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No. 4 Men’s Tennis secures second-straight trip to NCAA Semifinals
05.20.2021 | Men's Tennis
The Longhorns came up clutch again with a 4-3 win over No. 12 USC and are now 8-1 in matches decided by the final singles contest this season with two over the Trojans.
Postmatch Press Conference | Postmatch Quotes
Orlando – No. 4 Men's Tennis secured their second-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament Semifinals with a 4-3 win over No. 12 USC at the USTA National Campus on Thursday.
The Longhorns were clutch again, moving their record to 8-1 this season in matches decided in the final singles contest, including two over the Trojans, who they defeated by the same score at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships on Feb. 13. It is the program's sixth trip to the semifinals, including 2019, 2009, 2008, 2006 and 1993, with 1993 being the only other time both the UT Men's and Women's teams have advanced to the Final Four in the same year.
Texas used the doubles point and singles wins from freshman No. 38 Micah Braswell at No. 2, junior Chih Chi Huang at No. 5 and sophomore No. 108 Cleeve Harper at No. 4, who also clinched the other match against USC in February, for the victory.
Unlike that first match against the Trojans, the Longhorns entered singles play with a 1-0 lead by taking the doubles point, so while they had to come back in that first meeting, they never trailed in this one. After doubles, Braswell was the first off the court with a 6-4, 6-3 win over No. 52 Riley Smith, giving Braswell his second top-60 win in as many matches. After Smith won the opening game on serve, Braswell responded with a 4-0 run. Smith took the next two games on deuce points to pull within one, but Braswell got a deuce point win of his own on serve in the next game and the last two games also stayed on serve for Braswell's win. In the second set, Smith again began with a win on serve, this time on a deuce point, and he picked up another deuce win on his next serve for a 2-1 lead. Braswell was then able to sandwich two holds around a break for a 3-0 run and 4-2 advantage. Smith grabbed one more game on serve to make it 4-3, but Braswell closed it out with a hold and a deuce point break for a 2-0 Texas lead.
Just seconds later, USC got on the board with a 6-4, 6-4 win by Jake Sands over sophomore Evin McDonald at No. 6. In the first set, Sands took a 3-2 lead on a break, but McDonald immediately answered it to even it. Sands then picked up a second break at 5-4 and finished the set on serve. In the second, McDonald jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead with a deuce point break in the second game, but Sands responded with a 3-0 run of his own. McDonald took the lead back in the next game on a deuce point hold, but a second 3-0 run by Sands ended the match.
The remaining singles contests all went to third sets, as the Trojans later tied the overall match at 2-2 with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 win by No. 49 Daniel Cukierman over sophomore No. 23 Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1. Five breaks in the first seven games left Cukierman with a 4-3 lead that he then extended to 5-3 on serve with the last two games also staying on serve for his win. However, the last two sets were two opposites as each player controlled one with Spizzirri using a 3-0 run to start the second on his way to a 6-2 win, and Cukierman mounting a 6-0 run to close the third after Spizzirri won the first game.
Huang regained the lead for Texas with a 6-2, 0-6, 6-3 win over Lodewijk Weststrate at No. 5. Much like Spizzirri's match, there were large swings for each player as Huang got out to a 4-0 lead in the first. Weststrate got on the board with a deuce point hold and a brake in the next game to cut it to 4-2, but Huang answered the brake on a deuce point and the held for the set. The second was then all Weststrate as he used four deuce point wins to take it, 6-0, but Huang bookended the third set with brakes for the victory.
The Trojans tied it once again with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 win by No. 116 Stefan Dostanic over sophomore No. 75 Siem Woldeab at No. 3. The first set stayed on serve starting with Dostanic all the way to the last game with each player taking a deuce point in that stretch, but Dostanic finally secured a break on another deuce point for the win. Woldeab earned a break in the third game of the next set for a 2-1 lead that he increased to 3-1 on serve, but Donstanic held on a deuce point and broke to even it, starting a string of five straight breaks that finished the frame in Woldeab's favor. The first six games of the third set mirrored the scores from the second, but this time Dostanic held for a 4-3 lead that he made 5-3 with a break before closing on serve.
