The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
South Carolina
No. 4 Men’s Tennis preview: at No. 22 South Carolina
02.26.2026 | Men's Tennis
The Longhorns return to the site of last year's SEC Championship to face the Gamecocks on Friday and complete three-straight road matches to start SEC play.
No. 4 Texas at No. 22 South Carolina
Team Records: Texas (11-3, 2-0 SEC), South Carolina (9-1, 2-0 SEC)
When: Friday, Feb. 27, 2026, 1 p.m. ET/12 p.m. CT
Where: Carolina Tennis Center, Columbia, S.C.
Live Stats: https://hookem.at/MTN-Stats
Live Video: https://hookem.at/MTN-Watch
Updated Statistics
Notes
-South Carolina Series: Texas leads, 11-1
Texas and South Carolina have met 12 times since 1975, including five times in the last five seasons with all of those won by the Longhorns by a combined 21-4 score. The teams faced each other last season twice, first in Austin in the regular season, which was a 4-0 sweep for Texas, and then in the final of the SEC Championship, which happened to be in Columbia with South Carolina as the host and was a 4-1 win for the Longhorns. The year before, they met in an ITA Indoors consolation match in New York with Texas producing a 5-0 sweep. In 2023, they squared off in the NCAA quarterfinals in Orlando, which resulted in another sweep (4-0) by the Longhorns. Prior to that, they played in 2021, which was a 4-3 comeback win by the Longhorns in the NCAA Round of 16, also in Orlando. The previous meeting before that came in 2013, a 4-1 win by the Longhorns during the ITA Kickoff Weekend in Lexington, Ky. It was the last of three-straight meetings (2013, 1991, 1986) that came in the state of Kentucky with the other two during National Team Indoors. Additionally, they met each year from 1978-81 with the first and last of those in Austin, one in Madison, Wisc., at the ITA Team Championships (1979), and one in Columbia, S.C. (1980). The Gamecocks' victory in the series came in 1978, which was a 5-4 decision in Austin, the same score as the last time they played each other in Austin in 1981, but in favor of the Longhorns.
All-Time Series
2025: 4-1 W, Columbia, S.C. (SEC Championship Final)
2025: 4-0 W, Austin, Texas
2024: 5-0 W, New York, N.Y. (ITA Indoors Consolation)
2023: 4-0 W, Orlando, Fla. (NCAA Quarterfinals)
2021: 4-3 W, Orlando, Fla. (NCAA Round of 16)
2013: 4-1 W, Lexington, Ky. (ITA Kickoff)
1991: 6-2 W, Louisville, Ky. (National Indoors)
1986: 5-2 W, Louisville, Ky. (National Indoors)
1981: 5-4 W, Austin, Texas
1980: 7-2 W, Columbia, S.C.
1979: 6-3 W, Madison, Wisc. (ITCA Team Championships)
1978: 4-5 L, Austin, Texas
Last Two Meetings
#4 Texas 4, #13 South Carolina 1
Sunday April 20, 2025
Columbia, S.C. • Carolina Tennis Center (SEC Championship final)
Singles – Order of Finish (1,6,2,4)
1. #2 Timo Legout (UT) def. #20 Connor Thomson (SC) 6-1, 6-2
2. #22 Sebastian Gorzny (UT) def. Lucas da Silva (SC) 6-2, 6-3
3. #119 Sean Daryabeigi (SC) vs. #46 Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) 6-4, 3-6, 0-1, unf.
