The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Florida
No. 3 Men’s Tennis preview: No. 1 Florida
01.15.2022 | Men's Tennis
The match is at 12 p.m. CT at the TTC with a pizza giveaway to the first 100 students and a T-shirt giveaway to the first 100 fans.
No. 3 Men's Tennis preview: vs. No. 1 Florida
When: Sun., Jan. 16, 2022, 12 p.m. CT
Where: Texas Tennis Center, Austin, Texas
Team Records: Texas (1-0, 0-0 Big 12), Florida (0-1, 0-0 SEC)
Live Video: hookem.at/MTN-Watch
Live Stats: hookem.at/MTN-Stats
There will be a pizza giveaway to the first 100 students and a T-shirt giveaway to the first 100 fans.
Notes
-Florida Series: Texas leads, 12-7
Texas leads the all-time series with Florida, 12-7, including two meetings last year with each team winning once. Texas took a 4-3 decision in Austin during the ITA Kickoff Weekend that sent the Longhorns to the ITA National Indoors, while Florida won 4-0 in the NCAA Semifinals on the USTA National Campus in Orlando before going on to win the 2021 National Championship. Two seasons ago, the No. 2 Longhorns opened their dual match season at No. 1 Florida and came away with a 5-2 win, using five singles victories, all against ranked opponents. Prior to that, the teams met in the semifinals of the 2019 NCAA Championship as No. 2 Texas defeated No. 4 Florida, 4-2, also on the USTA National Campus in Orlando, on their way to winning the 2019 National Championship.
-Last Four Meetings
2021: No. 1 Florida 4, No. 4 Texas 0 – NCAA Championship semifinals, Orlando, Fla.
2021: No. 6 Texas 4, No. 9 Florida 3 – ITA Kickoff, Austin, Texas (Texas Tennis Center)
2020: No. 2 Texas 5, No. 1 Florida 2 – Gainesville, Fla.
2019: No. 2 Texas 4, No. 4 Florida 2 – NCAA Championship semifinals, Orlando, Fla.
No. 2 (1 seed) Florida 4, No. 4 (4 seed) Texas 0
Fri., May 22, 2021 • Orlando, Fla. • USTA National Campus (NCAA Semifinals)
Singles – Order of Finish (5,4,3)
1. #4 Duarte Vale (UF) vs. #23 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) 6-4, 5-6, unf.
2. #6 Sam Riffice (UF) vs. #38 Micah Braswell (UT) 6-7 (3), 2-3, unf.
3. #18 Andy Andrade (UF) def. #75 Siem Woldeab (UT) 6-3, 7-5
4. #51 Blaise Bicknell (UF) def. #108 Cleeve Harper (UT) 6-1, 7-5
5. Ben Shelton (UF) def. Chih Chi Huang (UT) 6-3, 6-0
6. #79 Josh Goodger (UF) vs. Evin McDonald (UT) 2-6, 6-4, 3-4, unf.
Doubles – Order of Finish (3,2)
1. #16 Duarte Vale/Johannes Ingildsen (UF) vs. #11 Siem Woldeab/Eliot Spizzirri (UT) 5-5, unf.
2. Sam Riffice/Ben Shelton (UF) def. #78 Cleeve Harper/Chih Chi Huang (UT) 6-4
3. Brian Berdusco/Will Grant (UF) def. Micah Braswell/Payton Holden (UT) 6-2
No. 6 Texas 4, No. 9 Florida Gators 3
Sat., Jan. 23, 2021 • Austin, Texas (ITA Kickoff)
Singles – Order of Finish (3,4,5,1,6,2)
1. #57 Siem Woldeab (UT) def. #12 Duarte Vale (UF) 7-5, 7-5
2. #120 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) def. #8 Sam Riffice (UF) 5-7, 6-4, 6-3
3. #85 Andy Andrade (UF) def. #78 Micah Braswell (UT) 6-3, 6-0
4. Cleeve Harper (UT) def. Johannes Ingildsen (UF) 6-2, 6-2
5. Chih Chi Huang (UT) def. Ben Shelton (UF) 6-4, 7-6 (7-3)
6. #68 Blaise Bicknell (UF) def. Evin McDonald (UT) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
Doubles – Order of Finish (1,3)
1. #45 Duarte Vale/Sam Riffice (UF) def. Eliot Spizzirri/Siem Woldeab (UT) 6-2
2. Payton Holden/Chih Chi Huang (UT) vs. Johannes Ingildsen/Ben Shelton (UF) 5-4, unf.
3. Andy Andrade/Will Grant (UF) def. Micah Braswell/Cleeve Harper (UT) 6-2
No. 2 Texas 5, No. 1 Florida 2
Wed., Jan. 15, 2020 • Gainesville, Fla.
