The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Three from Men's Tennis earn ITA All-America honors
06.05.2023 | Men's Tennis
Juniors Eliot Spizzirri and Micah Braswell received them in singles, while the duo of Spizzirri and junior Cleeve Harper did so in doubles.
Austin – Three from Texas Men's Tennis officially received All-America honors from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) on Monday. Juniors Eliot Spizzirri and Micah Braswell received them in singles, while the duo of Spizzirri and junior Cleeve Harper did so in doubles.
For Spizzirri, it will be the fourth and fifth All-America honors of his career with two in singles (2021, '23) and three-straight in doubles (2021-23), and it is the second time he has earned both in the same year after doing so in 2021. Meanwhile, Harper garnered them in doubles for a second-straight year, and Braswell received the first of his career.
It brings the total number of UT men's All-America honors in the last five years under head coach Bruce Berque to 17 by eight different players, also including Siem Woldeab twice in doubles (2021-22), Richard Ciamarra once in doubles (2022), Yuya Ito twice in singles (2019-20), Christian Sigsgaard twice in singles (2019-20) and once in doubles (2019), and Harrison Scott once in doubles (2019). Ito was also an All-American in singles in 2017.
The criteria for All-America honors include earning a top-16 seed into the NCAA Singles Championship, advancing to the round of 16 in it, or finishing in the top 20 of the ITA rankings. In doubles, it includes earning a top-eight seed into the Doubles Championship, reaching the quarterfinals in it, or finishing in the top 10 in the rankings.
Spizzirri finished ranked No. 1 in singles and was the top seed in the NCAA tournament where he reached the quarterfinals. He also closed ranked No. 2 in doubles with Harper, and the pair entered the NCAA tournament as the three seed on the way to a runner-up finish. Braswell, who spent much of the season battling an injury, got into the singles tournament as an alternate and advanced to the round of 16.
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.
Along with their NCAA tournament success, Harper and Spizzirri 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 were 19-9 in dual matches, all of which came at the No. 1 position and earned first-team All-Big 12 honors and the Big 12 position championship at No. 1 doubles.
Despite his injury, Braswell still ranked as high as No. 30 in singles during the year and finished No. 37. He posted a 20-12 overall record and was 14-9 in dual matches, mostly at No. 3 where he was 12-6. Prior to falling in the NCAA singles round of 16, he had won seven-straight matches and nine of the previous 10, including six versus ranked opponents with all but one against players in the top-50. He was named to the NCAA Championship All-Tournament Team at No. 3 singles, and then defeated the No. 6 and No. 30-ranked players in the singles tournament to reach the round of 16.
Players Mentioned
