The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
SMU
01.17.2020 | Men's Tennis
The Longhorns complete their road trip in Dallas against SMU on Saturday at 2 p.m.
No. 2 Texas (1-0) at SMU (2-0)
When: Sat., Jan. 18, 2020, 2 p.m. CT
Where: SMU Tennis Complex, Dallas, Texas
Live Stats: https://hookem.at/MTN-SMU-stats
Note: The teams have agreed to play the match indoors so there will be no live video.
Notes
-SMU Series: Texas leads, 80-22-2
Texas leads the all-time series with SMU 80-22-2 and is on an 18-match winning streak dating back to 2001. In the last meeting, the Longhorns captured a 6-1 win in Austin at the Texas Tennis Center.
Last Meeting
No. 8 Texas 6, SMU 1
Sun., Jan. 20, 2019 • Texas Tennis Center, Austin, Texas
Singles – Order of Finish (6,2,4,3,1,5)
1. No. 51 Carles Sarrio (SMU) def. No. 4 Christian Sigsgaard (UT), 6-4, 6-0
2. No. 18 Yuya Ito (UT) def. Roberto Rosales (SMU), 6-0, 6-2
3. Leonardo Telles (UT) def. Tomas Vaise (SMU), 6-4, 6-2
4. Harrison Scott (UT) def. Jan-Simon Vrbsky (SMU), 6-4, 6-4
5. No. 103 Chih Chi Huang (UT) def. Gardiner Perotti (SMU), 4-6, 6-1, 1-0 (5)
6. Rodrigo Banzer (UT) def. Huntley Allen (SMU), 6-2, 6-0
Doubles – Order of Finish (3,2)
1. Carles Sarrio/Huntley Allen (SMU) vs. No. 33 Christian Sigsgaard/Harrison Scott (UT), 3-3 unf.
2. Colin Markes/Leonardo Telles (UT) def. Avery Pennywell/Tomas Vaise (SMU), 6-1
3. Chih Chi Huang/Yuya Ito (UT) def. Michael Smith/Andrew Buhelos (SMU), 6-1
-Texas vs SMU in 2019 tournament play
Gamecock Fall Invitational
Chih Chi Huang (Texas) def. Tomas Vaise (SMU), 6-2, 5-7, 6-4
Evin McDonald (Texas) def. No. 94 Jan-Simon Vrbsky (SMU), 6-4, 6-4
Siem Woldeab (Texas) def. No. 37 Carles Sarrio Tamarit (SMU), 1-6, 6-0, 6-4
ITA Texas Regionals
Ethan Leon (SMU) def. Nevin Arimilli (Texas), 6-4, 6-3
Jacob Bullard (Texas) def. Ed Ross (SMU), 6-1, 6-1
Cleeve Harper (Texas) def. No. 94 Jan-Simon Vrbsky (SMU), 6-1, 6-4
Jacob Bullard/Evin McDonald (Texas) def. Huntly Allen/Carles Sarrio Tamarit, 8-7 (2)
-Taking down No. 1
Texas opened the 2020 team season with a 5-2 win on the road at No. 1 Florida on Jan. 15 in Gainesville. The Longhorns used five singles victories, all against ranked opponents, to secure a win in their first dual match since capturing the 2019 National Championship. It was also their second-straight win over a top-ranked team after defeating No. 1 Ohio State in Austin last March. Last season's championship match, a 4-1 win over Wake Forest, also took place in the state of Florida (Orlando) and followed a similar script. Texas dropped the doubles point and trailed in several singles matches before mounting comebacks, highlighted by senior Yuya Ito rebounding from a first-set defeat to earn a three-set win and clinch. It also marked the second time Texas and Florida met in the last three overall matches for the Longhorns, as they faced the Gators last year in the national semifinals, a match which the Longhorns won, 4-2.
-Freshman debuts
Four freshmen made their dual match debuts at No. 1 Florida, including Siem Woldeab at No. 3 singles (win), January enrollee Eliot Spizzirri at No. 4 singles (win) and No. 2 doubles (loss), redshirt freshman Cleeve Harper at No. 6 singles (loss) and No. 3 doubles (loss), and Jacob Bullard at No. 2 doubles (loss). The matches were highlighted by singles comebacks from Woldeab and Spizzirri, who both recovered from 5-1 first-set deficits to win their matches with Woldeab winning his first set and Spizzirri rallying but falling short in his, but recovering to win the second and third sets.
-Ito named Big 12 Player of the Week
Yuya Ito was named Big 12 Men's Tennis Player of the Week for the week ending Jan. 13. It marks Ito's first conference weekly honor of the season and the fifth of his career.