Singles – Order of finish (3,2,5,6,1,4)
1. No. 2 Yuya Ito (UT) def. No. 31 Oliver Crawford (UF), 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
2. No. 13 Christian Sigsgaard (UT) def. No. 4 Sam Riffice (UF), 6-1, 6-4
3. No. 53 Siem Woldeab (UT) def. No. 17 Duarte Vale (UF), 7-5, 6-1
4. Eliot Spizzirri (UT) def. No. 72 Andy Andrade (UF), 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-2
5. Chih Chi Huang (UT) def. No. 71 Lukas Greif (UF), 7-5, 6-3
6. No. 118 Blaise Bicknell (UF) def. Cleeve Harper (UT), 7-5, 6-2
Doubles – Order of finish (3,2)
1. No. 14 Sam Riffice/Oliver Crawford (UF) vs. No. 4 Yuya Ito/Christian Sigsgaard (UT), 6-5, unf.
2. Johannes Ingildsen/Will Grant (UF) def. Eliot Spizzirri/Jacob Bullard (UT), 7-5
3. Duarte Vale/Josh Goodger (UF) def. Chih Chi Huang/Cleeve Harper (UT), 6-3
No. 2 (2 seed) Texas 4, No. 4 (3 seed) Florida 2
Sat., May 18, 2019 • Orlando, Fla. • USTA National Campus (NCAA Semifinals)
Singles – Order of Finish (2,6,1,5,3)
1. #9 Oliver Crawford (UF) def. #7 Christian Sigsgaard (UT), 6-4, 6-3
2. #12 Yuya Ito (UT) def. #54 Sam Riffice (UF), 6-2, 6-2
3. #80 Leonardo Telles (UT) def. #113 Johannes Ingildsen (UF), 6-4, 7-5
4. #55 Harrison Scott (UT) vs. Alfredo Perez (UF), 6-4, 3-6, 3-3, unf.
5. #59 Andres Andrade (UF) def. Colin Markes (UT), 7-6 (4), 6-4
6. Rodrigo Banzer (UT) def. McClain Kessler (UF) 6-2, 6-4
Doubles – Order of Finish (1,3)
1. #5 Christian Sigsgaard/Harrison Scott (UT) def. Johannes Ingildsen/McClain Kessler (UF), 6-3
2. Colin Markes/Leonardo Telles (UT) vs. Oliver Crawford/Alfredo Perez (UF), 5-6, unf.
3. Chih Chi Huang/Yuya Ito (UT) def. Duarte Vale/Andres Andrade (UF), 7-6 (1)
-25th-Straight Season-Opening Win
The Longhorns took their season opener over UTSA, 6-1, on Jan. 14 at the Texas Tennis Center. It marked the 25th-straight season-opening victory for the Longhorns dating back to 1998. Texas used the doubles point and five singles wins from Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 2, Richard Ciamarra at No. 3, No. 105 Siem Woldeab at No. 4, No. 73 Cleeve Harper at No. 5, and Chih Chi Huang at No. 6. Eliot Spizzirri did not play singles, but did partner with Woldeab at No. 1 doubles for a win to help secure that point.
-Miami Spring Invite
The Longhorns began the spring season with individual play against opponents from No. 9 Georgia, No. 11 UCF and Miami. The tournament had been designed for round robin competition against each of the three teams, however only two members of the Hurricanes were available to play. Additionally, weather cancelled a majority of the singles matches on the second day. For Texas, Eliot Spizzirri did not play, but the results were highlighted by freshman Pierre-Yves Bailly picking up a win over No. 16 Trey Hilderbrand of UCF in his first singles match as a Longhorn, along with the No. 13 pair of Richard Ciamarra and Cleeve Harper topping the No. 22 duo of Hilderbrand and Bogdan Pavel of UCF.
-ITA Preseason Rankings
Texas was ranked No. 3 in the 2022 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Preseason Top 25 Coaches Poll announced Jan. 5. The ranking equals where the Longhorns completed the 2021 season, which was their third-straight top-five finish, and it marks the 40th-straight week the team has been rated in the top 10 dating back to the beginning of the 2019 season. The poll is voted on by the ITA National Ranking Committee. All six members of the Big 12 received votes for the poll with three ranking in the top five, including Baylor at No. 2 and TCU at No. 5. Oklahoma was No. 24, while Oklahoma State and Texas Tech both received votes.
-Challenging non-conference schedule
The Longhorns have 12 non-conference dual matches scheduled this season against teams that appear in the preseason ITA national rankings, including home matches with No. 1 Florida (Jan. 16), RV Columbia (Jan. 29), No. 11 UCF (Feb. 13), No. 6 Ohio State (Mar. 12), and No. 24 Oklahoma (Mar. 27), and road contests at No. 15 Arizona (Jan. 21), RV Arizona State (Jan. 23), No. 2 Baylor (Feb. 4), No. 8 Georgia (Mar. 1), No. 19 Texas A&M (Mar. 9), No. 9 USC (Mar. 15), No. 22 Pepperdine (Mar. 18). The matches against Baylor and Oklahoma are both prior to Big 12 play and are non-conference with those teams meeting again later in conference play.
