The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Spizzirri earns singles qualifying wild card for U.S. Open
08.14.2024 | Men's Tennis
For the second-straight year, former Longhorn Eliot Spizzirri receives a bid to the qualifying rounds, which will be played from Aug. 19-22 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
New York – For the second-straight year, former Texas Men's Tennis player Eliot Spizzirri is one of nine individuals to receive a qualifying wild card for the men's singles draw at the U.S. Open, the tournament announced Wednesday. The U.S. Open qualifying tournament will be played from Aug. 19-22, and the main draw is scheduled for Aug. 26 through Sept. 8.
It marks the third time in his career Spizzirri has received a wild card to the tournament, also doing so in 2021 when he advanced to the second round of qualifying. He then was also granted a wild card to the doubles main draw with partner Tyler Zink. The following year, Spizzirri was recovering from injury during the time of the U.S. Open.
This past season, Spizzirri repeated as both ITA National Player of the Year and Big 12 Player of the Year and earned ITA All-America honors in both singles and doubles in leading the Longhorns to an NCAA Runner-Up finish. He became just the second different Longhorn to hold the top singles spot at the end of the season since the rankings began in 1981, along with Steve Bryan in 1990, while he became the fourth player nationally to do it twice.
He concluded the season with a 29-6 overall record, including 21-4 in dual matches, playing on the top line in all of those. Fourteen of his 29 wins came against top-50 opponents with 12 of those against the top-25. In the fall, Spizzirri won the singles title at the ITA All-American Championships
In doubles, Spizzirri finished in the top-15 of the rankings with two different partners in Harper at No. 13 and senior Siem Woldeab at No. 15, making him just the sixth player since 1981 to accomplish that feat. He and Harper then attained All-America status by reaching the semifinals of the NCAA Doubles Championship. He and Harper won three straight matches over the No. 17, No. 2, and No. 11 ranked pairs to reach the semifinals, and Spizzirri finished with a 24-13 doubles record. Earlier in the fall, they also reached the final of the ITA All-American Championships.
Spizzirri finished his Texas career as one of the winningest players in combined singles and doubles victories in program history with 218 wins, including 113 in singles and 105 in doubles. The 113 singles wins rank fifth at UT, and his .785 winning percentage is fourth.
Draws and match schedules for the U.S. Open qualifying tournament will be announced at a later date.
Players Mentioned
