The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Texas A&M
No. 3 Men’s Tennis sweeps No. 17 Texas A&M to advance to NCAA Elite Eight
05.10.2024 | Men's Tennis
The Longhorns defeated the Aggies, 4-0, to reach to the Quarterfinals for the fourth time in the last five years and for the fifth time in the last seven.
Austin – No. 3 Texas Men's Tennis (25-3, 7-0 Big 12) advanced to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight with a 4-0 sweep over No. 17 Texas A&M (20-11, 7-5 SEC) on Friday night at the Texas Tennis Center. It marks the fourth time in the last five years the Longhorns have reached the Quarterfinals, and the fifth time in the last seven.
With the win, Texas moves on to the NCAA Championship site in Stillwater, Okla., where they will face the winner of No. 7 Tennessee and No. 10 Florida State on May 16.
"I thought our guys handled the match and the situation great," head coach Bruce Berque said. "I was really excited the seniors had the opportunity to play their last match at the Texas Tennis Center in front of a packed house. I think it was awesome for them to have that, and I thought they played a complete team match. The doubles didn't start off the way we wanted to on a few courts, but we lifted our games in the end and came through in big moments. It was good to be pushed in doubles, and I thought overall, we had a pretty consistent performance up and down the line in singles. So, I know they're all super pumped to go to the final site again, and we're looking forward to that next opportunity."
After taking the doubles point with wins at Nos. 1 and 3, the Longhorns claimed three singles matches with victories from seniors Cleeve Harper at No. 6, senior No. 5 Micah Braswell at No. 2, and freshman No. 40 Gilles-Arnaud Bailly at No. 3.
The Longhorns have now swept six of their last seven matches, including 7-0 in the regular season finale against Baylor, two of their three matches in the Big 12 Championship, and all three in the NCAA Tournament. The only match they did not sweep in that span was a 4-1 decision against Oklahoma State in the Big 12 semifinals.
That winning moment for the Elite Eight from Gilles-Arnaud Bailly! #HookEm 🤘🎾 | #NCAATennis pic.twitter.com/7NRi8B9xX5
— Texas Men's Tennis (@TexasMTN) May 11, 2024
In doubles, the senior duo of No. 26 Eliot Spizzirri and Siem Woldeab was the first to finish with a 7-5 win over the No. 14 pair of Giulio Perego and Togan Tokac at No. 1. The match stayed on serve all the way to 5-5 when the Longhorns picked up the only break for 6-5 before serving out the match in the following game.
The next match to finish was on court 2 where junior Pierre-Yves Bailly and senior Eshan Talluri came up just short in a tiebreaker to Lathan Skrobareck and JC Roddick, 7-6 (3). The Longhorns moved out to 3-0 lead, including a break in the second game, and had a chance to extend on a deuce point in the next game, but the Aggies held for 3-1. Texas A&M then got the break back and held again to even it. From there, the match stayed on serve all the way to the tiebreaker where the Aggies got out to a 3-0 lead. Texas got back within 3-2, but the Texas A&M took four of the final five points for the win.
All eyes then turned to court 3 where Harper and Micah Braswell clinched the doubles point with a 7-5 win over Tiago Pires and Luke Casper. The first half of the match appeared to be going the Aggies way, as after the Longhorns held serve in the opening game, Texas A&M won three-straight deuce-point games during a 4-0 run. However, Harper and Braswell had an answer with a 4-0 run of their own that included their only deuce-point win for a break that made it 4-4 before they consolidated for a 5-4 lead. The next two games were then on serve until Texas broke again for the 7-5 win and 1-0 overall lead.
Courtside for that doubles clinch 🆚 Texas A&M! #HookEm 🤘🎾 | #NCAATennis pic.twitter.com/JpeTYXtVpd
— Texas Men's Tennis (@TexasMTN) May 11, 2024
In singles, Harper put together an efficient 6-3, 6-1 win over Skrobareck at No. 6 for a 2-0 Texas lead. In the first set, Harper broke on a deuce point for a 2-0 lead, and although Skrobareck answered the deuce-point break, Harper claimed the next two games for 4-1. Despite three deuce points in the last four games, the rest of the set stayed on serve to Harper's win. In the second, Harper opened with a break on the match's third-straight deuce point. Even though the serving was reversed, the first five games followed the same scoring pattern as the first set with Harper registering a 4-1 lead that he capped with another deuce-point break. However, in this set, Harper closed out the match with the next two games to complete a 4-0 run for his win.
