The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Arizona State
No. 5 Men’s Tennis tops Arizona State, 6-1
01.23.2022 | Men's Tennis
The Longhorns swept the singles matches against the Sun Devils on Sunday in Tempe.
Tempe, Ariz. – No. 5 Texas Men's Tennis swept the singles matches to complete a 6-1 win over Arizona State in Tempe in Sunday, splitting their two-match road trip in the state.
The wins came from sophomore No. 20 Micah Braswell at No. 2, sophomore No. 73 Cleeve Harper at No. 4, junior Nevin Arimilli at No. 5, sophomore Evin McDonald at No. 6, senior Richard Ciamarra at No. 3, and freshman Pierre-Yves Bailly at No 1.
After Arizona State took the doubles point in a deciding match tiebreaker, Braswell produced an efficient response with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Fabien Salle. Braswell picked up a deuce-point break in the opening game and then another on serve to complete a 4-0 run to begin the match. The rest of the first set stayed on serve, as did the first two games of the second when Braswell broke and held for a 3-1 lead. Salle got the break back on a deuce point to even it at 3-3, but Braswell answered with a deuce-point break of his own to start a 3-0 run to even the overall match at 1-1.
Harper was next off the court for Texas with a 6-1, 7-6 (5) win over former Longhorn teammate Jacob Bullard at No. 4. Harper began the match with a deuce-point hold and a 5-0 run. Bullard got one game back on serve, but Harper held in the next one for the set. Each player grabbed a break to open the second set, but from there it stayed on serve up until Bullard's next break to give him a 5-3 lead. Harper held off a set point for Bullard with a deuce-point break in the next game to put the set back on course and then staved off another to move to 6-6 and the tiebreaker. In that frame, Harper jumped out to a 3-0 lead with a mini-break on the first point. Bullard closed within one at 4-3, 5-4 and 6-5, but then Harper secured the mini-break he needed for the win and a 2-1 Texas lead.
Arimilli followed with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Nicola Cigna to increase the Longhorn advantage to 3-1. Arimilli jumped out to a 3-0 start with a break in the first game and two-straight deuce point wins, however Cigna got one of the breaks back on a deuce point and then held for 3-2. The remainder of the set stayed on serve, including a deuce-point win for each player, leading to Arimilli's win. In the second set, Arimilli again broke in the opening game and then held for 2-0. The players then took turns winning deuce points on serve with Arimilli's starting a 3-0 run for a 5-1 edge for him. Arimilli had match points in each of the next two games, but Cigna captured them with deuce-point wins and then held to pull within 5-4 before Arimilli closed on serve.
The last three matches all went three sets, starting with McDonald's 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over Spencer Brachman. The first set remained on serve all the way up to a 5-4 lead for Brachman that he posted on a deuce point before he grabbed the first break of the frame for the win. McDonald quickly secured his first break in the first game of the second set and consolidated it into a 2-0 lead on serve. His second break then gave him a 5-2 edge, but Brachman broke back and held for 5-4, while McDonald also held in the following game to take the set. In the third, McDonald used deuce points in the third and fourth games to cap a 4-0 run and the rest of the set stayed on serve to give McDonald the victory and the clinch of the overall match at 4-1.
That left Ciamarra and Bailly on the court with Ciamarra taking a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over No. 118 Max McKennon. Ciamarra got up a break in the first game, but McKennon went on a 4-0 streak to establish his lead, and then held serve using two deuce points for the set. In the second, Ciamarra sandwiched a pair of 3-0 runs around one for McKennon with the second run for Ciamarra finishing on two deuce points and beginning a run of seven straight that put him up 4-0 in the third. Ciamarra's lead extended to 5-1 on serve with McKennon then holding on a deuce point and grabbing a break for 5-3, but Ciamarra immediately regained the break for the win.
Bailly finished with the closest match of the day, a 7-6 (6), 6-7 (5), 1-0 (9) decision over Murphy Cassone. In the first set, Bailly used a deuce-point break for a 3-1 lead that he pushed to 4-1 on serve, however Cassone took consecutive deuce points along with a hold for a 3-0 run to even it. The rest of the set stayed on serve with each player winning a deuce point as Cassone's came to make it 6-6 to advance to a tiebreaker. There, neither player led by more than a point until Bailly secured a mini-break to win it at 8-6. In the second set, it was Cassone who moved in front 3-0, but Bailly came back with a 3-0 run of his own that started with a deuce-point hold. That put the set back on course where it stayed until a second tiebreaker in which Cassone used a 3-0 run for a 6-3 lead. Bailly closed within 6-5, but Cassone took the next point for the win en route to the third-set superbreaker. In that frame, Cassone bolted out to a 4-0 lead, but Bailly captured eight of the next nine points, including a 6-0 run that left him up, 8-5. The players exchanged points over the next two to make Bailly's lead 9-6, but Cassone fended off three match points to get it back to 9-9. However, Bailly secured the next two points for the victory and the 6-1 final.
Earlier in doubles, Arizona State earned their lone point of the day by winning a tiebreaker in the deciding match at No. 3, a contest that featured Braswell and junior Chih Chi Huang against Cigna and George Stoupe. The Sun Devils used breaks in the second and fourth games surrounding a Longhorn break in the third to generate a 4-1 lead, but Texas responded with a 3-0 run including a deuce-point break to get back on serve, which is where the match stayed to the breaker. Braswell and Huang grabbed a mini-break to begin that frame, and won three of the first four points, but Cigna and Stoupe went on a 5-0 run for a 6-4 lead before winning it at 7-5.
The Sun Devils had also won at No. 1 doubles where No. 42 McKennon and Salle downed the No. 23 pair of sophomores Eliot Spizzirri and Siem Woldeab, 6-2. The Longhorns held their first two serves for a 2-1 lead, but ASU went on a 5-0 run from there for the win.
Texas had then taken No. 2 doubles where the No. 13 duo of Ciamarra and Harper defeated Cassone and Bullard, 6-3. Each team won a deuce point in keeping the first five games on serve to a UT 3-2 lead with the last of those starting a 3-0 run for the Longhorns to extend to 5-2. The Sun Devils got one game back on serve at 5-3, but Ciamarra and Harper closed on serve for the win.
The Longhorns next return home to host the ITA Kickoff Weekend at the Texas Tennis Center and will face Columbia on Jan. 29 at 11 a.m. CT, followed by either Oklahoma State or Oregon on Sunday, Jan. 30, at 12 p.m. CT.
#5 Texas 6, Arizona State 1
Singles – Order of Finish (2,4,5,6,3,1)
1. Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) def. Murphy Cassone (ASU) 7-6 (6), 6-7 (5), 1-0 (9)
2. #20 Micah Braswell (UT) def. Fabien Salle (ASU) 6-2, 6-3
3. Richard Ciamarra (UT) def. #118 Max McKennon (ASU) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
4. #73 Cleeve Harper (UT) def. Jacob Bullard (ASU) 6-1, 7-6 (5)
5. Nevin Arimilli (UT) def. Nicola Cigna (ASU) 6-4, 6-4
6. Evin McDonald (UT) def. Spencer Brachman (ASU) 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
Doubles – Order of Finish (1,2,3)
1. #42 Max McKennon/Fabien Salle (ASU) def. #23 Eliot Spizzirri/Siem Woldeab (UT) 6-2
2. #13 Richard Ciamarra/Cleeve Harper (UT) def. Murphy Cassone/Jacob Bullard (ASU) 6-3
3. George Stoupe/Nicola Cigna (ASU) def. Chih Chi Huang/Micah Braswell (UT) 7-6 (5)
Players Mentioned
