The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Oklahoma
No. 1 Men’s Tennis advances to Big 12 Championship final
04.22.2023 | Men's Tennis
The Longhorns defeated fourth-seeded Oklahoma, 4-2, on Saturday to reach their fourth conference championship match in the last five years.
Lawrence, Kansas – No. 1 Texas Men's Tennis advanced to the Big 12 Championship final for the fourth time in the last five years with a 4-2 win over fourth-seeded No. 35 Oklahoma on Saturday at the Jayhawk Tennis Center.
It sets the stage for the fourth meeting of the season between the Longhorns and No. 3 TCU, who will face off at 1 p.m. CT on Sunday with the match airing on Big 12 Now/ESPN+. It marks the 13th all-time Big 12 tournament title match appearance for UT, and the Longhorns will be attempting to win it for the sixth time with the last coming in 2018.
Texas won a dramatic doubles point, taking matches at Nos. 1 and 2 with the deciding match at No. 2 coming down to a tiebreaker. They then followed with singles wins by sophomore No. 23 Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 2, junior Cleeve Harper at No. 5, and junior No. 1 Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1.
It was the No. 3 pair of Harper and Spizzirri that got off the doubles court first with a 6-4 win over Baptiste Anselmo and Nathan Han at No. 1. Texas broke first for a 2-1 lead and then consolidated for 3-1, which they maintained until Oklahoma broke back to even it, 4-4. However, the Longhorns answered in the next game with their second break before serving out the match.
Senior Chih Chi Huang and junior Micah Braswell then fell by the same score to Jordan Hasson and Siphos Montsi at No. 3. After the Longhorns just missed a chance to break first on a deuce point with a 3-2 lead, the Sooners broke in the next game and then held for a 5-3 lead of their own. Texas fought back from down 0-40 to hold its next service game and get within one, but Oklahoma served out the match from there.
Siem handles it at the net for the win with Pierre to take doubles! #HookEm 🤘🎾 https://t.co/mKukvE1BmZ pic.twitter.com/tpwCitk9aB
— Texas Men's Tennis (@TexasMTN) April 22, 2023
That left it to No. 2, where the No. 89 duo of Bailly and junior Siem Woldeab got out of the gates with a break and a hold in the opening games against Alex Martinez and Justin Schlageter. Oklahoma eventually got the break back for 4-4 with the rest of the match staying on serve to the tiebreaker. In the breaker, the first mini-break went to the Longhorns for a 3-2 lead, however the Sooners responded with one of their own on their next point. Texas then captured the next and last mini-break for a 5-3 lead on the way to the 7-4 win and a 1-0 overall team lead.
Clutch in doubles 🆚 OU! #HookEm 🤘🎾 pic.twitter.com/IGZQuxd4I3
— Texas Men's Tennis (@TexasMTN) April 22, 2023
After doubles, Oklahoma took a 2-1 lead with consecutive singles wins, first with No. 55 Braswell being topped by No. 111 Montsi, 6-1, 6-4, at No. 3, then No. 45 Woldeab being defeated by Schlageter in three sets, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 at No. 4.
In the first set for Braswell, Montsi held his first two service games at deuce for a 2-1 lead with the second of those starting a 5-0 run to his win. Despite four deuce points in the first six games of the second set, it stayed on serve until a run of three-straight breaks, two of which went to Montsi for a 5-4 lead before he closed on serve.
In Woldeab's match, Schlageter registered the only break of the first set on a deuce point for 5-4 before holding serve for the win. In the second, it was Woldeab who claimed the only break, which he did for a 4-2 lead. The next two games were both decided at deuce, but both were holds, as was the final game to give the set to Woldeab. However, the third set belonged to Schlageter, who jumped out with a 5-0 run before winning, 6-1.
Even though the Longhorns trailed at that point, they were still in good position on the remaining courts with Bailly getting home first, 7-6 (2), 7-5, over Jordan Hasson. Down, 2-1, but on serve, Bailly grabbed back-to-back deuce point wins for a hold and a break, and then broke again for a 4-2 lead. Hasson got the break back on a deuce point of his own to even it, 4-4, and the rest of the set stayed on serve to the tiebreaker. There, Bailly secured the first three points and then the last four en route to the 7-2 win. In the second set, Hasson used a break for a 2-1 lead that he extended to 3-1 on serve. However, the next two breaks would be Bailly's, which he posted to even it, 4-4, and then to win it, 7-5.