-Miami Spring Invitational
The Longhorns put together a solid showing at the Miami Spring Invitational, winning 31 of 42 total matches in individual singles and doubles play versus members of host Miami, t-No. 19 Georgia, and Wisconsin from Jan. 10-12. The No. 4 duo of seniors Yuya Ito and Christian Sigsgaard went 2-0 in doubles play and earned Doubles MVP honors. Ito did not compete on the final day of the tournament, but picked up two singles wins, including one over No. 12 Philip Henning of Georgia. Sigsgaard closed his singles play on Sunday with a win over No. 63 Adria Soriano Barrera of Miami, while freshman Jacob Bullard secured a ranked win over No. 88 Blake Croyder of Georgia. Bullard also went 3-0 in doubles, as did freshman Evin McDonald. Sophomore Nevin Arimilli and freshman Cleeve Harper both went 3-0 in best-of-three set singles matches, while freshman Eshan Talluri also posted a 3-0 singles record that included two one-set victories. Sophomore Chih Chi Huang and freshmen Eliot Spizzirri and Siem Woldeab all went 2-1 in doubles, while Woldeab also posted a 2-1 singles mark with his only loss coming in a third-set tiebreaker.
-ITA Preseason Rankings
Texas was ranked No. 2 in the preseason Oracle/ITA Division I Rankings released Jan. 8. It matches the Longhorns' highest preseason ranking in school history, which came in 2009. Texas registered four first-place votes, coming in just behind Florida, which had five, and just ahead of USC, which had three. The No. 2 Longhorns and No. 1 Gators will square off in Gainesville on Jan. 15, which will be Texas' first dual match of the season. Texas was the top-rated Big 12 team in the poll, which featured five of the six conference members. Baylor checked in at No. 5, TCU was No. 8, Oklahoma State was ranked No. 15, and Oklahoma rounded out the group at No. 22.
-No. 1 or No. 2
The Longhorns have been ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in the last six ITA rankings going back to last season with their last time being ranked that high prior to that stretch also coming as No. 2 in 2009.
-Challenging non-conference schedule
The Longhorns have eight non-conference dual matches schedule this season against teams that appear in the preseason ITA national rankings, including home matches with No. 12 Stanford (Feb. 28), t-No. 19 Georgia (Feb. 8) and t-No. 19 Columbia (Mar. 14), and road contests at No. 1 Florida (W, Jan. 15), No. 3 USC (Mar. 17), No. 6 Ohio State (Feb. 1), No. 23 NC State (Mar. 1) and No. 24 San Diego (Mar. 22).
-Big 12 Preseason Rankings
The Big 12 Conference men's tennis coaches selected Texas as No. 2 in the preseason conference poll, the league announced on Jan. 7. The Longhorns split the first-place votes with top-ranked Baylor with three each, while finishing just one point behind the Bears in the overall total, 23-22.
-Defending National Champions
The Longhorns enter the season as the defending National Champions and will feature one of the top duos in college tennis in seniors Christian Sigsgaard and Yuya Ito. Sophomore Chih Chi Huang also returns with significant experience in both the singles and doubles lineups, in addition to sophomore Nevin Arimilli and redshirt freshman Cleeve Harper. That group will be joined by a host of talented newcomers who composed the nation's top-ranked recruiting class in fall participants Jacob Bullard, Evin McDonald, Eshan Talluri and Siem Woldeab, along with January enrollee Eliot Spizzirri. Head coach Bruce Berque enters his second season after guiding Texas to its first team championship in school history.
-3-for-3
During the fall, the ITA instituted its newly-created UTR/ITA National Player of the Month honor. In the three months of competition where it was awarded, it was a Longhorn who took it home all three times with freshman Siem Woldeab receiving it in September, and senior Yuya Ito doing so in October and November.
-One of only three
Senior Yuya Ito won both the ITA National Fall Championships singles and the ITA All-American Championships singles title during the fall. In doing so, he became just the third men's player since 1979 to win those two tournaments in the same season, joining Mitchell Frank of Virginia in 2011 and Sargis Sargsian of Arizona State in 1994. Ito ended the fall 15-1 in singles with a 12-match winning streak, and 11-1 in doubles.
-Bringing home the fall hardware
Yuya Ito
ITA Fall National Championships – Singles Champion
ITA All-American Championships – Singles Champion
ITA Texas Regionals – Doubles Champion (Christian Sigsgaard)
Gamecock Fall Invitational – Doubles Champion (Siem Woldeab)
Gamecock Fall Invitational – Singles Finalist
Christian Sigsgaard
ITA Texas Regionals – Doubles Champion (Yuya Ito)
Southern Intercollegiate Championships – Singles Champion
Southern Intercollegiate Championships – Doubles Champion (Siem Woldeab)
Siem Woldeab
Southern Intercollegiate Championships – Doubles Champion (Christian Sigsgaard)
Gamecock Fall Invitational – Singles Champion
Gamecock Fall Invitational – Doubles Champion (Yuya Ito)
- Final Fall ITA Individual National Rankings
Texas was the only team in the nation with two singles players ranked in the top 15 and a top-10 doubles pair in the final fall ITA national rankings.
Texas
Singles
No. 2 Yuya Ito
No. 13 Christian Sigsgaard
No. 53 Siem Woldeab
Doubles
No. 4 Yuya Ito/Christian Sigsgaard
No. 23 Christian Sigsgaard/Siem Woldeab
No. 38 Yuya Ito/Siem Woldeab
No. 46 Jacob Bullard/Eshan Talluri
SMU
Singles
N/A
Doubles
N/A
