The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Men’s Tennis’ Harper and Spizzirri advance to NCAA Doubles Final
05.26.2023 | Men's Tennis
Juniors Cleeve Harper and Eliot Spizzirri give Texas a second-straight NCAA doubles final pair following Harper winning the title last year.
Lake Nona, Fla. – Texas Men's Tennis juniors Cleeve Harper and Eliot Spizzirri advanced the NCAA Doubles Championship final with a 6-1, 7-5 win over No. 30 Andres Martin and Marcus McDaniel of Georgia Tech on Friday at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona, Fla.
The win put Texas and Harper in a second-straight doubles final after Harper won the 2022 National Championship with partner Richard Ciamarra, while it is the first time for Spizzirri. They will face No. 16 James Trotter and Andrew Lutschaunig of Ohio State on Saturday not before 11:30 am ET/10:30 am CT.
The Longhorns are now 8-0 all-time in doubles semifinals appearances, sending every pair to the final. Along with the most recent two, that rest of that group includes Lloyd Glasspool and Søren Hess-Olesen in 2015, who won the title, Chris Camillone and David Holiner in 2013, Chad Clark and Trey Phillips in 1995, Mitch Michulka and Michael Penman in 1990, Charles Beckman and Royce Deppe in 1985, and Gary Plock and Kevin Curren 1978.
The No. 3 duo of Harper and Spizzirri won their eighth-straight decision of the season with five of those coming against top-40 opponents, including three in the top-12. Their match versus Martin and McDaniel produced a decisive first set that opened with the Longhorns coming back from a 40-15 deficit to break on a deuce point. That would be the start of a 4-0 run to begin the match, and although Georgia Tech got one game back on serve for 4-1, Texas held and bookended the set with another deuce-point break for the 6-1 win.
In the second, the first six games were on serve for a 3-3 tie. It looked as though that trend would continue with the Longhorns on serve and up, 40-0, but the Yellow Jackets came all the way back to break at deuce and take the lead. Harper and Spizzirri immediately responded with a deuce-point break of their own, and then rallied from down, 15-40, to save their serve and move back in front, 5-4. The next two games were also on serve until Texas closed the match the same way they did the first set with a deuce-point break for the 7-5 victory.
NCAA Doubles Semifinals Postmatch Quotes
Texas head coach Bruce Berque
On the match:
I think our guys played really well. I'm really proud of them. I think they've shown a lot of improvement throughout the year, especially with their willingness to be aggressive at the net. I thought Eliot and Cleeve both did a great job of that today, and their returns were really good. So, to be a good team like Georgia Tech, we needed to be doing some things right, and they did that today.
On Cleeve Harper being in the final for the second-straight year:
It's super special for him, and there couldn't be a more deserving guy, because I knew that he had good doubles skills when he came to Texas, but no one's worked harder than him. I can't imagine there's a harder-working guy, a more dedicated guy than Cleeve Harper. You can see by the way he played today, he's playing with a lot of confidence.
On Eliot Spizzirri coming back from his singles defeat with three-straight doubles wins:
It's not a surprise either. He's got a true winners mentality, and he's always the first at practice and the last one to leave, as I've said many times before. I know he was extremely disappointed to lose in singles, but I know he's a competitor and would be out there trying to do his best for him and also for Cleeve.
On the opponent final (not yet determined at time of quote):
We know both teams pretty well, because we've played Pepperdine twice this year, and we've played Ohio State twice this year, so the guys have played them, and we know them pretty well. I think they have two different styles. The Ohio State guys are really big hitters and powerful guys, and the Pepperdine team has one guy who's really good at the baseline and one guy who's really good at the net – one lefty and one righty – so I think there will be two different style matchups, but our guys will know what to expect for either match.
On keeping Harper and Spizzirri level for the championship match:
I think they'll do a good job with that. These guys are both experienced players, and they've played in conference championships and national championships in college, and Eliot has played in the U.S. Open and all the grand slam juniors events, so I think that will be too big of a challenge, but we'll keep an eye on them.
Junior Eliot Spizzirri
On overall thoughts on the match:
I thought we returned really well from the beginning, and that kind of freed us up on service games getting that early break to start the match, and we kept it going. In the second set, they upped their level and started playing better and managed to get up a break, but Cleeve hit some pretty insane shots to get us back on serve. Then we played a good last game with a few good points, so we're happy to be in the final.
On what it means to bounce back from his singles defeat and reach the doubles final:
Yeah, I was definitely disappointed with the singles, but it makes it feel a lot better when you can get two wins under your belt yesterday and another one today, and obviously we're playing for a National Championship, so any time you're doing that, it's really exciting and such a great opportunity. So, again, you put that behind you for a little bit and focus on the doubles court, and we're going to go out and try to win tomorrow.
Junior Cleeve Harper
On overall thoughts on the match:
When we're playing with good energy and playing aggressive tennis, we're one of the best teams out here. We play a really good return game, so we're always in everyone's service games, and then if we stay solid on our service games, we're usually going to do well.
On playing two years in a row in the National Championship match:
Obviously, I want to win again, so I'm trying to win with Eliot this time (laughing). We're going to give it all we've got tomorrow, and last year I had a good partner, too, so I guess I'm just getting good partners.
On the difference in the two runs:
It's pretty similar. Both my partners are really good players, and both have big forehands and they play well at the net, so I'm just happy to be out here with them.
2023 NCAA Men's Tennis Singles and Doubles Championships
Doubles Semifinals – May 26
3 seed No. 3 Cleeve Harper/Eliot Spizzirri (UT) def. No. 30 Andres Martin/Marcus McDaniel (GT), 6-1, 7-5
Doubles Final – May 27
3 seed No. 3 Cleeve Harper/Eliot Spizzirri (UT) vs. No. 16 James Trotter/Andrew Lutschaunig (OHST), not before 11:30 am ET/10:30 am CT
