The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Spizzirri No. 1 in final ITA singles rankings
05.31.2023 | Men's Tennis
Junior Eliot Spizzirri becomes the second Longhorn to hold the top singles spot at the end of the season since the rankings began in 1981, along with Steve Bryan in 1990.
Austin – Texas Men's Tennis junior Eliot Spizzirri was No. 1 in singles in the final Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings released on Wednesday. Spizzirri becomes the second Longhorn to hold the top singles spot at the end of the season since the rankings began in 1981, along with Steve Bryan in 1990.
In addition to being No. 1 in singles, Spizzirri and partner junior Cleeve Harper were No. 2 in doubles, coming off their runner-up finish in the NCAA Doubles Championships. Three other Longhorns were also ranked in singles, including sophomore Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 36, junior Micah Braswell at No. 37, and junior Siem Woldeab at No. 55, while the doubles pair of Bailly and Woldeab was No. 47.
Spizzirri moved to No. 1 on Feb. 8, which were the first rankings released after the beginning of dual match play, and he held that position the rest of the way. He had been the first Longhorn to reach No. 1 at any point in the season since Søren Hess-Olesen in 2015. Due to the rankings and NCAA seedings, Spizzirri will be an ITA All-American in both singles and doubles when the ITA releases those later in the year. They will be the fourth and fifth All-America honors of his career with two in singles and three-straight in doubles, and it will be the second time he has earned them in both singles and doubles in the same year after doing so in 2021.
The 2023 Big 12 Player of the Year and a first-team All-Big 12 selection in both singles and doubles, Spizzirri closed 36-5 overall in singles and 20-1 in dual matches, all of which were at the No. 1 line. He was 27-2 against all ranked singles players, including 18-1 against the top-50, and 11-1 versus the top-25. At the ITA Indoor Nationals, Spizzirri was named the Most Outstanding Player and to the All-Tournament Team at No. 1 singles. He was also tabbed to the Big 12 Championship All-Tournament Team at No. 1 singles and was the No. 1 singles position champion in the conference. Additionally, he was named the Big 12 Player of the Week five times this season, which tied his own Big 12 single-season mark from 2021, and a record 10 times for his career.
In doubles, he and Harper were in the ITA top-three for a majority of the season. They completed their year with a 28-14 overall record, including 17 wins over ranked opponents with 10 of those against the top-25, six versus the top-10, and three against top-two teams, including a win against No. 1 Toby Samuel and Connor Thomson of South Carolina. They also earned first-team All-Big 12 honors and the Big 12 position championship at No. 1 doubles.
Braswell, who was injured during much of the dual match season, finished with a 20-12 overall record, including 12 wins over ranked opponents and four top-40 victories. He reached the NCAA Singles Championship Round of 16, and in doing so, will earn the first ITA All-America honors of his career. He was also named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team for the team championship at No. 3 singles.
Bailly missed fall play with an injury but returned in the spring to garner first-team All-Big 12 honors in singles and second-team accolades in doubles, along with the conference No. 2 singles championship. He posted a 14-9 overall record in singles, including 12-7 in dual matches, primarily at No. 2 where he was 11-5. He also had three top-16 victories in singles, won eight of his last 11 decisions and was on the doorstep of several other unfinished ranked wins.
Meanwhile, Woldeab, who earned second-team All-Big 12 honors in both singles and doubles, finished 30-12 overall and 19-9 in dual matches this year. He was 16-6 against ranked opponents and had five top-50 wins and three top-12 victories. He got off to a blistering start in fall play, winning 11 of his first 12 matches with all but one of the wins coming against top-100 opponents, five of those against top-50 foes and two in the top 15.
In doubles, Woldeab and Bailly partnered in every dual match, compiling a 15-8 record mostly at No. 2 where they were 14-8. They posted four top-40 wins and won nine of their last 13 decisions.
As a team, Texas finished with a 26-4 record, which is the second-most wins for the program since 2010, trailing only the 29 from the 2019 National Championship season. The Longhorns made their third NCAA Final Four appearance in the last four tournaments, while the season also saw them claim the outright Big 12 regular season championship, make the program's first appearance in the final of the ITA National Indoor Championships, and spend the last six weeks with the nation's No. 1 ranking. The team landed at No. 3 in the final rankings, which was its fourth top-four finish in the last five years.
Players Mentioned
