The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
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TCU
No. 5 Men’s Tennis claims Big 12 Championship title
04.21.2024 | Men's Tennis
The Longhorns swept No. 3 TCU, 4-0, on Sunday to claim both the tournament and regular season conference titles in the same year for the first time since 2010.
Stillwater, Okla. – No. 5 Texas Men's Tennis (22-3, 7-0) swept No. 3 TCU (22-4, 5-2), 4-0, to win the Big 12 Championship at the Greenwood Tennis Center in Stillwater on Sunday.
It was the Longhorns' first Big 12 tournament title since 2018, and the sixth in program history. Meanwhile, it was also the fifth time the program has won both the tournament and regular season championships in the same season with the last time coming in 2010.
"That was up there with one of the best matches we've played this season," head coach Bruce Berque said. "I was really proud of the way the team played, but also the way they fought and the effort they played with. There's no doubt we're at a high point with our confidence. You could see it, you could hear it, and you could feel it on the court today. I think their confidence is growing every day. When we get competitive efforts like today, and like yesterday when Oklahoma State pushed us, you can see that our guys really responded well and didn't panic and stepped up competitively. To me, that gave me even more confidence than playing super well from start to finish. We're gaining confidence and hopefully we can peak at the right time at the very end of the year."
LIGHT THE TOWER!!!!!!!!#HookEm pic.twitter.com/MrdN7coUxn
— Texas Men's Tennis (@TexasMTN) April 21, 2024
Texas defeated TCU for the second time in three meetings this season. The Horned Frogs narrowly won, 4-3, in a non-conference match in Fort Worth on March 2, and since then, the Longhorns have since rattled off 13-straight wins, including a 5-0 sweep of TCU in Austin on March 24.
After taking the doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 3, Texas produced singles victories from senior Siem Woldeab at No. 5, junior No. 86 Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 4, and freshman No. 39 Gilles-Arnaud Bailly at No. 3 for the clinch.
In doubles, TCU got on the board first as the No. 22 duo of Woldeab and senior Eliot Spizzirri fell to Jake Fearnley and Pedro Vives, 6-3, at No. 1. The Horned Frogs broke for a 2-1 lead, which they consolidated to 3-1, and the remainder of the match stayed on serve until TCU broke again in the final game for the win.
Not long after that, Pierre-Yves Bailly and senior Eshan Talluri produced a 6-2 win over No. 87 Duncan Chan and Lui Maxted at No. 2. Similar to the scoring in the match at No. 1, but in favor of the Longhorns, Bailly and Talluri picked up their first break for a 3-1 lead, which they consolidated to 4-1, and the match stayed on serve to the final game when they broke again for the win. Included in that was a key deuce-point hold for 5-2 where Texas rallied from a 0-40 deficit.
At the same time Bailly and Talluri rallied from their 0-40 deficit for a hold, seniors Micah Braswell and Cleeve Harper did the exact same thing for a 5-2 lead in their match against Jack Pinnington and Kaj Quirijns at No. 3. That comeback maintained the Longhorns' break lead before they then broke on a deuce point themselves in the following game for a 6-2 win. Earlier in the match, TCU broke in the opening game on a deuce point, but Texas broke right back. The Longhorns were the next break, which also came on a deuce point for 4-2, resulting in the final three games all being won by Bailly and Talluri on deuce points.
In singles, Woldeab put together a solid 6-2, 6-2 win over Chan to increase the overall lead to 2-0. Woldeab jumped out of the gate with a 4-0 run that included a break in the opening game, and another on a deuce point. Chan then held to win his first game and followed with a break to get within 4-2, but Woldeab broke back and held to take the set. Chan held his opening serve of the second set, but Woldeab broke on Chan's next serve and consolidated it with a deuce-point hold for 3-1. Chan picked up one more game on serve, but Woldeab closed the match with a 3-0 run that started with back-to-back deuce-point wins.
The focus then shifted to the Bailly brothers, who seemed to be playing step for step with each other and came away with matching 6-3, 6-4 victories while finishing within minutes of each other.
