No. 3 Men’s Tennis preview: NCAA Semifinals
(2 seed) No. 3 Texas vs. (6 seed) No. 6 Wake Forest
Team Records: Texas (26-3, 7-0 Big 12), Wake Forest (31-6, 10-2 ACC)
When: Saturday, May 18, 2024, 1:30 p.m. CT
Where: Greenwood Tennis Center, Stillwater, Okla.
Digital Broadcast: Cracked Racquets (ESPN+)
Live Stats: https://hookem.at/MTN-Stats
Updated Statistics
Tournament Central
Notes
-First serve
Texas enters the match against Wake Forest with a 26-3 record, including wins over No. 1 Ohio State, two over Nos. 2 & 3 TCU, No. 4 South Carolina, No. 7 Tennessee, No. 11 Oklahoma, No. 13 Michigan and No. 15 Stanford. The Longhorns had chances to emerge from all three defeats, which have included 4-3 scores to No. 1 Virginia, and in the first match against No. 2 TCU, along with a 4-2 decision to No. 14 Arizona at the ITA Indoors. Both matches against the Cavaliers and Horned Frogs came down to the third set of the final singles contest, including the Longhorns holding a match point in the second set of the one against TCU.
-Back to the Final Four
Texas has reached the NCAA Final Four for the fourth time (2019, 2021, 2023 and 2024) in the last five years with there being no tournament in 2020 due to the pandemic. Since the tournament started in the current format in 1977, Texas has advanced to the semifinals eight times, also including 1993, 2006, 2008 and 2009.
-What’s at stake
The Longhorns are looking to advance to the NCAA Championship Final for the third time in program history. Texas won its first National Championship in 2019 with a 4-1 win over Wake Forest on the USTA Campus in Orlando, Fla., while finishing as the runner-up in 2008 after a 4-2 defeat to Georgia in Tulsa, Okla.
-Texas earns No. 2 overall see in the 2024 NCAA Championships
Texas is the No. 2 overall seed in the 2024 NCAA Championship field that was announced May 1 by the NCAA. The Longhorns hosted First and Second Round matches on Friday, May 3, and Saturday, May 4, which both moved indoors to Weller Indoor Tennis Center due to weather and emerged with a pair of 4-0 sweeps over Sacramento State and No. 25 UCLA. They then hosted a Super Regional on Friday, May 10, and again earned a 4-0 sweep over No. 17 Texas A&M. They won their first match at the championship site in Stillwater with a 4-2 victory over No. 7 Tennessee in the quarterfinals. It is the second-straight year and third time in the last five years Texas has been a top-two seed, after having been the No. 1 seed last year and the No. 2 seed in 2019. It was not held in 2020 due to the pandemic. The Longhorns earned their 32nd consecutive bid to the NCAA Championships and their 41st overall selection since the NCAA bracketed tournament was introduced in 1977 and have compiled a 77-39 (.664) all-time record in the tournament. Texas hosted the opening rounds of the NCAA Championships for a seventh-straight year and for the ninth time in the last 10 years in which the tournament has been held, and then hosted a Super Regional for the third time in the four years those have been part of the tournament. Along with winning the 2019 National Championship, the Longhorns were the national runners-up in 2008, and additionally made it to the semifinals in 1993, 2006, 2009, 2021 and 2023. They have reached at least the round of 16 in each of the last 10 years with six quarterfinals appearances in 2014, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023 and 2024 in that span.
-Wake Forest Series: Texas leads, 10-3
Texas leads the all-time series with Wake Forest, 10-3, with the last meeting being a 4-0 sweep by the Longhorns last year in the Round of 16 of the ITA Indoors in Chicago. Prior to that, the Demon Deacons won, 4-2, in a consolation match of the 2022 ITA Indoors in Seattle. The teams met on the biggest stage in college tennis in the 2019 NCAA Championship Final. The Longhorns won that match 4-1 to claim the first team National Championship in program history. Wake Forest had won the previous two matchups, including a 4-3 decision in the quarterfinals of the 2017 ITA National Indoors in Charlottesville, Va. The teams played less than a month later in Austin, which Wake Forest also won, 4-0. Previously, Texas had won the first eight meetings. Counting this year’s match, the teams have met five times at neutral sites in the series including the 2014 ITA Kickoff Weekend in Nashville, Tenn.
Last Three Meetings
(8 seed) #7 Texas 4, (9 seed) #9 Wake Forest 0
Friday, February 17, 2023
Chicago, Ill. • XS Tennis Village (ITA Indoors Round of 16)
Singles – Order of Finish (3,5,6)
1. #1 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) vs. Melios Efstathiou (WF) 6-4, 5-2, unf.
