The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
University of the Incarnate Word
No. 5 Men’s Tennis opens doubleheader with 6-1 win over UIW
02.06.2021 | Men's Tennis
The Longhorns won the doubles point and five singles matches against the Cardinals.
Austin – No. 5 Texas Men's Tennis opened its doubleheader with a 6-1 against University of The Incarnate Word on Saturday at the Texas Tennis Center.
The Longhorns won the doubles point and added singles wins by sophomore No. 120 Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1, freshman No. 78 Micah Braswell at No. 2, sophomore Cleeve Harper at No. 3, sophomore Evin McDonald at No. 4, and junior Nevin Arimilli at No. 6.
After winning the doubles point, the top three singles players for Texas picked up efficient wins, combining to drop only four games. The first off the court out of that group was Harper, who defeated Joao Sasso, 6-0, 6-1, winning the first 11 games of the match with three of those coming on deuce points in the first set.
Spizzirri was right behind Harper with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Luka Stojanovic where Spizzirri won all but the first game of the second set. That had been a break for Stojanovic, but Spizzirri took it right back on a deuce point in the next game and closed on his second 6-0 run for a 3-0 lead for Texas.
The clinch came from Braswell, who claimed a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Arnau Miralles. After Miralles claimed his second game of the match on the contest's lone deuce point to get within 4-2, Braswell rattled off the final eight games for the win.
In the final three matches, two players saw their first dual singles action of the season in Arimilli and sophomore Jacob Bullard. Arimilli was off the court next with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Warren Fulgenzi. After the first seven games stayed on serve starting with Arimilli, including the last two of those on deuce points, Arimilli captured the set with a break and a hold. He picked up another break to open the second set and the rest of it stayed on serve until he bookended it with another break for the win and a 5-0 Texas lead.
McDonald extended the overall lead to 6-0 with a 6-3, 7-5 vicotry over Omar El Kadi. After El Kadi opened the match with a break and a hold, McDonald responded with a hold and a break to put it back on course until his next break established a 5-3 lead, and he then held for the win. McDonald took leads of 3-1 and 4-2 in the second set, but El Kadi went on a 3-0 run to take a 5-4 lead. McDonald then answered for a 3-0 run of his own to close out the match.
In the final match, Bullard played in his first dual singles match of the season, but fell in a third-set superbreaker to Marko Galic at No. 5, 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (8). Bullard trailed 3-0 and 4-1 in the first set, but from there posted a 5-0 run to take the frame. He trailed by those same margins in the second and pulled within 5-3 late, but Galic held on this time to send it to the breaker. There, Bullard jumped out to a 5-0 lead, but Galic responded with a 6-0 run. Bullard tied it on the next point, however Galic went on another 3-0 run for a 9-6 lead that he held for a 10-8 win.
Earlier doubles, Spizzirri and junior Chih Chi Huang paired for a 6-0 sweep against El Kadi and Marco Kermet at No. 1, while Bullard and Harper partnered for a 6-3 win over Fulgenzi and Sasso at No. 2. In that match, the Longhorns took a quick 3-0 lead that they advanced to 4-1, but UIW captured two deuce points to cut it to 4-3. Bullard and Harper then closed it with the last two games to clinch doubles. Senior Payton Holden and sophomore Eshan Talluri led 5-3 (30-0) in the last match against Miralles and Noah De Luna at No. 3 when play stopped.
The Longhorns (6-1) will play the second half of their doubleheader with a 3 p.m. CT match against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
#5 Texas 6, UIW 1
Singles – Order of Finish (3,1,2,6,4,5)
1. #120 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) def. Luka Stojanovic (UIW) 6-0, 6-1
2. #78 Micah Braswell (UT) def. Arnau Miralles (UIW) 6-2, 6-0
3. Cleeve Harper (UT) def. Joao Sasso (UIW) 6-0, 6-1
4. Evin McDonald (UT) def. Omar El Kadi (UIW) 6-3, 7-5
5. Marko Galic (UIW) def. Jacob Bullard (UT) 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (8)
6. Nevin Arimilli (UT) def. Warren Fulgenzi (UIW) 6-3, 6-3
Doubles – Order of Finish (1,2)
1. Chih Chi Huang/Eliot Spizzirri (UT) def. Omar El Kadi/Marco Kermet (UIW) 6-0
2. Jacob Bullard/Cleeve Harper (UT) def. Warren Fulgenzi/Joao Sasso (UIW) 6-3
3. Payton Holden/Eshan Talluri (UT) vs. Arnau Miralles/Noah De Luna (UIW) 5-2, unf.
(UT)
Players Mentioned
