Texas men’s tennis had a standout performance at the 2024-25 NCAA Championships with freshman Timo Legout advancing to the singles semifinals and the dynamic doubles duo of Legout and sophomore Lucas Brown also reaching the final four.

Legout became the sixth player in Texas history to reach the NCAA singles semifinals at Waco’s Hurd Tennis Center Nov. 22, joining a prestigious list that includes Kevin Curren and Søren Hess-Olesen. He is the first Longhorn to make the semifinals since Hess-Olesen in 2014. Curren went on to win the singles title in 1979.

In his quarterfinal match, Legout defeated UCLA’s No. 55 Spencer Johnson, 6-3, 6-2. Legout broke Johnson’s serve twice in the first set, taking a 2-1 lead before securing the set 6-3. He continued his dominance in the second set, breaking Johnson’s first service game to race to a 3-0 lead and then clinching the set 6-2.

“In my service games, I felt like it was the key today,” Legout said. “Against those guys, you don’t want to play those 15-30 juice points because it’s a lot of pressure … I didn’t face one breakpoint. I was up 40 (or) 30-love in all of my service games. It helped me a lot to loosen up and return well.”

In doubles, Legout and Brown rallied after dropping the first set in a tiebreaker to defeat Ohio State’s Bryce Nakashima and Will Jansen, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 1-0 (8). 

The Longhorns secured the only break of the match in the second set, winning 6-3. In the super tiebreaker, they built a 7-2 lead, but Ohio State tied it at 7-7. Brown then hit a crucial return winner and served out the final point for an 8-7 win.

“There is no one that I have more trust in than (Legout),” Brown said. “I am not surprised that he is taking college by storm. … He is so composed on court. … He’s just being himself.”

The next day, Legout faced No. 2 seed Michael Zheng of Columbia in singles but retired due to illness in the first set. Zheng broke Legout in the first game and held serve to lead 2-0, then broke again to go up 4-1 before Legout retired. In doubles, Legout and Brown faced 5-8 seeds Pedro Vives and Lui Maxted of TCU, losing 6-4, 6-2 in a semifinal tilt.

Legout entered the tournament on a 24-match win streak, with his only losses of the season coming on the same day. He finished the season with a 92% win percentage. Legout had also previously won the ITA Texas Regional Singles and Doubles Championships alongside Brown in October.

“It’s been an amazing fall for me,” Legout said. “I couldn’t have dreamed of a better start to my college career.”

Texas has now had a doubles pair reach the NCAA semifinals in each of the last four years, marking the program’s 10th overall appearance.