2. #33 Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) vs. Filippo Moroni (WF) 6-4, 5-3, unf.
3. #65 Micah Braswell (UT) def. Luciano Tacchi (WF) 6-4, 6-3
4. #25 Siem Woldeab (UT) vs. Jurabek Karimov (WF) 6-1, 3-6, 1-0, unf.
5. #112 Cleeve Harper (UT) def. Matthew Thomson (WF) 6-4, 6-2
6. Nevin Arimilli (UT) def. Bozo Barun (WF) 6-3, 6-2
Doubles – Order of Finish (1,2)
1. #4 Cleeve Harper/Eliot Spizzirri (UT) def. Juan Lopez de Azcona/Filippo Moroni (WF) 6-4
2. Siem Woldeab/Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) def. Jurabek Karimov/Luciano Tacchi (WF) 6-3
3. Micah Braswell/Chih Chi Huang (UT) vs. Melios Efstathiou/Matthew Thomson (WF) 4-4, unf.
(8 seed) #6 Wake Forest 4, (13 seed) #14 Texas 2
Sunday, February 20, 2022
Seattle, Wash. • Nordstrom Tennis Center (ITA Indoors Consolation)
Singles – Order of Finish (6,3,1,5,4)
1. #57 Micah Braswell (UT) def. #51 Melios Efstathiou (WF) 6-4, 6-3
2. #99 Jurabek Karimov (WF) vs. #62 Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) 2-6, 7-5, unf.
3. #71 Eduardo Nava (WF) def. #75 Richard Ciamarra (UT) 6-3, 6-3
4. #35 Filippo Moroni (WF) def. Eliot Spizzirri (UT) 1-6, 6-4, 6-3
5. #118 Taha Baadi (WF) def. Siem Woldeab (UT) 6-2, 5-7, 6-1
6. Jakob Schnaitter (WF) def. Evin McDonald (UT) 6-1, 6-4
Doubles – Order of Finish (2,3)
1. #20 Siddhant Banthia/Jakob Schnaitter (WF) vs. Siem Woldeab/Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) 2-5, unf.
2. Micah Braswell/Chih Chi Huang (UT) def. Eduardo Nava/Filippo Moroni (WF) 6-1
3. Eliot Spizzirri/Richard Ciamarra (UT) def. #19 Ben Draper/Robert Maciag (WF) 6-3
(2 seed) #2 Texas 4, (4 seed) #3 Wake Forest 1
Sunday, May 19, 2019
Orlando, Fla. • USTA National Campus (NCAA Championship Final)
Singles – Order of Finish (1,6,5,2)
1. #7 Christian Sigsgaard (UT) def. #11 Borna Gojo (WF), 6-3, 6-4
2. #12 Yuya Ito (UT) def. #8 Petros Chrysochos (WF), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
3. #80 Leonardo Telles (UT) vs. #50 Bar Botzer (WF), 6-3, 6-7 (8-10), 1-0, unf.
4. #55 Harrison Scott (UT) vs. Rrezart Cungu (WF), 2-6, 7-6 (8-6), 5-0, unf.
5. Colin Markes (UT) def. Melios Efstathiou (WF), 6-4, 7-5
6. Rodrigo Banzer (UT) def. Siddhant Banthia (WF), 7-5, 6-4
Doubles – Order of Finish (3,2,1)
1. #63 Alan Gadjiev/Borna Gojo (WF) def. #5 Harrison Scott/Christian Sigsgaard (UT), 6-4
2. #55 Bar Botzer/Petros Chrysochos (WF) def. Colin Markes/Leonardo Telles (UT), 6-3
3. Chih Chi Huang/Yuya Ito (UT) def. Siddhant Banthia/Julian Zlobinsky (WF), 6-2
-Texas vs. Wake Forest in 2023-24 tournament play
ITA All-American Championships
1 seed #1 Eliot Spizzirri/Cleeve Harper (UT) def. Suresh Dhakshineswar/Holden Koons (Wake Forest), 6-4, 7-6 (4) (Quarterfinals)
-ITA Team Rankings
Texas picked up where it left off last season at No. 3 in the preseason coaches poll released January 3 by the ITA, dropped one spot to No. 4 after the match against Virginia, and moved back up to No. 3 on February 7. After the ITA Indoors, the first computer rankings were released on Feb. 20 and the Longhorns were No. 10 where they remained until they moved to No. 12 on March 5. Texas moved back up to No. 9 on March 12 after defeating No. 1 Ohio State, one more spot to No. 8 the following week, and then up to No. 4 on March 26 after topping No. 2 TCU. The Longhorns were then No. 5 on April 2, but back up to No. 4 on April 9 and returned to No. 5 April 16. After winning the Big 12 Championship, Texas moved up to No. 2, and then was No. 3 in the latest release. It’s the 92nd-straight week in the top 15 dating back to April 2018.
