The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Men’s Tennis’ Spizzirri and Harper advance to NCAA Doubles Quarterfinals
05.22.2024 | Men's Tennis
The senior duo of Eliot Spizzirri and Cleeve Harper moved on to the quarterfinals in doubles, while senior Micah Braswell concluded his singles tournament in the Round of 16
Stillwater, Okla. – Texas Men's Tennis senior duo No. 24 Eliot Spizzirri and Cleeve Harper advanced to the NCAA Doubles Championships Quarterfinals, while senior 5 seed No. 5 Micah Braswell fell in his singles Round of 16 match on Wednesday at the Greenwood Tennis Center.
Runners-up in last year's tournament, Spizzirri and Harper have now reached the quarterfinals for the second-straight year after a 6-4, 6-4 win over 2 seed No. 2 Holden Koons and Dhakshineswar Suresh of Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons opened the match with a break, but the Longhorns broke right back, and the set stayed on serve from there until Spizzirri and Harper broke for the 6-4 win. In the second set, Texas held the opening game on a deuce point, and the frame stayed on serve up to a 3-2 lead until the Longhorns used another deuce point to break for 4-2. Wake Forest answered with a break and a hold for 4-4, but Texas held and finished the match with a deuce-point break.
Spizzirri and Harper will next face No. 11 Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez of Mississippi State on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. CT.
Earlier in the day, Braswell was downed by No. 29 Filip Planinsek of Alabama by the same 6-4, 6-4 score. Despite three deuce points, including two on Planinsek's serve, the first set remained on serve until Planinsek broke for the win in the last game. Braswell had deuce-point break opportunities in the first game and at 4-4, while he won a deuce point to hold for 2-2. In the second set, Planinsek broke for a 2-0 lead and then consolidated on a deuce-point for 3-0. The next five games then stayed on serve for a 5-3 advantage for Planinsek, and although Braswell got the break he needed to stay alive and get back on serve, Planinsek broke back in the next game for the win.
Braswell closed out a remarkable career at Texas and after having emerged as one of the best players in the country this year. The loss snapped a 37-match winning streak in singles dating back to the fall. During one of the two weeks (Feb. 7) when Spizzirri wasn't No. 1 in the ITA singles rankings, it was Braswell in that spot for the first No. 1 ranking of his career, making him the third Longhorn since 2015 to hold that position. Outside of that, he has been No. 2 throughout most of the spring season. Overall, the All-Big 12 First Team honoree was 40-3 in 2023-24 with 26 ranked wins, 18 top-50 victories and a perfect 21-0 mark in dual matches, while for his career, he ranks third all-time in UT history with 119 singles victories and is fifth in singles winning percentage at .782 with just 34 losses. He also topped Jack Pinnington for the ITA Fall Nationals singles title to become the second Longhorn to ever win that tournament and give Texas a sweep of the two fall majors for just the second time in program history with Spizzirri winning ITA Americans. That came on the heels of him winning the ITA Texas Regionals title.
An All-American in singles last season, who has already qualified as one again this season, Braswell is a three-time All-Big 12 selection with first team honors in 2022 and 2024 and second-team accolades in 2021, while he missed time during the 2023 conference schedule due to injury. Additionally, he was named the 2021 Big 12 Freshman of the Year.
2024 Men's Tennis Singles and Doubles Championships
Singles Round of 16 – Wednesday, May 22
#29 Filip Planinsek (ALA) def. 5 seed #5 Micah Braswell (UT) 6-4, 6-4
Doubles Round of 16 – Wednesday, May 22
#24 Eliot Spizzirri/Cleeve Harper (UT) def. 2 seed #2 Holden Koons/Dhakshineswar Suresh (WF), 6-4, 6-4
Doubles Quarterfinals – Thursday, May 23
#24 Eliot Spizzirri/Cleeve Harper (UT) vs. #11 Petar Jovanovic/Benito Sanchez Martinez (MSST), 1:30 p.m. CT
