The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
05.24.2022 | Men's Tennis
Richard Ciamarra and Cleeve Harper earned a straight-sets win over No. 37 Philip Henning and Trent Bryde of Georgia on Tuesday.
Champaign, Ill. – Texas Men's Tennis' fourth-seeded doubles pair of senior Richard Ciamarra and sophomore Cleeve Harper advanced to the NCAA Doubles Tournament Round of 16 with a 7-6 (4), 6-3 win over No. 37 Philip Henning and Trent Bryde of Georgia on Tuesday in Champaign, Ill.
The Longhorns had two duos compete on Tuesday, however the sophomore tandem of 5-8 seed Eliot Spizzirri and Siem Woldeab fell to No. 18 Connor Thomson and Daniel Rodrigues of South Carolina, 6-2, 6-2, earlier in the day.
Ciamarra and Harper opened their match with a break, but Henning and Bryde broke back and held for a 2-1 lead. The Longhorns then held a deuce point and followed with another break to retake the lead at 3-2. However, the Bulldogs again broke back to return the set to on serve where it stayed all the way to a tiebreaker. That stretch included only one deuce point at 5-4 for Georgia.
In the tiebreaker, the Bulldogs served first and claimed a 2-0 lead with a mini-break, but Texas fought back with three-straight points that included two mini-breaks for the lead. The teams exchanged the next four points with the Longhorns moving ahead at 5-4 on a mini-break and then serving out to complete a 3-0 run to take the set.
The second set stayed on serve to a 3-2 lead for Texas until the Longhorns picked up the first break to extend to 4-2. The Bulldogs grabbed a deuce-point break to get back within one, but Ciamarra and Harper answered it for 5-3 and then closed out on serve for the win. They will next face No. 32 Justin Barki and Ryan Seggerman of Princeton on Wednesday at 5 p.m. CT.
For Spizzirri and Woldeab, the day came down to deuce points as Thomson and Rodrigues used them to pick up breaks on both of the Longhorns' first two serves to push out to a 4-0 lead. The last four games of the first set then stayed on serve to the 6-2 win for South Carolina. Deuce points were also the story of the second set as Texas had a chance to break on one for a 2-0 lead, but the Gamecocks held to even it and then broke and held for a 3-1 lead. After the Longhorns held to get within 3-2, the last three games all went to deuce and all went to South Carolina for the final.
Spizzirri and Woldeab complete their season with a 14-5 overall record that included a 12-3 mark in dual match play, going 5-1 at No. 1, and 7-2 at No. 2. They had won five-straight and eight of their last nine entering the tournament, and overall this season secured five top-25 victories with three in the top 15. After winning both of their matches at the Big 12 Championship, they were named to the All-Tournament Team at No. 2 doubles and were later selected to the All-Big 12 Second Team.
By virtue of their top-eight seeds, both Texas pairs are qualified to receive ITA All-America honors, which will be announced later in the year.
2022 NCAA Men's Tennis Doubles Championships
Complete Doubles Bracket (PDF)
Doubles Round of 32 – May 24
4 seed No. 4 Richard Ciamarra/Cleeve Harper (UT) def. No. 37 Philip Henning/Trent Bryde (UGA), 7-6 (4), 6-3
No. 18 Connor Thomson/Daniel Rodrigues (SC) def. 5-8 seed No. 8 Eliot Spizzirri/Siem Woldeab (UT), 6-2, 6-2
Doubles Round of 16 – May 25
4 seed No. 4 Richard Ciamarra/Cleeve Harper (UT) vs. No. 32 Justin Barki/Ryan Seggerman (Princeton), 5 p.m. CT