-ITA Individual National Rankings
Texas had seven listings in the latest ITA individual rankings that were released on May 2. Eliot Spizzirri went to No. 2 after maintaining the top spot in the singles rankings for all but one other week in the season. Micah Braswell was also in the top-five at No. 5, while Gilles-Arnaud Bailly was No. 40, Jonah Braswell was No. 56, and Pierre-Yves Bailly was No. 90. In doubles, Spizzirri and Harper combined to be No. 24 in doubles, and the pairing of Spizzirri and Siem Woldeab was No. 26 after reuniting since the Ohio State match on March 10.
Texas
Singles
No. 2 Eliot Spizzirri
No. 5 Micah Braswell
No. 40 Gilles-Arnaud Bailly
No. 56 Jonah Braswell
No. 90 Pierre-Yves Bailly
Doubles
No. 24 Cleeve Harper/Eliot Spizzirri
No. 26 Eliot Spizzirri/Siem Woldeab
Wake Forest
Singles
No. 25 Filippo Moroni
No. 79 Dhakshineswar Suresh
No. 111 Franco Capalbo
No. 124 Luciano Tacchi
Doubles
No. 2 Dhakshineswar Suresh/Holden Koons
-Trending
Eliot Spizzirri
Spizzirri began this season where he left off last season as the No. 1 player in the country and has maintained that position with the exception of one week in February and in the most recent rankings on May 2. This year he has compiled a 28-4 overall record and is 20-3 in dual match play. Thirteen of his 28 wins have come against top-50 opponents with 11 of those against the top-25, highlighted by victories over No. 1 Johannus Monday of Tennessee, No. 4 Murphy Cassone of Arizona State, No. 5 Colton Smith of Arizona and No 8 Jack Pinnington of TCU. In his win over Monday, he rallied from down a set and 2-5 to clinch and send the Longhorns to the Final Four, while downing the player who moved into the top ranking Spizzirri held for most of the season. He also clinched both the overall match and doubles in the team’s win over No. 1 Ohio State on March 10 and he has won 11 of his last 12 decisions. He missed a match at USC on March 17 after receiving a qualifying wild card to the Miami Open. In doubles, Spizzirri played the first part of the season with Cleeve Harper, compiling an 11-6 overall record with a 3-5 mark in dual match play. They have four top-40 wins with two of those against pairs from Illinois and Arizona that were both ranked No. 6 at the time they played. However, against Ohio State, the Longhorns shifted their doubles lineup, and Spizzirri reunited with former partner Siem Woldeab with the duo coming through for a tiebreaker win over No. 5 Robert Cash and JJ Tracy to clinch the point. They stayed together against Georgia for a 6-3 win to help take the doubles point, clinched against UCF, Oklahoma, and against BYU in the Big 12 Championship, and most recently earned two top-15 wins over No. 14 Giulio Perego and Togan Tokac of Texas A&M, and No. 6 Johannus Monday and Angel Diaz of Tennessee, and they are now 9-5 together. Spizzirri now has 213 combined singles and doubles wins at Texas, including 112 in singles and 101 in doubles.
Micah Braswell
Micah Braswell has emerged as one of the best players in the country this year and is currently on a 33-match winning streak in singles dating back to the fall and has only lost four sets in that span. During one of the two weeks (Feb. 7) when Spizzirri wasn’t No. 1, it was Braswell in that spot for the first No. 1 ranking of his career. Outside of that, he has held the No. 2 spot throughout most of the spring season before moving down to No. 3 and then No. 5 despite not having lost. Overall, he is 36-2 in the 2023-24 year with 15 top-50 wins and a perfect 20-0 mark in dual matches. He avenged one of his two losses by topping No. 65 Ryan Colby of Georgia in three sets on March 14. His top wins in the rankings have come against No. 6 Jake Fearnley and No. 8 Jack Pinnington of TCU, and No. 12 JJ Tracy of Ohio State in the semifinals of the ITA Fall National Championships. He also topped Pinnington for the ITA Fall Nationals singles title. That came on the heels of him also winning the ITA Texas Regionals title. In doubles, Braswell began dual match play with freshman Gilles-Arnaud Bailly, who arrived in January, while he partnered with his brother Jonah in the fall. However, against Ohio State the Longhorns shifted their doubles lineup and Braswell reunited with former partner Cleeve Harper with the pair taking a 6-3 win on the way to the team winning the doubles point. They stayed together against Georgia and clinched the doubles point with a 6-1 victory, clinched doubles against USC and Texas A&M, and they are 10-2 since reuniting. Most recently, due to an injury to Pierre-Yves Bailly, Braswell played his first match with Eshan Talluri against Tennessee, however they fell, 6-3, at No. 2. He now has a combined 20-9 doubles record and is 16-6 in dual matches, playing mostly at No. 3.
