The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
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UCF
No. 14 Men’s Tennis sweeps UCF, 4-0
02.13.2022 | Men's Tennis
The Longhorns completed their second sweep of the weekend with a win over the Knights on Sunday.
Austin – No. 14 Texas Men's Tennis completed its second sweep of the weekend with a 4-0 victory over UCF on Sunday at the Texas Tennis Center. It came on the heels of a 7-0 sweep of Rice on Friday.
The Longhorns won the doubles point and followed with singles victories by freshman No. 62 Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 2, sophomore Siem Woldeab at No. 5, and sophomore No. 57 Micah Braswell at No. 1.
Bailly returned to the lineup after not playing against Rice on Friday and picked up a top-50 win with a 6-1, 6-4 decision over No. 50 Trey Hilderbrand. Bailly used a deuce-point break in the second game to set out on a 5-0 run before the final two games resulted in deuce-point holds for each player starting with Hilderbrand. The second set then stayed on serve up to 4-4, with the last of those two games decided at deuce, when Bailly grabbed the lone break of the set and then held for his win and a 2-0 Texas lead.
In Woldeab's opening set against JC Roddick, he put together his third straight 6-1 set going back to his last match, and then made it four out of five in the third as he bookended them for a 6-1, 5-7, 6-1 win. Like Bailly, he earned a deuce-point break in the second game for a 3-0 run, and after Roddick got one game back on serve, Woldeab put together another 3-0 run for the set. In the second, it was Roddick who started 3-0. The next two games produced deuce-point holds, but then Roddick secured a second break for a 5-1 lead. Woldeab answered the break and came storming back on a 4-0 run to even it, but Roddick was able to hang on with a hold and break to send it to the third. The scoring pattern of that set matched the first with Woldeab winning deuce points for 3-0 and 5-1 on his way to the win and a 3-0 advantage for the Longhorns.
That score and the match would last just a few moments beyond that, as two courts over, Braswell clinched for Texas with a 7-5, 7-5 win over Lleyton Cronje. With the rest of the matches in third sets, Braswell and Cronje battled it out with neither player ever holding more than a two-game edge, which is what Cronje opened with after a deuce-point break in the second game. Braswell broke right back and then held to even it, but two games later, Cronje used another deuce-point break for a 4-2 lead. Again Braswell responded with a break and then held to tie it, and the next two games stayed on serve before Braswell got a deuce-point break of his own for his first lead and closed out on serve. The second set featured eight deuce points in the 12 games. Cronje got the first one on serve, while Braswell claimed the next two to break and then hold at 3-1. Then next five games stayed on serve with the last two of those on deuce points to start a string of five-straight deuce points to close the match. That provided Braswell with multiple match points before Cronje used a deuce point to even it at 5-5. However, the last two belonged to Braswell, as did the match, handing Texas the overall victory.
All three matches still on the court at that point had gone to third sets with the Longhorns leading in two of them and even in the other. Sophomore Eliot Spizzirri was up, 4-6, 7-5, 3-0, against Bogdan Pavel at No. 3, while junior Chih Chi Huang was also leading, 2-6, 6-4, 4-2, over Kento Yamada at No. 6. Senior No. 75 Richard Ciamarra and Alan Rubio were tied 2-2 in the third after Ciamarra won the first, 7-5, and Rubio took the second, 6-2.
In Spizzirri's match, Pavel captured the lone break of the first set at 5-4 before holding for the win. The players then traded breaks in the second with Pavel going up 3-2 on a deuce point before Spizzirri evened it. The next break came for Spizzirri at 7-5 to give him the set, and then Spizzirri won all three games of the third on deuce points before play stopped. Huang had gotten off to a slow start dropping his first set and then trailing 4-3 in the second, but he fought back with a 6-0 run to claim that set and lead 3-0 in the third. He had just made it 4-2 on a deuce point when the match finished. Ciamarra trailed 4-2 and then 5-3 in his first set before closing 4-0 to win it, while it was Rubio who put together a 4-0 in the second that he started and finished on deuce points leading to the third set, which was stopped at 2-2.
Earlier in doubles, Texas clinched the point with wins by Ciamarra and Spizzirri at No. 3, and Braswell and Huang at No. 2.
Ciamarra and Spizzirri produced an efficient 6-1 win over Roddick and Yamada, sandwiching 3-0 runs around one service hold for UCF. Braswell and Huang also opened 3-0 against Hilderbrand and Cooper White, but the UCF pair made their way back into the match with a 3-0 run of their own that took it from a 4-1 UT lead to 4-4, including one deuce point at 4-3. However, the Longhorns held to retake the lead and grabbed a deciding break on a deuce point to clinch at 6-4.
The last match at No. 1 between Woldeab and Bailly and No. 43 Cronje and Pavel was even at 5-5 when play stopped. The Knights had jumped out to a 2-0 advantage with a break in the opening game, but the Longhorns responded with a 3-0 run to put it back on serve. Each team collected one more break before holding in the last two games.
The Longhorns next head to Seattle, Wash., to compete in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships from Feb. 18-21. Matchups and times for the tournament will be announced later in the week.
#14 Texas 4, UCF 0
Singles – Order of Finish (2,5,1)
1. #57 Micah Braswell (UT) def. Lleyton Cronje (UCF) 7-5, 7-5
2. #62 Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) def. #50 Trey Hilderbrand (UCF) 6-1, 6-4
3. Eliot Spizzirri (UT) vs. Bogdan Pavel (UCF) 4-6, 7-5, 3-0, unf.
4. #75 Richard Ciamarra (UT) vs. Alan Rubio (UCF) 7-5, 2-6, 2-2, unf.
5. Siem Woldeab (UT) def. JC Roddick (UCF) 6-1, 5-7, 6-1
6. Chih Chi Huang (UT) vs. Kento Yamada (UCF) 2-6, 6-4, 4-2, unf.
Doubles – Order of Finish (3,2)
1. Siem Woldeab/Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) vs. #43 Lleyton Cronje/Bogdan Pavel (UCF) 5-5, unf.
2. Micah Braswell/Chih Chi Huang (UT) def. Trey Hilderbrand/Cooper White (UCF) 6-4
3. Richard Ciamarra/Eliot Spizzirri (UT) def. JC Roddick/Kento Yamada (UCF) 6-1
Players Mentioned
