The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Sacramento State
No. 3 Men’s Tennis sweeps Sacramento State, 4-0, in NCAA Tournament First Round
05.03.2024 | Men's Tennis
The Longhorns advanced to the Round of 32 with Friday’s win over the Hornets at the Weller Indoor Tennis Center.
Austin – No. 3 Texas Men's Tennis (23-3, 7-0 Big 12) claimed a 4-0 victory over Sacramento State (17-7, 7-1 Big Sky) on Friday afternoon at the Weller Indoor Tennis Center. It marks the 11th-straight year the Longhorns have at least reached the tournament's second round.
After taking the doubles point with wins at Nos. 3 and 2, Texas claimed three singles matches from seniors No. 5 Micah Braswell at No. 2, Cleeve Harper at No. 6, and No. 2 Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1 for the clinch.
In doubles, the first match to finish was on court 1 where Spizzirri and senior Siem Woldeab fell to Mark Keki and Mate Voros, 6-1. At 3-0, Spizzirri and Woldeab held for 3-1, but the Hornet tandem finished the match with another 3-0 run.
On court 3, Harper and freshman Lucas Brown earned Texas' first win with a 6-2 victory over Jan Silva and Adam Chodur. At 1-1, Harper and Brown took the match's first break for 2-1, spurring a 5-0 run, which featured a deuce-point break for 4-1. At 5-1, the match's next two games stayed on serve, evening the doubles point at one match apiece.
All eyes then turned to court 2 where junior Pierre-Yves Bailly and senior Eshan Talluri defeated Hayden Rand and Jiri Novak, 6-4, to clinch the point. Sacramento State's duo began the match with a 3-0 run, but Bailly and Talluri would respond with a 5-0 run, which saw the Texas tandem hold on a deuce point for 3-3. At 5-3, Rand and Novak collected a deuce-point hold on a match point for Bailly and Talluri, but the Longhorns held the following game to give Texas a 1-0 advantage in the match.
In singles play, Micah Braswell was the first off the court with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Voros at No. 2. Braswell opened the match by sweeping the first set, which was bookended by a deuce-point hold and a deuce-point break. He then held the second set's first game for 1-0, but Voros ended Braswell's 7-0 run with a hold for 1-1. However, Braswell came right back with a hold, deuce-point break, and another hold for 4-1. From there, the set's next two games stayed on serve before Braswell broke to secure the win and give Texas a 2-0 lead.
Harper was next off the singles courts with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Rudolfs Aksenoks at No. 6. Harper took the match's first two games, but Aksenoks earned a break and a deuce-point hold for 2-2. Harper responded with a deuce-point hold of his own in the following game and proceeded to take the next five games for a 6-0 run. At 2-0, Aksenoks broke to narrow his deficit to 2-1, but Harper broke back and went on to take the remaining games, for a 3-0 Texas lead.
The clinching match for Texas was Spizzirri's 6-4, 6-4 win over Keki on court 1. Spizzirri broke on a deuce point and then held to open the match. The rest of the set stayed on serve, earning Spizzirri the win. In the third game of the second set, Spizzirri earned a deuce-point break for 2-1. Later, with Spizzirri leading 3-1, Keki held then broke to even it, 3-3. However, Spizzirri broke back and then held for 5-3. From there, the set's next two games stayed on serve, clinching the 4-0 sweep for Texas.
Three matches were left unfinished. Freshman No. 40 Gilles-Arnaud Bailly led Silva, 6-3, 3-2, on court 3. At 3-3 in the first set, Bailly went on a 4-0 run, which featured deuce-point breaks for 4-3 and 6-3. Bailly had a 3-2 lead in the second set, with all of its games staying on serve, before play was halted.
On court 4, No. 90 Pierre-Yves Bailly was in a close, 7-5, 1-1, match against Chodur when the match was clinched. Leading 4-3, Bailly took the match's first break for 5-3, but Chodur broke back on a deuce point then held for 5-5. Bailly showed great resilience in games 11 and 12, which saw the junior hold then break to take the first set, preventing a tiebreaker. The second set's only two games were both broken, with Chodur breaking on a deuce point in the first game.
Woldeab's match against Novak on court 5 was a highly contested battle which saw eight games won on deuce points. The first set featured six deuce points, with Woldeab taking four. At 3-1 in the first set, the next four games went to deuce with Woldeab breaking two for 4-1 and 5-2, and holding on set point for 6-2. At 3-3 in the second set, Woldeab collected a deuce-point break for 4-3 right before his match was left unfinished.
Up next, Texas will face No. 25 UCLA at the Texas Tennis Cener in the Round of 32 on Saturday, May 4 at 4 p.m. CT.
#3 Texas 4, Sacramento State 0
Singles – Order of Finish (2,6,1)
1. #2 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) def. Keki, Mark (SAC) 6-4, 6-4
2. #5 Micah Braswell (UT) def. Voros, Mate (SAC) 6-0, 6-2
3. #40 Gilles-Arnaud Bailly (UT) vs. Silva, Jan (SAC) 6-3, 3-2, unf.
4. #90 Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) vs. Chodur, Adam (SAC) 7-5, 1-1, unf.
5. Siem Woldeab (UT) vs. Novak, Jiri (SAC) 6-2, 4-3, unf.
6. Cleeve Harper (UT) def. Aksenoks, Rudolfs (SAC) 6-2, 6-1
Doubles – Order of Finish (1,3,2)
1. Keki, Mark/Voros, Mate (SAC) def. #26 Eliot Spizzirri/Siem Woldeab (UT) 6-1
2. Pierre-Yves Bailly/Eshan Talluri (UT) def. Rand, Hayden/Novak, Jiri (SAC) 6-4
3. Lucas Brown/Cleeve Harper (UT) def. Silva, Jan/Chodur, Adam (SAC) 6-2
Players Mentioned