All-Time Singles Wins at Texas
1. Jack Brasington 121-55 .688
2. Paul Koscielski 120-46 .723
3. Dimitar Kutrovsky 118-53 .690
4. Micah Braswell 115-33 .777
5. Eliot Spizzirri 112-29 .794
Royce Deppe 112-49 .696
7. Yuya Ito 111-34 .766
8. Charles Beckman 109-46 .703
All-Time Singles Winning Percentage at Texas
1. Steve Bryan 88-19 .822
2. Kevin Curren 81-20 .802
3. Steve Denton 85-22 .794(39)
4. Eliot Spizzirri 112-29 .794(32)
5. Dan Byfield 39-11 .780
6. Colin Markes 63-18 .778
7. Micah Braswell 115-33 .776
Gilles-Arnaud Bailly
Freshman Gilles-Arnaud Bailly arrived in January and has vaulted to a 20-3 overall singles record and 20-2 in dual matches in his early career, with 17 of those decisions at No. 3 and five of them at No. 2. He has defeated No. 7 JJ Tracy of Ohio State, 6-0, 6-2, No. 21 Pedro Vives of TCU, 7-6 (5), 7-5, No. 57 Vives a second time, 6-1, 6-2, and No. 55 Vives a third time, 6-3, 6-4, in the Big 12 Championship. He also clinched the NCAA Super Regional match against No. 17 Texas A&M. He entered the rankings himself for the first time on March 5 at No. 48, has been as high as No. 35 and is now No. 40. Bailly had played all of his doubles matches with Micah Braswell, with the duo compiling a 7-2 record with three wins in their last four matches. They led No. 31 of TCU, 5-4, before narrowly falling, 7-5. Bailly did not play doubles against Ohio State after the Longhorns shifted their doubles lineup, but returned to play with his brother Pierre-Yves against Georgia and USC, earning a 6-3 win at No. 2 against the Trojans.
Pierre-Yves Bailly
Pierre-Yves Bailly is 20-9 overall this season in singles and is 14-5 in dual matches. He’s won nine of his last 11 decisions, including twice over No. 72 Lui Maxted of TCU, and No. 76 Jelani Sarr of South Carolina at ITA Indoors, and the two losses were both against top-40 opponents, including in a third-set superbreaker to No. 16 Jack Anthrop of Ohio State. He won all four of his combined singles and doubles matches at the Big 12 Championship and was named the Most Outstanding Player. His general doubles partner has been Siem Woldeab going back to last season, however, Woldeab missed five matches with an injury, during which time Bailly paired with Eshan Talluri. That duo stayed at No. 2 even after Woldeab returned and the Longhorns shifted their doubles lineup against Ohio State. They’ve posted an 11-4 record with back-to-back clinches against Michigan and South Carolina at ITA Indoors, and then versus TCU in Austin, on the road against Texas Tech, and against Sacramento State in the NCAA First Round. However, against Georgia and USC, he paired with his brother Gilles-Arnaud, going unfinished against the Bulldogs and winning, 6-3, against the Trojans.
Siem Woldeab
Woldeab is 11-7 this year in singles contests, but missed five dual matches with an injury and has only registered a 4-4 record so far in singles in the dual season. He returned against No. 1 Ohio State and won his first set against a ranked opponent, but eventually fell in three sets. Since then, he has won three of his four decisions, including against TCU in the Big 12 Championship, and UCLA in the NCAA Second Round. Woldeab is also 17-10 overall in doubles and is 12-7 in dual matches. He started out partnering with Pierre-Yves Bailly, but against Ohio State, the Longhorns shifted their doubles lineup and Woldeab reunited with former partner Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1, and the duo came through with a tiebreaker win to clinch the point against the Buckeyes. They stayed together against Georgia and earned a 6-3 win to help Texas take the doubles point and then clinched against UCF, Oklahoma and BYU in the Big 12 Championship, and most recently earned two top-15 wins over No. 14 Giulio Perego and Togan Tokac of Texas A&M, and No. 6 Johannus Monday and Angel Diaz of Tennessee, and they are now 9-5 together. With Spizzirri missing the USC match, Woldeab played with Eshan Talluri and their match was left unfinished.