Pierre-Yves Bailly was the first of the two off the court with his win over No. 72 Maxted, and like Woldeab's first set, he rushed out to a 4-0 lead that moved to 4-2. Bailly then held for 5-2 and had a set point at deuce in the following game. Although Maxted fended that one off for a hold, Bailly served out the set in the next game. In the second set, Bailly broke and held for a 2-0 lead. He also held his next serve at deuce for 3-1, but Maxted held, as well, and then broke on a deuce point to even it. That started a string of four-straight breaks between the players, including Bailly winning a deuce point for 4-3. That string was snapped by a Bailly, who held serve to win the match, 6-4. After the match, Bailly was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Championship after finishing 2-0 in singles and 2-0 in doubles for the week. Bailly clinched the win for Texas against Oklahoma State with a 7-6 (4), 6-1 victory before contributing two points in the win over the Horned Frogs.
Moments later, Gilles-Arnaud Bailly completed his win over No. 55 Vives that clinched the title and sent his Longhorn teammates spilling onto his court in celebration. After Vives held his opening serve, Bailly set out on a 5-0 run to take control of the first set. Vives responded with a hold and break to pull within 5-3, but Bailly broke right back for the set. In the second, both of Bailly's first two serves went to deuce, and Vives capitalized on the second of those to break first for a 2-1 lead. However, Bailly broke back and then held on a deuce point to retake the lead. He broke again to extend to 4-2, and although Vives managed to break back on a deuce point and hold to even it, the last two games belonged to Bailly for win and the championship.
The moment the Horns became the 2024 Big 12 Tournament Champs!! #HookEm 🤘🎾 https://t.co/6ebqFvPwqU pic.twitter.com/uhalfK5lRb
— Texas Men's Tennis (@TexasMTN) April 21, 2024
The remaining matches were either in or close to a third set. No. 1 Spizzirri and No. 10 Pinnington were about to begin their third when play stopped. Pinnington had taken the first set, 6-2, by closing it on a 4-0 run, including winning the last three games on deuce points. Spizzirri responded by capturing the second set, 7-5, earning the only break of the frame for 6-5 and then serving out the win.
No. 3 Micah Braswell was leading No. 8 Fearnley, 6-4, 2-6, 2-1 when play halted. Fearnley grabbed a break to open the match, but Braswell got it right back to put the set back on serve where it stayed until Braswell broke again for 6-4 to win it. The first four games of the second set were also on serve until Fearnley broke on a deuce point for a 3-2 lead that started a 4-0 run to his win. The third set was then on serve through three games for Braswell's 2-1 lead.
At No. 6, sophomore No. 59 Jonah Braswell was close to squaring his match against Tomas Jirousek at one set apiece, 3-6, 5-2 when play concluded. Jirousek picked up the only break of the first set on the only deuce point for a 4-2 lead on the way to his 6-3 win. In the second set, Braswell moved out to a 4-0 lead before the final three games resulted in breaks. The last of those went to deuce, providing Braswell a set point, but Jirousek was able to break for 5-2.
After receiving the Big 12's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by winning the Big 12 Championship, the Longhorns will await the NCAA selection show to determine their seeding and hosting. The show will air on NCAA.com on Monday, April 29, at 5 p.m. CT.
#5 Texas 4, #3 TCU 0
Singles – Order of Finish (5,4,3)
1. #1 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) vs. #10 Jack Pinnington (TCU) 2-6, 7-5, unf.
2. #3 Micah Braswell (UT) vs. #8 Jake Fearnley (TCU) 6-4, 2-6, 2-1, unf.
3. #39 Gilles-Arnaud Bailly (UT) def. #55 Pedro Vives (TCU) 6-3, 6-4
4. #86 Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) def. #72 Lui Maxted (TCU) 6-3, 6-4
5. Siem Woldeab (UT) def. Duncan Chan (TCU) 6-2, 6-2
6. #59 Jonah Braswell (UT) vs. Tomas Jirousek (TCU) 3-6, 5-2, unf.
Doubles – Order of Finish (1,2,3)
1. Jake Fearnley/Pedro Vives (TCU) def. #22 Eliot Spizzirri/Siem Woldeab (UT) 6-3
2. Pierre-Yves Bailly/Eshan Talluri (UT) def. #87 Duncan Chan/Lui Maxted (TCU) 6-2
3. Micah Braswell/Cleeve Harper (UT) def. Jack Pinnington/Kaj Quirijns (TCU) 6-2
Players Mentioned
