No. 4 Texas made its Southeastern Conference home opener look routine, even with a top-15 team on the other side of the net.
The Longhorns swept No. 13 Georgia 4-0 on Sunday at the Texas Tennis Center, extending their win streak to nine matches and improving to 13-3 overall and 4-0 in conference play. Seven of those 13 wins have come against top-25 opponents, and Texas added another one without letting the match drift into the late courts.
Texas earned the doubles point with wins at courts No. 1 and No. 2, surviving an early stumble on No. 3. Sophomore Sebastian Eriksson and sophomore Oliver Ojakaar set the pace with a 6-4 win over senior Will Jansen and sophomore Gabriele Vulpitta at No. 2. Georgia answered in the middle, as graduate Derrick Chen and freshman Noah Johnston took down freshman Abel Forger and senior Jonah Braswell 6-3 at No. 3.
That left the point on No. 1, where senior Sebastian Gorzny and freshman Lucas Marionneau, the No. 25 pair in the country according to ITA, avoided a tiebreak and closed a 7-5 win over graduate Arda Azkara and senior Santiago Giamichelle. Georgia erased a 5-3 deficit to level the set, but Texas grabbed the final two games to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
Singles turned into a Texas takeover.
Forger, ranked No. 67, was first off again, rolling past No. 60 Giamichelle 6-2, 6-1 at No. 3 to make it 2-0. Marionneau followed at No. 6, picking up a 7-5, 6-3 win over freshman Salvador Price and pushing Texas within one point of the sweep.
Ojakaar delivered the clincher at No. 5, winning two tiebreakers to beat No. 77 Vulpitta 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4).
The final score did not tell the full story of the competition taking place on the remaining courts. Gorzny, ranked No. 3 nationally, had taken the opening set 7-5 and was in a second-set tiebreak against No. 42 Arda Azkara when play stopped after Texas secured the clinching point. Eriksson had forced a third set against Georgia’s No. 30 Jansen at No. 2, and senior Jonah Braswell was ahead in the third set against freshman Noah Johnston at No. 4.
Texas will stay home for another ranked SEC test on Friday against No. 7 LSU.