Cleeve Harper
Cleeve Harper has won his last nine decisions and has a 14-4 singles record in dual matches to this point with most of those coming at No. 5, as part of a 23-8 overall mark. Three of those wins have been against ranked opponents, most recently against No. 82 Tanapatt Nirundorn of Florida. He also clinched the overall matches against No. 15 Stanford and No. 13 Michigan. He has played four matches at No. 6 in the NCAA Tournament and produced solid wins in three of those, only dropping a combined total of 12 games in those wins before going unfinished in a three-set match against Tennessee. In doubles, Harper and Eliot Spizzirri posted an 11-6 overall record with a 3-5 mark in dual match play at No. 1 with four top-40 wins, two of which were against pairs from Illinois and Arizona that were both ranked No. 6 at the time they played. The Longhorns shifted their doubles lineup against Ohio State, and in that contest, Harper reunited with former partner Micah Braswell, and the pair earned a 6-3 win at No. 3 as part of Texas winning the doubles point. They then remained together and clinched the doubles point against Georgia and USC. With Braswell missing the BYU and Texas Tech matches, Harper played with Lucas Brown and clinched the point against Cougars in a tiebreaker of the deciding match. They also were first off the court against the Red Raiders in helping Texas win that point. Braswell then returned against Oklahoma State and combined with Harper for a win, and the duo is now 10-2 since reuniting, including clinching the point in the Big 12 Championship Final against TCU and the NCAA Super Regional against Texas A&M. With Pierre-Yves Bailly missing the NCAA Quarterfinals match against Tennessee, the Longhorns shifted their lineup, and Harper again played with Brown and clinched the doubles point. Harper now has 208 combined singles and doubles wins at Texas, including 93 in singles and 115 in doubles.
Jonah Braswell
Jonah Braswell transferred to Texas from Florida over the summer and has posted a 16-6 singles record, including 8-3 in dual matches with the highlight being the clinch over his former team. He has five decisions at No. 6, four at No. 5, and two at No. 4, one of which clinched the overall match at Texas Tech. In the fall, he secured a win over No. 26 Jack Pinnington, who is currently No. 13, and he also squared off against his brother, Micah, in the semifinals of the ITA Texas Regionals. Braswell has had three doubles partners this year totaling a 6-5 record, but has most frequently played with Micah, doing so on eight occasions. That includes his last two appearances in dual matches, and he holds a 2-1 doubles mark in four dual matches.
Lucas Brown
Brown has taken a definitive step during his redshirt freshman season, posting a 17-5 overall record, along with an 9-1 mark in 13 appearances in dual matches, all of those coming at No. 6. In those nine wins, he has only dropped 27 combined games (3.0 per match). In doubles, Brown is 11-4 with five different partners. He has seen doubles action in eight matches, going 4-0 with Cleeve Harper, 2-0 with Jonah Braswell, 1-0 with Eshan Talluri, and 0-1 with Pierre-Yves Bailly. Those include two doubles clinches in tiebreakers in deciding matches, first with Harper against BYU, and then with Talluri against UCLA in the NCAA Second Round, and another clinch with Harper against Tennessee in the NCAA Quarterfinals.
Eshan Talluri
Talluri has evolved into an excellent doubles player and has gone 17-7 this year with a 13-5 mark in dual matches. He played the season opener against Lamar with Evin McDonald and earned a win, but has since played 17 matches with Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 2, five of which were in the absence of Siem Woldeab. After Woldeab returned and the Longhorns shifted their doubles lineup, the duo stayed together against Ohio State and has an 11-4 record with back-to-back clinches against Michigan and South Carolina at ITA Indoors, and then versus TCU in Austin, on the road against Texas Tech, and against Sacramento State in the NCAA First Round. Talluri then clinched doubles against UCLA in the Second Round in a tiebreaker win with Lucas Brown, and played for the first time with Micah Braswell against Tennessee in the Quarterfinals due to an injury to Bailly that altered the lineup. He stepped in at No. 1 doubles against USC with Siem Woldeab as Eliot Spizzirri missed that match.