Micah Braswell was the next to finish with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Perego at No. 2. Perego grabbed the first two games on deuce points for a break and hold, but Braswell set out on a 5-0 run that included a deuce-point break for 3-2. At 5-2, the next two games stayed on serve for Braswell's win. In the second set, Braswell broke first on a deuce point for 3-2 and then consolidated the break for 4-2. The last three games then stayed on serve to his win, including a deuce-point hold on his serve for 5-3, leading to a 3-0 overall lead for Texas.
The clinch then could have come down to any of three courts that all had Longhorns who were up a set and with 5-4 leads in the second. However, Gilles-Arnaud Bailly would be the one to get home first with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Tokac at No. 3. After Bailly broke in the opening game and held on a deuce point for 2-0, the set stayed on serve to a 5-3 lead for him. He then broke again for the set and to start a 4-0 run that positioned him with a 3-0 lead in the second. Tokac was able to even it with two deuce-point holds around a break, and the next three games stayed on serve until Bailly broke for the 6-4 win and the sweep for the Longhorns.
In the remaining matches, No. 2 Spizzirri was alternating point-by-point clinch opportunities with Bailly, as his match against No. 42 Roddick at No. 1 stopped with Spizzirri leading, 7-5, 5-4 (40-40). Roddick came up with the match's first break for a 3-2 lead that he consolidated to 4-2, but Spizzirri came back on a 3-0 run with the last two on deuce points. The players then held their next two serves until Spizzirri broke again for the set, 7-5. In the second, Roddick broke in first game and held for a 2-0 lead, but again, Spizzirri responded with a 3-0 run with the last two coming on deuce points. The next four games then stayed on serve until Spizzirri had positioned himself for a break with a couple of match point opportunities leading, 5-4, but the overall match was clinched before he could secure the win.
Sophomore Jonah Braswell was the other one with a chance to clinch, as he was leading Casper, 6-0, 5-5, when played halted. Braswell jumped out on a 7-0 run to sweep the first set and hold his opening serve of the second. The first five games of the set stayed on serve until Braswell broke again for 4-2 lead. After Casper broke back and held on a deuce point to even it, Braswell also held and had a chance to break for the match, but Casper was able to hold, and the match was left at 5-5.
The last match between Woldeab and Pires at No. 4 was even at one set apiece, 6-3, 4-6, and 2-2 in the third when play stopped. Woldeab broke on a deuce point to open the match, but Pires broke back and held for a 2-1 lead. Woldeab then held on a deuce point for 2-2, and although Pires regained the lead on serve, Woldeab took it from there and went on a 4-0 run for the set. In the second, Pires picked up the only break of the frame for 2-1 and consolidated for 3-1. Despite the next two games going to deuce, the rest of the set stayed on serve to Pires' win and to force a third set. Its four games were also on serve for 2-2 when play halted.
#3 Texas 4, #17 Texas A&M 0
Singles – Order of Finish (6,2,3)
1. #2 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) vs. #42 JC Roddick (TAMU) 7-5, 5-4, unf.
2. #5 Micah Braswell (UT) def. Giulio Perego (TAMU) 6-3, 6-3
3. #40 Gilles-Arnaud Bailly (UT) def. Togan Tokac (TAMU) 6-3, 6-4
4. Siem Woldeab (UT) vs. Tiago Pires (TAMU) 6-3, 4-6, 2-2, unf.
5. #56 Jonah Braswell (UT) vs. Luke Casper (TAMU) 6-0, 5-5, unf.
6. Cleeve Harper (UT) def. Lathan Skrobareck (TAMU) 6-3, 6-1
Doubles – Order of Finish (1,2,3)
1. #26 Eliot Spizzirri/Siem Woldeab (UT) def. #14 Giulio Perego/Togan Tokac (TAMU) 7-5
2. Lathan Skrobareck/JC Roddick (TAMU) def. Pierre-Yves Bailly/Eshan Talluri (UT) 7-6 (3)
3. Micah Braswell/Cleeve Harper (UT) def. Tiago Pires/Luke Casper (TAMU) 7-5
Players Mentioned
