The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
01.08.2021 | Men's Tennis
The Longhorns won seven out of 11 singles matches and six out of 10 doubles contests against members of the Crimson Tide on Friday.
Tuscaloosa, Ala. – The Texas Men's Tennis team opened their spring season by facing off against members of Alabama in individual singles and doubles play in Tuscaloosa on Friday. The Longhorns defeated players from the Crimson Tide in seven out of 11 singles matches and six out of 10 doubles contests, all of which were played indoors.
The event had originally been scheduled for three teams to also include Mississippi State, however MSU withdrew prior to traveling to Tuscaloosa. With that, the format changed to feature just players from Texas and Alabama with two rounds of doubles and one round of singles on both Friday and Saturday, along with one round of singles on Sunday.
Friday's singles matches were played in two waves following doubles play. The teams split the first six singles contests with the Longhorns picking up wins from three sophomores Siem Woldeab, Cleeve Harper and Jacob Bullard. Woldeab downed Patrick Kaukovalta in three sets, two of which were tiebreakers, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (3), while Harper topped Riccardo Roberto in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2, and Bullard also won in straight sets, 7-5, 6-2, over Vincent Rettke.
The second wave featured five matches, and Texas was able to secure four of them. Sophomore Eliot Spizzirri defeated Edson Ortiz in three sets, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (3), freshman Micah Braswell put away Zhe Zhou, 6-4, 7-6 (1), junior Nevin Arimilli won in three sets over Marcelo Sepulveda Garza, 2-6, 6-4, 7-5, and freshman Leighton Allen downed Sam Fischer, 6-1, 6-3.
Two rounds of doubles began the day. While Alabama kept its pairs the same in both rounds, Texas kept only one the same from round one to round two. Spizzirri and Woldeab were the constant and won both of their matches by scores of 6-2 and 6-4. In the other matches of round one, Braswell and Harper, along with Bullard and sophomore Evin McDonald both partnered for tiebreaker wins at 8 and 5, respectively, while Arimilli and sophomore Eshan Talluri secured a 6-4 victory. Talluri combined with senior Payton Holden for a 6-1 win in round two.
Members of two teams will meet again on Saturday starting at 1 p.m. CT. with live streaming video found at rolltide.com/indoor and live scoring at courthive.com/t/37073.
Bama Spring Shootout Results – Friday, Jan. 8
Texas vs. Alabama
Doubles – Round 1
Eliot Spizzirri/Siem Woldeab (UT) def. Edson Ortiz/Marcelo Sepulveda-Garza (ALA), 6-2
Patrick Kaukovalta/Riccardo Roberto (ALA) def. Payton Holden/Chih Chi Huang (UT), 6-4
Micah Braswell/Cleeve Harper (UT) def. Gabi Diaz Freire/Zhe Zhou (ALA), 7-6 (8)
Jacob Bullard/Evin McDonald (UT) def. Jeremy Gschwendtner/Vincent Rettke (ALA), 7-6 (5)
Nevin Arimilli/Eshan Talluri (UT) def. Rudi Christiansen/Sam Fischer (ALA), 6-4
Doubles – Round 2
Eliot Spizzirri/Siem Woldeab (UT) def. Patrick Kaukovalta/Riccardo Roberto (ALA), 6-4
Edson Ortiz/Marcelo Sepulveda-Garza (ALA) def. Cleeve Harper/Chih Chi Huang (UT), 7-5
Gabi Diaz Freire/Zhe Zhou (ALA) def. Micah Braswell/Jacob Bullard (UT), 6-2
Payton Holden/Eshan Talluri (UT) def. Jeremy Gschwendtner/Vincent Rettke (ALA), 6-1
Rudi Christiansen/Sam Fischer (ALA) def. Leighton Allen/Evin McDonald (UT), 6-4
Singles
Siem Woldeab (UT) def. Patrick Kaukovalta (ALA), 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (3)
Eliot Spizzirri (UT) def. Edson Ortiz (ALA), 6-3, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5)
Cleeve Harper (UT) def. Riccardo Roberto (ALA), 6-4, 6-2
Micah Braswell (UT) def. Zhe Zhou (ALA), 6-4, 7-6 (1)
Jacob Bullard (UT) def. Vincent Rettke (ALA), 7-5, 6-2
Jeremy Gschwendtner (ALA) def. Evin McDonald (UT), 6-3, 7-6 (8)
Gabi Diaz Freire (ALA) def. Chih Chi Huang (UT), 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
Nevin Arimilli (UT) def. Marcelo Sepulveda Garza (ALA), 2-6, 6-4, 7-5
Rudi Christiansen (ALA) def. Payton Holden (UT), 7-6 (5), 6-3
Leighton Allen (UT) def. Sam Fischer (ALA), 6-1, 6-3
Avi Shugar (ALA) def. Eshan Talluri (UT), 6-2, 7-6 (1)
