Long before stepping onto the biggest stage in American tennis, Sebastian Gorzny spent his weekends grinding through multi-match days across Orange County, dreaming of where the sport could take him.

For the Fountain Valley native, those early USTA junior draws were about far more than match results. They meant long hours under the California sun and a brand of competitive adrenaline that kept him wide awake the night before.

“I remember just playing two to three matches a day, being at the courts all day, being so excited to play I couldn’t sleep the night before,” Gorzny said. “I loved competing against my friends, Learner Tien and Alex Michelsen.”

Those bonds outlasted the junior ranks. Gorzny and Tien have known each other since they were five or six years old, growing up five minutes apart in Irvine. They spent years battling beside and against one another through local circuits before watching each other break into the pro ranks.

“Those relationships from the early junior days have blossomed into current friendships now all on the pro tour,” he said. “It is great to see my friends from 10, 12 years ago doing so well and giving me the confidence that I can join them.”

Those friendships also carried into some of the biggest junior tournaments in the country. In 2022, Gorzny and Michelsen teamed up for the Easter Bowl in Indian Wells, winning the Boys’ 18s doubles title. Michelsen called Gorzny his close friend, and the two continued their run together throughout the summer.

Later that year, the pair reunited at the USTA Boys’ 18s National Championships in Kalamazoo. As the No. 1 seeds, Gorzny and Michelsen reached the doubles final before falling to Nicholas Godsick and Ethan Quinn, 6-4, 6-0.

By then, their partnership had already produced some of the biggest moments of their junior careers. Just weeks after Kalamazoo, Gorzny and Michelsen would go on to win the Wimbledon Boys’ Doubles Championship, adding a Grand Slam junior title to a partnership that had been built on Southern California courts.

At the time, Kalamazoo was simply another stop in Gorzny’s junior career. But the tournament site held a much deeper meaning. Three years earlier, it had been the setting for one of the most frightening moments of his life.

A Five Percent Chance

In June 2019, just months before that trip to Kalamazoo, Gorzny captured the USTA Southern California Boys’ 16s Junior Sectional Championship, establishing himself as one of the section’s top players at the time.

In August 2019, Gorzny was 15 years old and competing at the USTA Boys’ 16s National Championships in Kalamazoo, Michigan, when he suddenly became gravely ill.

He suffered a seizure during the night. His father woke up around 2 a.m. and called an ambulance, and Gorzny was rushed to the hospital. Doctors believed a mosquito bite may have led to a serious brain infection, possibly meningitis or encephalitis. They placed Gorzny in an induced coma, where he remained for four days.

His family was left waiting, unsure whether he would wake up.

Doctors gave him just a five percent chance of surviving. They eventually prepared to remove his breathing tubes, with Gorzny’s ability to breathe on his own determining what happened next.

He ended up defying the statistics and made a full recovery.

For Gorzny, much of the experience is a blank. He has described it as feeling like a long sleep, but he knows how deeply it affected his family.

“My brain infection and coma was definitely a very challenging time, but everything happens for a reason, and I’m grateful for the journey I’ve been on,” Gorzny said. “That experience definitely made me grateful and appreciative of every single day, and just trying to enjoy life and do my best every day.”

Recovery did not end when Gorzny left the hospital. His father helped him return to the tennis court, slowly hitting balls with him as he worked to rebuild his motor skills and regain his confidence.

When Gorzny returned to Kalamazoo in 2022, he was able to create a very different memory there, reaching the national championship final alongside Michelsen.

The experience had changed his perspective, but it had not changed his love for the game.

From SoCal to Texas

That journey eventually carried Gorzny beyond Southern California, heading to Texas Christian University (TCU) in the Fall of 2022, but home remained part of his story.

In 2024, he returned to the region for the SoCal Pro Series event at Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego and pitched the idea of teaming up with Tien for doubles. The timing was ideal. Just weeks after helping the Horned Frogs capture their first NCAA Division I team championship, Gorzny returned home to pair up with his childhood friend.

The duo rallied past North Carolina State’s Robin Catry and Braden Shick, 1-6, 6-3, 10-1, in the doubles final to claim the title. The victory earned Gorzny his first professional trophy and 15 ATP ranking points. Tien doubled down by winning the singles crown that same week, sparking a dominant 35-match winning streak.

Gorzny still jokes that he might have had something to do with it.

“That’s a good memory,” Gorzny laughed. “That week actually started Learner’s 35-match winning streak, so I’d like to think it was confidence I gave him on the dubs court.”

The tournament marked an important transition in Gorzny’s career. After spending two seasons at TCU, he transferred to the University of Texas for the final two years of his college career. The move gave him a new opportunity to continue developing his game while pursuing his long-term goals in tennis.

But before heading to Austin, Gorzny had one more chance to compete professionally on the courts where his tennis journey began.

“It was great to be back in Barnes in SoCal, a place I grew up playing so many tournaments,” Gorzny said. “Seeing not only how it has changed but how I’ve changed and grown over the years.”

The SoCal Pro Series gave Gorzny an opportunity to compete professionally close to home, while also returning to familiar courts and competing in front of friends and family. It was a fitting stop between two chapters of his college career and another reminder of the Southern California roots that continue to shape his journey.

The Road to New York

After completing his college career at Texas, Gorzny earned his place in the US Open main draw by winning the USTA American Collegiate Player Wild Card Playoff. He defeated fellow Southern Californian Trevor Svajda of Pacific Beach, 6-2, 6-4, in the championship match, securing the biggest opportunity of his young professional career.

Just a few years removed from spending his days competing on Southern California’s junior courts, Gorzny was headed to New York to make his Grand Slam debut.

Then came the moment he had been working toward for years.

Gorzny delivered a dramatic first round comeback against Belgium’s Raphael Collignon, saving five match points before completing a five set victory, 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(9). The win marked his first Grand Slam victory and sent him into the second round against former US Open champion Daniil Medvedev.

Though the stages have grown and the stakes have risen, the night-before jitters Gorzny knew as a Southern California junior haven’t faded. Today, he’s trading local courts for the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, sharing the main stage with the same friends he grew up playing against.

Tien has established himself as one of the rising stars of American tennis, while Michelsen has also made his mark on the ATP Tour. Gorzny now has the opportunity to build his own professional path. 

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