-Berque at the Helm
An accomplished coaching veteran with over two decades of experience with some of the nation’s top tennis programs, Bruce Berque was named the fifth head coach of The University of Texas Men’s Tennis program on May 23, 2019. Berque is in his sixth season as head coach in Austin and has led the Longhorns to a 122-29 overall record (.808) that includes 26-3 this season, 26-4 last season, 18-11 in 2022, 24-6 in 2021, 13-3 in a 2020 season that was shortened by the pandemic, and 15-2 in 2019 en route to the guiding Texas to its first team National Championship. During Berque’s five completed seasons at the helm, Texas is the only program in the nation to finish in the top four in four of those five seasons, and it is the only program nationally to make three NCAA Final Fours in that span (and it has now made another Final Four this season). The Longhorns are additionally the only team to have been ranked No. 1 at some point during the regular season or post-season of three of those years. Last season, Texas finished 2023 with 26 wins, which is the second-most for the program since 2010, trailing only the 29 from the 2019 National Championship season. The Longhorns made their third NCAA Final Four appearance in the last four tournaments, while the season also saw the team claim the outright Big 12 regular season championship, make the program’s first appearance in the final of the ITA National Indoor Championships, and spend the last six weeks with the nation’s No. 1 ranking before finishing with a final ranking of No. 3. During an injury-plagued 2022, the team still managed an 18-11 mark with an appearance in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. His overall record at UT also includes a 24-6 mark in 2021 with an appearance in the Final Four, 13-3 in a pandemic shortened 2020, and 15-2 in 2019 en route to the guiding Texas to its first team National Championship. UT also earned the Big 12 regular season championships in 2019 and 2021.
-Topping Rocky Top
The Longhorn earned a hard-fought 4-2 win over No. 7 Tennessee in the NCAA Quarterfinals on May 16 in Stillwater. After taking the doubles point with wins at Nos. 1 and 3, the Longhorns claimed three singles matches with victories from Micah Braswell at No. 2, Gilles-Arnaud Bailly at No. 3, and Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1 for the clinch. With Texas leading, 3-2, and close matches for both Spizzirri at No. 1 and Cleeve Harper at No. 6, Spizzirri completed a tremendous comeback to defeat the top-ranked player in the country, Johannus Monday, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3. Monday had just become No. 1 in the latest ITA rankings after Spizzirri held the spot for most of the season. In the process, Spizzirri came back from being down a set and trailing 5-2 in the second, fending off three match points along the way.
-Third-straight NCAA sweep
Texas advanced to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight with a 4-0 sweep over No. 17 Texas A&M on May 10 at the Texas Tennis Center. After taking the doubles point with wins at Nos. 1 and 3, the Longhorns claimed three singles matches with victories from Cleeve Harper at No. 6, Micah Braswell at No. 2, and Gilles-Arnaud Bailly at No. 3. It was the sixth sweep in the previous seven matches for the Longhorns.
-Sweeping the NCAA First and Second Rounds
The Longhorns moved to the NCAA Round of 16 with a pair of home 4-0 sweeps over Sacramento State and No. 25 UCLA. Both matches were played indoors due to weather. Against the Hornets, Texas took doubles with wins at Nos. 3 and 2, and followed with singles wins by Micah Braswell, Cleeve Harper and Eliot Spizzirri for the clinch. Against the Bruins, the Longhorns emerged from a tight doubles point with wins at Nos. 1 and 3, including a tiebreaker victory by Lucas Brown and Eshan Talluri in the deciding match. They then received singles wins from Siem Woldeab, Harper and Gilles-Arnaud Bailly for the clinch.
