The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
No. 2 Men’s Tennis receives bids to 2024 NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships
04.30.2024 | Men's Tennis
The Longhorns had four players chosen for singles, including Eliot Spizzirri, Micah Braswell, Gilles-Arnaud Bailly and Jonah Braswell, while the pair of Spizzirri and Cleeve Harper was tabbed as the first doubles alternate.
Austin – No. 2 Texas Men's Tennis received four singles bids and a doubles alternate for the 2024 NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships, the NCAA announced Tuesday.
Seniors No. 1 Eliot Spizzirri and No. 5 Micah Braswell, freshman No. 31 Gilles-Arnaud Bailly, and sophomore No. 54 Jonah Braswell were chosen for singles, while the No. 21 duo of Spizzirri and senior Cleeve Harper was tabbed as the first doubles alternate.
The field is composed of 64 singles players and 32 doubles teams and will be conducted May 20-25 at the Greenwood Tennis Center in Stillwater, Okla., following the team championship.
Spizzirri was named the 2 seed in singles with Micah Braswell slotted as the 6 seed, while Bailly and Jonah Braswell were both at-large selections. With Spizzirri and Micah Braswell both earning seeded positioning, they are automatically qualified for All-America status by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), which will be announced at a later date.
This will be the third time for Spizzirri in the singles field and the second time for Micah Braswell. Last season, Spizzirri reached the Quarterfinals, while Micah Braswell advanced to the Round of 16. Spizzirri was also chosen in 2021, making the Second Round, and was an alternate in 2022 after playing much of the season with an injury. It will be the first appearances for both Bailly and Jonah Braswell.
Should Spizzirri and Harper move into the doubles field from their position as first alternate, it will be the fourth occasion for Spizzirri and third for Harper, but the second together after finishing as runners-up last year. The year before, Harper won the National Championship with Richard Ciamarra, while Spizzirri played the previous two times with Siem Woldeab in 2021 and 2022.
Spizzirri is 26-4 overall in singles this year with an 18-3 mark in dual matches, and a 5-1 record in the Big 12. Micah Braswell has emerged with a 33-2 overall singles record, is on a 30-match winning streak, and is a perfect 17-0 in dual matches, including 4-0 in the Big 12. Bailly arrived in January and has jumped out to a 17-3 overall record in singles and was 5-0 in conference play, while Jonah Braswell is 16-5 overall in singles and 8-2 in dual matches. In doubles, Spizzirri and Harper played the first half of the season together and were 11-6 this year before the Longhorns adjusted their doubles partners.
Texas opens the team tournament as the 2 seed at home against Sacramento State on Friday at 1 p.m. CT at the Texas Tennis Center. Should the Longhorns advance, the Second Round match will take place on Saturday at 4 p.m. CT against the winner of No. 22 UCLA Tech and No. 41 LSU.
Players Mentioned