That turned the attention to court 4, where Harper and Bradley Frye were left to determine which team would move on. The first four games were all on serve, but each player then broke on a deuce point starting with Frye to put it back on serve. The next three games were all on serve with Frye winning his on a deuce point, leaving Harper with a 5-4 edge before he broke on a deuce point to take the set. Frye captured two breaks to take a 4-1 lead in the second, and while Harper pulled back within one using two straight deuce points, Frye won the last two games to send it to a third set. There, the first four games were on serve starting with Frye, but Harper used consecutive deuce point wins to hold in the last of those and break for a 3-2 lead. Frye responded to the break to tie it and the next four games were also on serve, despite each player winning a deuce point at 4-4 for Harper and 5-4 for Dostanic. However, that would be the last game Dostanic would win as Harper broke for 6-5 and then served out the match to send the Longhorns to the semifinals.
The intensity had started early as doubles came down to a tiebreaker in the third match at No. 1 between No. 11 Spizzirri and Woldeab and No. 10 Cukierman and Smith. The Longhorns found themselves down after they gave up a break in the opening game on a deuce point, and the Trojans held for 2-0. Both teams then held until a 4-3 lead for USC, including one deuce point at 3-2 for Texas, when the Longhorns got the break back at 4-4 to get on serve where they took a 5-4 lead. The rest of the match also stayed on serve, including one more deuce point for Spizzirri and Woldeab at 6-5, to send it to the breaker. There, the Longhorns established a quick 2-0 advantage, which they expanded to 5-1. The Trojans pulled within 6-4 on serve, but Woldeab painted the line on the next point for the winner and the clinch.
Prior to that, USC had gotten off the court first at No. 2 with Dostanic and Frye downing No. 78 Harper and Huang, 6-2. Like the match at No. 1, the Trojans had taken a 2-0 lead on a deuce point break and a hold. The Longhorns held in the next game on a deuce point, but the match stayed on serve up to 4-2 when USC got grabbed another break and then held on a deuce point to win.
Texas evened things up in doubles at No. 3 with a 6-4 win by Braswell and senior Payton Holden against Sands and Ryder Jackson. That match stayed on serve starting with USC all the way to 4-4 when Texas got the break it needed on its second deuce point win and then held for the victory, sending the focus to No. 1 where the Longhorns clinched the point.
Texas (24-5) will next face No. 1 Florida, which they defeated, 4-3, in Austin on Jan. 23. It will also be a rematch of the 2019 NCAA semifinals, which the Longhorns won, 4-2, and was played on these same courts. That match will be Friday not before 6:30 p.m. CT/7:30 p.m. ET, pending the conclusion of the previous match, on the Tennis Channel.
#4 Texas 4, #12 USC 3
Singles – Order of Finish (2,6,1,5,3,4)
1. #49 Daniel Cukierman (USC) def. #23 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) 6-4, 2-6, 6-1
2. #38 Micah Braswell (UT) def. #52 Riley Smith (USC) 6-4, 6-3
3. #116 Stefan Dostanic (USC) def. #75 Siem Woldeab (UT) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
4. #108 Cleeve Harper (UT) def. Bradley Frye (USC) 6-4, 3-6, 7-5
5. Chih Chi Huang (UT) def. Lodewijk Weststrate (USC) 6-2, 0-6, 6-3
6. Jake Sands (USC) def. Evin McDonald (UT) 6-4, 6-4
Doubles – Order of Finish (2,3,1)
1. #11 Siem Woldeab/Eliot Spizzirri (UT) def. #10 Daniel Cukierman/Riley Smith (USC) 7-6 (4)
2. Bradley Frye/Stefan Dostanic (USC) def. #78 Cleeve Harper/Chih Chi Huang (UT) 6-2
3. Micah Braswell/Payton Holden (UT) def. Jake Sands/Ryder Jackson (USC) 6-4
Players Mentioned