-Sweeping the All-Big 12 Awards
Texas swept the Big 12 Men’s Tennis postseason awards, including Bruce Berque as Coach of the Year, Eliot Spizzirri as Player of the Year, Gilles-Arnaud Bailly as Freshman of the Year, and Jonah Braswell as Newcomer of the Year. Along with that, the Longhorns had four All-Big 12 team selections and tied for the conference lead with six individual position champions. The sixth different Longhorn to be named player of the year, Spizzirri becomes the first two-time winner of the award in program history. He was also a unanimous selection. Bailly is the third Longhorn to be named Freshman of the Year in the last four years and the seventh in program history. Pierre-Yves Bailly won it two years ago, while Micah Braswell did so three years ago. Jonah Braswell is just the second Longhorn two take Newcomer of the Year, following Ed Corrie in 2008. For Berque, it his is third time being named Coach of the Year in the five years the award has been given while he has been guiding the Longhorns. He also won in his first season as head coach in 2019, along with the following year in 2021. There was no award issued in 2020 due to the pandemic. The All-Big 12 team honorees included first-team singles selections in Spizzirri and senior Micah Braswell, who were both unanimous choices, and the duo of Spizzirri and senior Siem Woldeab in doubles. Gilles-Arnaud Bailly earned second-team accolades in singles. The conference also honored individual champions at each position based on record in conference play, and Texas tied with Oklahoma for the league lead with six. In singles, the Longhorns had champions at four positions, including Spizzirri sharing it at No. 1, Micah Braswell sharing it at No. 2, Gilles-Arnaud Bailly at No. 3, and senior Cleeve Harper at No. 5. The duo of Spizzirri and Woldeab then shared it at No. 1 doubles, while Pierre-Yves Bailly and senior Eshan Talluri claimed it at No. 2 doubles.
-Big 12 Championship All-Tournament Team
The Longhorns garnered seven selections on the 2024 Big 12 All-Tournament Team with honors at five singles positions, along with two in doubles. The singles accolades included Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1, Gilles-Arnaud Bailly at No. 3, Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 4, Siem Woldeab at No. 5, and Jonah Braswell as co-No. 6. In doubles, Pierre-Yves Bailly was joined by Eshan Talluri at No. 2, while Cleeve Harper and Micah Braswell combined for honors at No. 3.
-Big 12 Championship title
Texas swept BYU (4-0), defeated host No. 36 Oklahoma State (4-1) and swept No. 3 TCU (4-0) to win the Big 12 Championship at the Greenwood Tennis Center in Stillwater on April 21. It was the Longhorns’ first Big 12 tournament title since 2018, and the sixth in program history. Meanwhile, it was also the fifth time the program has won both the tournament and regular season championships in the same season with the last time coming in 2010. Texas defeated TCU for the second time in three meetings this season. The Horned Frogs narrowly won, 4-3, in a non-conference match in Fort Worth on March 2, and since then, the Longhorns have since rattled off 13-straight wins, including a 5-0 sweep of TCU in Austin on March 24. After taking the doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 3, Texas produced singles victories from senior Siem Woldeab at No. 5, junior No. 86 Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 4, and freshman No. 39 Gilles-Arnaud Bailly at No. 3 for the clinch.
-Securing the outright Big 12 title at home
Texas claimed a 7-0 sweep over No. 37 Baylor to win the outright Big 12 Championship on Senior Day on April 13 at the Texas Tennis Center.After taking the doubles point with wins at Nos. 1 and 2 by an all senior lineup, the Longhorns followed with victories in all six singles matches by Cleeve Harper at No. 5, Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1, Micah Braswell at No. 2, Jonah Braswell at No. 6, Gilles-Arnaud Bailly at No. 3, and Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 4.
-Senior Day
Six seniors were honored in a Senior Day ceremony following the regular season finale against Baylor, including Micah Braswell, Cleeve Harper, Evin McDonald, Eliot Spizzirri, Eshan Talluri and Siem Woldeab. The group has been a part of a remarkable run of success with Harper being a true freshman who was redshirting on the 2019 National Championship team, while McDonald, Spizzirri, Talluri and Woldeab joined the program in 2020 in the pandemic-shortened season, followed by Braswell arriving in 2021. From 2020 through this season, the core of the class has produced a 100-28 record along with two appearances in the NCAA Final Four (2021, 2023), three top-four final rankings (No. 4/2020, No. 3/2021, No. 3/2023) and three Big 12 regular season championships (2021 [co], 2023, 2024 [clinched co]). Last season, the class also led the team to the program’s first appearance in the final of the ITA National Indoor Championships. The team had an injury plagued year in 2022 where it did not put a complete, healthy lineup on the court once, but still managed to win 18 matches, reach the NCAA Round of 16 and finish No. 12 in the rankings. Braswell, Harper, Spizzirri and Woldeab have each earned All-American honors with Braswell doing so in singles in 2023, Harper doing so twice in doubles (2022-23), Spizzirri doing so twice in singles (2021-23), and three times in doubles (2021-23), and Woldeab doing so twice in doubles (2021-22). Harper also won an NCAA Doubles National Championship in 2022 with Richard Ciamarra, and then returned to the final the following year with Spizzirri. Last season, Spirrizzi had one of the most decorated seasons in the history of the program as he was named the ITA National Player of the Year, becoming the second player in school history along with Steve Bryan in 1990 to finish the season ranked No. 1 in singles since the rankings began in 1981. This past fall, Braswell and Spizzirri combined to sweep the singles titles at the two fall majors. Braswell took the ITA National Fall Championships, while Spizzirri won the ITA All-American Championships. It gave Texas the sweep for just the second time in program history and the first time by two different players. It also marked just the fourth time different players from the same school combined to win the two titles. In addition to the singles titles, Spizzirri and Harper advanced to the doubles final of the All-American Championships. In the fall of 2022, Spizzirri reached the singles final of the Fall Nationals.