-Back from the Final Four
Heading into the fourth season under head coach Bruce Berque, Texas returns almost all of its regular singles and doubles lineups from a team that reached the Final Four of last year's NCAA Championships. Of the retuning players, Eliot Spizzirri earned All-America honors in both singles and doubles last season, while Siem Woldeab did so in doubles and was a second-team All-Big 12 selection in singles. Micah Braswell was also second-team all-conference in singles and named the unanimous Big 12 Freshman of the Year, while Cleeve Harper shared the Big 12 Individual Championship at No. 4 singles. Chih Chi Huang and Evin McDonald return after playing majority of the matches at No. 5 and No. 6 singles, respectively, as do Nevin Arimilli and Eshan Talluri.
-Two New Faces
The Longhorns add two new faces in graduate transfer Richard Ciamarra from Notre Dame, who arrived in the fall, and true freshman Pierre-Yves Bailly, who joins the team for the spring. Ciamarra was a 2020 ITA All-American in singles and a three-time All-ACC selection and was ranked as high as No. 6 in singles and No. 28 in doubles in 2021. Bailly has been the top junior player in Belgium and reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Juniors, along with the second round of the Roland Garros Juniors, in 2021.
-Berque at the Helm
Bruce Berque begins his fourth season as the head coach at Texas having taken over midway through the 2019 season. From there, he has led the Longhorns to a 53-11 overall record (.828) that includes 24-6 last season with an appearance in the Final Four and a share of the Big 12 regular season title, 13-3 in a season shortened by the pandemic in 2020, and 15-2 in 2019 en route to the guiding Texas to its first team National Championship. The Longhorns also earned the Big 12 regular season championship that year. Texas finished ranked in the top four in all three of the previous seasons at No. 3 in 2021, No. 4 in 2020 and No. 1 in 2019.
-Summer/Fall Wrap-up
Eliot Spizzirri and Chih Chi Huang both missed all of fall singles play due to injury with Huang also missing doubles, but Spizzirri played in limited doubles at the ITA Fall Nationals. Richard Ciamarra and Siem Woldeab were also working through injuries in the fall. However, over the summer, Spizzirri won the singles title of the ITF Futures in Decatur, Ill. for his first pro singles title, along with winning the doubles title at the ITF Futures in Champaign, Ill., the week before. He then earned a singles qualifying wild card to the U.S. Open and advanced to the second round with a win over ATP No. 163 Alejandro Tabilo. After that, he received a doubles main draw wild card at the U.S. Open. Later in the fall, Spizzirri and Woldeab reached the quarterfinals of the ITA Fall Nationals, and Spizzirri later paired with former Longhorn Colin Markes to make the semifinals of the DropshotLLC Pro Tennis Open in Austin.
Micah Braswell posted eight singles wins in the fall, including reaching the semifinals of the ITA Texas Regionals where he came up just short in three sets to No. 18 Juan Carlos Aguilar. Cleeve Harper picked up his first pro title, taking the M15 Cancun with partner Liam Draxl. Prior to that, Harper and Ciamarra reached the finals of the ITA Texas Regionals shortly after advancing to the round of 16 at the ITA All-American Championships. January enrollee Pierre-Yves Bailly also captured his first pro singles title at the Monastir 15K in Tunisia and additionally reached the doubles final there in November 2021.
-Final Fall ITA Individual National Rankings
Texas had five listings in the final fall ITA individual rankings that were released Dec. 8 with three in singles and two doubles pairs, however Eliot Spizzirri did not play singles in the fall and did not appear in the rankings.
Texas
Singles
No. 20 Micah Braswell
No. 73 Cleeve Harper
No. 105 Siem Woldeab
Doubles
No. 13 Richard Ciamarra/Cleeve Harper
No. 23 Eliot Spizzirri/Siem Woldeab
Florida
Singles
No. 2 Ben Shelton
No. 61 Mattias Siimar
No. 79 Nate Bonetto
No. 107 Andres Andrade
No. 111 Joshua Goodger
Doubles
No. 14 Abedallah Shelbayh/Mattias Siimar
No. t-39 Andres Andrade/Duarte Vale
No. 51 Andres Andrade/Mattias Siimar
No. 55 Nate Bonetto/Lukas Greif
-Year Five at the Texas Tennis Center
Texas opened its fifth year of play at the Texas Tennis Center with a win over UTSA to start the 2022 season and is now 49-5 overall in its history. The Longhorns posted a 14-2 mark in 2021, which included wins over No. 6 Texas A&M, No. 9 Florida and No. 15 Arizona. In a shortened season in 2020, Texas recorded a 9-0 record that featured wins against No. 8 Stanford, No. 18 Georgia and No. 21 Florida State. The Longhorns finished 2019 with a 15-1 mark, including wins over No. 1 Ohio State, No. 6 Baylor and No. 12 Columbia, along with three NCAA Tournament victories. The lone loss that year came to No. 15 USC. During its inaugural season, Texas posted a 10-2 record, including winning the 2018 Big 12 Tournament.
Players Mentioned
