Texas men’s tennis traveled to Waco, Texas, to compete in the Big 12 and Southeastern Conference Challenge from Oct. 3 to Oct. 5, bringing home 10 wins for the Longhorns.
This invite-only tournament saw representation from four Big 12 universities — Texas Tech University, University of Arizona, Arizona State University and Baylor University — as well as two SEC universities, Texas and Texas A&M.
Senior Jonah Braswell, sophomore Evan Burnett and freshmen Mariano Dedura-Palomero and Lucas Marionneau represented Texas in both singles and doubles matchups throughout the three-day tournament.
No. 37 Braswell accounted for five Texas wins and was named Tournament MVP.
On Friday, the senior fell to tournament champion No. 60 Connor Henry Van Schalkwyk, a Baylor junior, in two straight sets of 6-3, 6-3. Van Schalkwyk tallied three singles wins over the course of the weekend and was ultimately named the Big 12 champion at the tournament.
After starting the weekend with the loss, Braswell rallied in his doubles matchups, adding his first win against junior Lathan Skrobarcek and sophomore Alex Frusina from Texas A&M before ending the first day of play.
Fueled by his doubles success, Braswell would add singles victories against Arizona sophomore Glib Sekachov on Saturday and his final win of the weekend against Arizona State sophomore Ofek Shimanov on Sunday.
Burnett, paired with Braswell in doubles play, contributed a singles win over senior Arman Zamani from Baylor on Friday before partnering with Braswell to deliver three doubles wins over Texas A&M, Arizona State and Arizona.
The breakout freshmen, Marionneau and Dedura-Palomero, each earned singles wins, beginning with Marionneau defeating Baylor senior Luc Koenig in two straight sets on Friday.
After a tight loss to Arizona sophomore Matthias Uwe Kask on Saturday, Marionneau took down No. 124 senior Shu Matsuoka from Arizona State in 6-2, 6-1 straight sets.
Dedura-Palomero added his own singles victory in a commanding 6-1, 6-4 win over Arizona freshman Alejandro Arcila.
The freshmen were then paired to compete in doubles play and faced challenges in their first two matches.
Marionneau and Dedura-Palomero fell to Texas A&M’s redshirt sophomore and senior duo, Ritesh Patil and Togan Tokac, as well as Shimanov and Texas Tech sophomore Ludovio Vaccari, who competed as a doubles team.
The pair quickly adjusted, determined to secure a doubles win before the weekend concluded. They succeeded, notching their first doubles win on Sunday by defeating senior Ethan Silva and freshman Kriish Tyagi from Texas A&M.
Following a steady performance from the four Texas players over the weekend, the team will travel to Fairfield, California, for a week-long tournament beginning Oct. 6 and ending Oct. 12.
This marathon tournament could help boost ITA rankings for the Longhorns and provide another opportunity to fine-tune pairings heading into the second half of their competitive fall season.