With the overall contest tied at 2-2, Harper regained the lead for Texas with his 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Han. A string of three-straight deuce points in the first set produced a hold for Han and then breaks for Han and Harper that left the score even, 3-3. Han then broke again for 5-4 and was able to hold his next serve on a deuce point for the set. In the second, Harper compiled a 4-0 run to turn a 1-1 tie into a 5-1 lead. Han got one break back on a deuce point for 5-2, and although Harper's next serve also went to deuce, this time he held to win and send it to a third set. Harper controlled the match from there, again pushing out to a 5-1 lead before winning, 6-2.
That winning moment! Eliot rips the return to cap the 4️⃣-2️⃣ win 🆚 OU! #HookEm 🤘🎾 https://t.co/X5tuokSE2k pic.twitter.com/TVlf4i50FX
— Texas Men's Tennis (@TexasMTN) April 22, 2023
That left the clinch to Spizzirri, who did so with a 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 win over No. 94 Martinez. Spizzirri collected the only break of the first set for 5-3 before serving out in the next game. However, in the second, the first four games all went to deuce with Martinez breaking in the last of those for a 3-1 lead. That started a stretch of three-straight breaks before Martinez held for 5-2 and the last two games stayed on serve. In the third set, the first three games and four of the first five also went to deuce, but this time, all four belonged to Spizzirri for a 4-1 lead. With the next two games on serve that lead became 5-2, and Spizzirri had match point on a possible deuce-point break. However, Martinez was able to hold and then gather his own break and hold again to even it. Spizzirri retook the lead with a hold and forced another deuce point on Martinez's next serve, but this time Spizzirri ripped a winner on the return to clinch for Texas.
The remaining match at No. 6 then went unfinished where senior Nevin Arimilli was even with Luis Alvarez, 2-6, 6-2, 4-4, when play stopped. Alvarez broke first for 3-1, and after Arimilli broke back on a deuce point, Alvarez closed on a 3-0 run that included deuce-point wins in the last two games. Arimilli then controlled the second set, moving out to a 5-1 lead before winning, 6-2, to force a third. There, four-straight breaks took the score from 1-1 to 3-3 with Arimilli having broken first for 2-1, but after that string, the final two games stayed on serve to leave it at 4-4.
Texas (22-2, 5-0) will next square off with TCU (21-2, 4-1) for the fourth time this season with the Longhorns taking the most recent two meetings – for the Big 12 regular season title in Austin on April 15, and a non-conference match in Fort Worth on March 22. Meanwhile, the Horned Frogs won on February 20 in Chicago in the final of the ITA National Indoor Championships.
#1 Texas 4, #35 Oklahoma 2
Singles – Order of Finish (3,4,2,5,1)
1. #1 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) def. #94 Alex Martinez (OU) 6-3, 3-6, 7-5
2. #23 Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) def. Jordan Hasson (OU) 7-6 (2), 7-5
3. #111 Siphos Montsi (OU) def. #55 Micah Braswell (UT) 6-1, 6-4
4. Justin Schlageter (OU) def. #45 Siem Woldeab (UT) 6-4, 3-6, 6-1
5. Cleeve Harper (UT) def. Nathan Han (OU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
6. Nevin Arimilli (UT) vs. Luis Alvarez (OU) 2-6, 6-2, 4-4, unf.
Doubles – Order of Finish (1,3,2)
1. #3 Cleeve Harper/Eliot Spizzirri (UT) def. Baptiste Anselmo/Nathan Han (OU) 6-4
2. #89 Pierre-Yves Bailly/Siem Woldeab (UT) def. Alex Martinez/Justin Schlageter (OU) 7-6 (4)
3. Jordan Hasson/Siphos Montsi (OU) def. Micah Braswell/Chih Chi Huang (UT) 6-4
Players Mentioned
