Brown were No. 21, while Gorzny and Lucas Marionneau moved in at No. 25.
Texas
Singles
No. 3 Sebastian Gorzny
No. 25 Kalin Ivanovski
No. 40 Sebastian Eriksson
No. 67 Abel Forger
Doubles
No. 12 Sebastian Eriksson/Oliver Ojakaar
No. 21 Sebastian Gorzny/Lucas Brown
No. 25 Sebastian Gorzny/Lucas Marionneau.
Alabama
Singles
No. 90 Matic Kriznik
Doubles
No. 18 Jacob Olar/Andrii Zimnokh
-ITA Indoors All-Tournament Team filled with Horns
Longhorns claimed four of the six singles spots on the ITA All-Tournament Team released by the ITA on February 20, including the Most Outstanding Player in senior Sebastian Gorzny, who was also All-Tournament at No. 1 Singles. Additionally, Texas had freshman Kalin Ivanovski at No. 2 Singles, sophomore Sebastian Eriksson at No. 4 Singles, and freshman Lucas Marionneau at No. 6 Singles. All four players collected three singles wins over the course of the four matches at the national sites in Waco and Dallas that began in the round of 16 through the final.
-Gorzny, Ivanovski earn SEC Men's Tennis Athlete, Freshman of the Week
Texas swept the SEC weekly awards as senior Sebastian Gorzny was named Athlete of the Week, and Kalin Ivanovski was chosen Freshman of the Week, the conference announced on February 18. It marked the second weekly SEC honor for Gorzny this season and in his career, and the first for Ivanovski. The duo helped Texas to the program's first ITA Indoors National Championship with four wins over No. 8 Texas A&M, No. 5 TCU, No. 19 Baylor and No. 2 Ohio State on the way to the title. Gorzny went 3-0 in singles with two top-15 victories and another top-50 win, all at No. 1. He also went 2-2 in doubles, including a tiebreaker win over the nation's No. 1 doubles team. Ivanovski posted a 3-0 record in singles play, all against ranked opponents at No. 2. He also went 1-1 in doubles, along with an unfinished tiebreaker match against the nation's No. 7 pair, all at No. 1.
-Texas wins program's first ITA Indoors National Championship
Texas won the program's first ITA Indoors National Championship with a 4-2 win over No. 2 Ohio State on January 17 at the Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex in Dallas. It was the Longhorns' second appearance in the tournament final with the last being in 2023 in Chicago. The win avenged an earlier season loss on the road at Ohio State on January 29 and completed an impressive run that included a sweep of a trio of in-state foes including a 4-0 sweep of No. 19 Baylor in the semifinals in Dallas, and No. 5 TCU in the quarterfinals and No. 8 Texas A&M in the round of 16 in Waco. The Longhorns had previously beaten UNC Wilmington and South Florida in the first and second rounds in Austin on January 23 and 24, respectively. The match against the Buckeyes opened in remarkable fashion with all three doubles courts extending to a tiebreaker. Ohio State, which had all three of its teams in the top-eight of the doubles rankings held match points on all three courts at various times, but the Longhorns fought back and emerged with wins at Nos. 2 and 3 to take the point. The teams then went back and forth in singles with the Buckeyes winning at No. 3 singles to tie it, but Sebastian Gorzny regained the lead with a win at No. 1. Ohio State then took the match at No. 4, but Lucas Marionneau produced a three-set victory at No. 6 for a 3-2 advantage. That left two courts in action at Nos. 2 and 5, and Kalin Ivanovski crossed the finish line first at No. 2 to deliver the championship.
-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.
-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 is in his eighth season as head coach in Austin and has led the Longhorns to a 160-38 overall record (.808) that includes 9-3 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. The 2026 team under Berque has already made history by become the first in program history to be crowned ITA Indoors National Champions. 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 three of the last four years (2023, 2025), including the program's first two finals appearances in 2023 and 2026 on the way to this year's title.
-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