4. #72 Jonah Braswell (UT) def. Atakan Karahan (SC) 6-2, 6-4
5. Jelani Sarr (SC) vs. Sebastian Eriksson (UT) 6-1, 3-6, 1-3, unf.
6. Gabe Avram (SC) def. Evan Burnett (UT) 6-1, 6-3
Doubles – Order of Finish (2,3,1)
1. #9 Lucas Brown/Timo Legout (UT) def. #3 Lucas da Silva/Connor Thomson (SC) 6-3
2. Sebastian Gorzny/Jonah Braswell (UT) def. #50 Atakan Karahan/Jelani Sarr (SC) 6-2
3. Sean Daryabeigi/Max Stenzer (SC) def. #78 Pierre-Yves Bailly/Sebastian Eriksson (UT) 6-4
#4 Texas 4, #26 South Carolina 0
Sunday, March 30, 2025
Austin, Texas • Texas Tennis Center
Singles – Order of Finish (3,1,6)
1. #3 Timo Legout (TEX) def. #54 Connor Thomson (SC) 6-3, 6-3
2. #19 Sebastian Gorzny (TEX) vs. Lucas da Silva (SC) 5-7, 6-6 (3-4), unf.
3. #46 Pierre-Yves Bailly (TEX) def. #82 Sean Daryabeigi (SC) 6-1, 6-2
4. #53 Jonah Braswell (TEX) vs. Atakan Karahan (SC) 2-6, 6-3, 3-0, unf.
5. Sebastian Eriksson (TEX) vs. #106 Jelani Sarr (SC) 6-4, 6-6 (6-7), unf.
6. Lucas Brown (TEX) def. Gabe Avram (SC) 6-1, 7-5
Doubles – Order of Finish (2,1,3)
1. #8 Timo Legout/Lucas Brown (TEX) def. #15 Connor Thomson/Lucas da Silva (SC) 6-4
2. #87 Jelani Sarr/Atakan Karahan (SC) def. Sebastian Gorzny/Jonah Braswell (TEX) 6-3
3. Pierre-Yves Bailly/Sebastian Eriksson (TEX) def. Max Stenzer/Sean Daryabeigi (SC) 6-4
-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, No. 3 on February 19 and back to No. 4 on February 24. It's the 115th-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
South Carolina
Singles
No. 44 Lucas da Silva
No. 51 Sean Daryabeigi
No. 70 Paul Barbier Gazeu
Doubles
No. 28 Lucas da Silva/Paul Barbier Gazeu
No. 48 Lucas da Silva/Sean Daryabeigi
No. 86 Max Stenzer/Sean Daryabeigi
-Top-10 road victory in Starkville
Texas rallied for a 4-3 top-10 road victory at No. 10 Mississippi State in a match that was moved indoors to the Rula Tennis Pavilion on February 23 in Starkville. The Longhorns trailed, 1-0 after the doubles point and 3-2 late before completing the comeback. In its first match in Starkville since 1996, Texas started out coming up just short in the doubles point after a tiebreaker loss in the deciding match at No. 1. Mississippi State had earlier taken the match at No. 3 before the Longhorns evened it with a win at No. 2. After doubles, every singles match ended up going the distance to three sets. Texas claimed the first two of those with wins by Kalin Ivanovski at No. 2, and Oliver Ojakaar at No. 5. However, the Mississippi State tied the match a split second later at No. 3 and reclaimed the lead moments after that at No. 4. That left two courts in play with the Longhorns needing both, which they secured with victories first by Sebastian Gorzny at No. 1, and then Lucas Marionneau at No. 6 for the clinch.
-SEC opening win in first trip to Tuscaloosa
Texas opened SEC play with a 6-1 win at Alabama on February 21 in the first-ever trip to Tuscaloosa. The Longhorns started the match with 6-3 wins on all three doubles courts, first at No. 3 and then an almost simultaneous finish at Nos. 2 and 1 with match point at No. 2 ending a split-second before No. 1 leading to all three matches counting. Jonah Braswell was first off the singles court for a 2-0 lead, and after the Crimson Tide picked up its lone match at No. 6, the Longhorns registered victories by Abel Forger at No. 3, Sebastian Gorzny at No. 1, another virtually simultaneous finish by Lucas Marionneau at No. 5 just after Gorzny, and finally a superbreaker win by Sebastian Eriksson at No. 2.
-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 162-38 overall record (.810) that includes 11-3 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
