Austin – No. 3 Texas Men’s Tennis topped No. 1 TCU, 4-1, at the Weller Indoor Tennis Center on Friday.
It marked the fifth win for the Longhorns over a No. 1-ranked team in the last five years. That includes victories over Ohio State in 2024, Ohio State and TCU in 2023, and USC in 2021.
Texas captured a dramatic doubles point with two tiebreaker wins at Nos. 2 and 3, and followed with singles victories by freshman No. 11 Timo Legout at No. 1, senior No. 121 Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 3, and junior No. 21 Jonah Braswell at No. 4.
TCU was first off the doubles court with a 7-5 win by the No. 2 duo of Pedro Vives and Lui Maxted over No. 5 Legout and sophomore Lucas Brown at No. 1. In a match that was as close as the rankings, the Horned Frogs broke first for a 3-1 lead, but the Longhorns broke back to put the match back on serve. That’s where it stayed up to a 6-5 lead for TCU, despite the Horned Frogs needing deuce-point holds for 5-4 and 6-5 to remain that way. The streak of holds would get snapped in the next game when TCU broke on another deuce point two win.
Both of the other two matches ended in Texas victories by the same 7-6 (3) score after the Longhorns rallied from 4-1 deficits.
Bailly and junior Sebastian Gorzny were first off the court following their win over Jack Pinnington and Cooper Woestendick at No. 2. After TCU held its opening serve, the next three games went to deuce with the Horned Frogs earning the match’s first break on the last of those. They then consolidated for 4-1 and maintained their lead until Texas got the break back on a deuce point to trail, 5-4. The match stayed on serve to a tiebreaker where Bailly and Gorzny jumped out to a 4-0 lead and didn’t look back on the way to the 7-3 win.
Braswell and freshman Olive Ojakaar then provided the clinch over Duncan Chan and Albert Pedrico at No. 3. TCU’s first break came in the second game in this match as part of a 3-0 run to start. Texas held on a deuce point and then got the break back to get within 4-3, and although they gave it back on a deuce point for 5-3, they answered to the deuce-point break for 5-4 and held to even it, 5-5. The next two games were then holds to the tiebreaker where the Longhorns used a 4-0 run to establish a 5-1 lead en route to the 7-3 win.
Legout then produced an impressive 6-1, 6-1 win over No. 18 Pinnington to give Texas a 2-0 overall lead. Both of Pinnington’s wins came in the second game of each set with the second one being at deuce. It was one of only three games to reach deuce in the match with the other two going to Legout for 6-1 for the first set and 4-1 in the second.
TCU pulled back within 2-1 as No. 10 Gorzny was downed by No. 6 Vives, 6-4, 6-3. The match started out in typical fashion, but after Vives broke first for 3-1, the next three games were all deuce-point breaks until Gorzny held for 4-4. However, Vives broke again and then held for the 6-4 win. There would be only one break in the second set, which went to Vives for 4-2. The next games then went to deuce, but both stayed on serve, as did the rest of the set to Vives win.
Bailly quickly got that point back for Texas with a 6-3, 6-3 win over No. 9 Maxted. Bailly broke in the first game and held for 2-0, and after the players exchanged deuce-point holds, Maxted got the break back for 3-3. However, Bailly broke again to start a 3-0 run for the set. In the second, it was Maxted who broke in the opening game on a deuce point, which he consolidated for 2-0. After Maxted maintained to 3-1, Bailly took it from there with a 5-0 run to the win.
Attention then turned to Braswell, who was closing in on his 6-4, 6-3 win over Woestendick. In the first set, the players exchanged 2-0 runs throughout to a 6-4 win for Braswell, who had served first and held on a deuce point. The second then stayed on serve up to a 4-3 lead for Braswell, who held at deuce in the last of those games. However, in the next game he picked up the break he needed for 5-3 and served out the victory for Texas.
Two matches were then left unfinished, starting with Okajaar lead No. 92 Chan, 5-7, 6-2, 2-1 at No. 5. Chan began the match with a deuce-point hold and a break, but Ojakaar broke back at deuce to start a 4-0 run that included another deuce-point break for 3-2. With the Ojakaar leading 4-2, the next two games were deuce-point holds for 5-3. However, Chan went on a 4-0 run from there to win. In the second set, it was Okajaar who opened with a 2-0 lead on a deuce-point break and a hold. The next four games were on serve until Okajaar broke and held for the win. He again started with a 2-0 lead in the third set before it finished at 2-1 when play halted.
The match at No. 6 started later than the others as only five courts were in play. Brown and Pedrico played on court 1 once the match between Legout and Pinnington was done, and Brown was leading, 5-0, at the conclusion.
Texas will next head to the ITA National Indoor Championship from Feb. 14-18 in split locations of Dallas and Waco with the Longhorns playing all of their matches in Dallas.
#3 Texas 4, #1 TCU 1
Singles – Order of Finish (1,2,3,4)
1. #11 Timo Legout (TEX) def. #18 Jack Pinnington (TCU) 6-1, 6-1
2. #6 Pedro Vives (TCU) def. #10 Sebastian Gorzny (TEX) 6-4, 6-3
3. #121 Pierre-Yves Bailly (TEX) def. #9 Lui Maxted (TCU) 6-3, 6-3
4. #21 Jonah Braswell (TEX) def. Cooper Woestendick (TCU) 6-4, 6-3
5. Oliver Ojakaar (TEX) vs. #92 Duncan Chan (TCU) 5-7, 6-2, 2-1, unf.
6. Lucas Brown (TEX) vs. Albert Pedrico (TCU) 5-0, unf.
Doubles – Order of Finish (1,2,3)
1. #2 Pedro Vives/Lui Maxted (TCU) def. #5 Timo Legout/Lucas Brown (TEX) 7-5
2. Sebastian Gorzny/Pierre-Yves Bailly (TEX) def. Jack Pinnington/Cooper Woestendick (TCU) 7-6 (3)
3. Jonah Braswell/Oliver Ojakaar (TEX) def. Duncan Chan/Albert Pedrico (TCU) 7-6 (3)
