College Station, Texas – No. 1 Texas Men’s Tennis moved on to the SEC Championship final for the second-straight year, earning a 4-2 win over 5 seed No. 10 Texas A&M in College Station on Saturday. The Longhorns will next face 2 seed No. 6 Mississippi State on Sunday at 12 p.m. CT with an opportunity to secure a second-straight SEC Championship title.
It is the third time the Longhorns have defeated the Aggies this season, all by the same 4-2 score, including once in the ITA National Indoors round of 16 in Waco on February 13, and once in the regular season meeting in Austin on March 13. It also marks the 10th-straight win in the series for Texas.
The Longhorns produced a strong doubles point with solid wins at Nos. 3 and 2. After Texas A&M posted singles wins at Nos. 3 and 2, Texas ran off three-straight victories by senior Jonah Braswell at No. 6, freshman No. 93 Abel Forger at No. 5, and senior No. 3 Sebastian Gorzny at No. 1 for the clinch.
During doubles, the No. 40 duo of sophomore Sebastian Eriksson and Oliver Ojakaar notched an efficient 6-1 win over Lathan Skrobarcek and Markus Molder at No. 3. The No. 24 pair of Gorzny and freshman Lucas Marionneau then clinched the point with a 6-3 victory over Alex Frusina and Kholo Montsi at No. 2. That left one match unfinished where freshmen Kalin Ivanovski and Abel Forger were trailing but on serve against No. 5 Theo Papamalamis and Togan Tokac, 3-4, at No. 1.
Frusina and Montsi then began singles with a pair of wins to give the Aggies a 2-1 overall lead. No. 46 Eriksson fell to No. 100 Frusina, 6-3, 6-2, at No. 3, while No. 34 Ivanovski was downed by No. 41 Montsi, 7-6 (3), 6-1, at No. 2.
However, Braswell, who had earlier match points, almost immediately knotted it at 2-2 with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Skrobarcek at No. 6. The last two matches went to three sets with Forger getting home first with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 win over Tokac at No. 5 for a 3-2 lead. Gorzny then came through with the clinch after recovering from coming up just short in his first set for a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 top-10 win over No. 10 Papamalamis at No. 1.
Only one match remained after that, in which Ojakaar was behind Molder, a fellow Estonian, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 1-4, at No. 4.
#1 Texas 4, #10 Texas A&M 2
Singles – Order of Finish (3,2,6,5,1)
1. #3 Sebastian Gorzny (TEX) def. #10 Theo Papamalamis (TAMU) 5-7, 6-4, 6-3
2. #41 Kholo Montsi (TAMU) def. #34 Kalin Ivanovski (TEX) 7-6 (3), 6-1
3. #100 Alex Frusina (TAMU) def. #46 Sebastian Eriksson (TEX) 6-3, 6-2
4. Oliver Ojakaar (TEX) vs. Markus Molder (TAMU) 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 1-4, unf.
5. #93 Abel Forger (TEX) def. Togan Tokac (TAMU) 6-2, 2-6, 6-3
6. Jonah Braswell (TEX) def. Lathan Skrobarcek (TAMU) 6-2, 6-3
Doubles – Order of Finish (3,2)
1. Abel Forger/Kalin Ivanovski (TEX) vs. #5 Theo Papamalamis/Togan Tokac (TAMU) 3-4, unf.
2. #24 Sebastian Gorzny/Lucas Marionneau (TEX) def. Alex Frusina/Kholo Montsi (TAMU) 6-3
3. #40 Sebastian Eriksson/Oliver Ojakaar (TEX) def. Lathan Skrobarcek/Markus Molder (TAMU) 6-1