-Braswell named Big 12 Player of the Week
Micah Braswell was named Big 12 Men’s Tennis Player of the Week for the week ending April 7. It marks the third time he has received the honor in his career and the first time this season. It also marks the third award of the season for the Longhorns after senior Cleeve Harper received it for the week ending January 7, along with senior Eliot Spizzirri for February 18. Braswell posted a 4-0 combined singles and doubles record in a pair of top-40 road wins, including 4-1 over No. 11 Oklahoma that clinched a share of the Big 12 regular season title, and 6-1 over No. 33 Oklahoma State. Braswell clinched the overall match against the Sooners with a win at No. 2. Prior to that, he and Harper had been first off the doubles court with a 6-0 sweep at No. 3. Against Oklahoma State, Braswell secured another straight-set singles victory at No. 2. He and Harper were also first off the doubles court in that match. For the weekend, he only dropped a combined 16 games in the four matches for an average of 2.7 per set.
-Big 12 champs in Norman
Texas clinched at least a share of the Big 12 regular season title with a 4-1 victory over No. 11 Oklahoma in Norman on April 7. It marks the fourth time in the last five years the conference schedule has been played that the Longhorns have claimed at least a share of the title. That discounts 2020 when the conference season was canceled due to the pandemic. After taking the doubles point with wins at Nos. 3 and 1, Texas claimed three singles matches with wins from Gilles-Arnaud Bailly at No. 3, Cleeve Harper at No. 5, and Micah Braswell at No. 2.
-Singling it out in Stillwater
Texas traveled to Stillwater and earned a 6-1 win over No. 33 Oklahoma State in the first of two matches in the state of Oklahoma. After dropping the doubles point, the Longhorns swept all six singles matches including Cleeve Harper at No. 5, Micah Braswell at No. 2, Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 4, Lucas Brown at No. 6 for the clinch, Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1, and Gilles-Arnaud Bailly at No. 3.
-West Texas win
The Longhorns claimed a 4-1 victory over Texas Tech on March 30 in Lubbock. After taking the doubles point with wins at Nos. 3 and 2, the Longhorns secured three singles matches with wins from Lucas Brown at No. 6, Cleeve Harper at No. 5, and No. 67 Jonah Braswell at No. 4 for the clinch.
-Indoor mountain sweep
Texas claimed a 4-0 sweep over BYU on March 28 in a match that was moved indoors due to weather. After taking the doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 3, the Longhorns claimed three singles matches with wins from Siem Woldeab at No. 4, Gilles-Arnaud Bailly at No. 2, and Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1. Only four matches could initially start in singles due to the number of courts in the BYU indoor facility.
-Sweeping No. 2 TCU
Texas posted a 5-0 sweep over No. 2 TCU on March 24. It avenged a 4-3 loss to the Horned Frogs in Fort Worth on March 2 and provided Texas with wins over both No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 TCU this season. After taking the doubles point with wins at Nos. 3 and 2, the Longhorns claimed four singles matches with victories from Micah Braswell at No. 2, Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 4, Gilles-Arnaud Bailly at No. 3 to clinch, and Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1.
-Big 12 opening win over UCF
Texas swept its Big 12 Conference opener, 4-0, over No. 34 UCF on March 22 at the Texas Tennis Center. After taking the doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 1, the Longhorns claimed three singles matches with wins from Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1, Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 3, and Cleeve Harper at No. 6 to clinch. It made Texas 3-0 all-time against the Knights.
-Coast-to-Coast Road Warriors
The Longhorns traveled from coast to coast from March 14-17 and earned road wins against wo of the most storied programs in college tennis. Texas first claimed a 4-3 victory at No. 38 Georgia, clinching at 4-1 before the 4-3 final. After taking the doubles point with wins at Nos. 1 and 3, Texas captured singles wins from Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1, Lucas Brown at No. 6, and Micah Braswell at No. 2 for the victory. One of the points against the Longhorns came when Jonah Braswell was forced to retire with an injury after having won a first-set tiebreaker and in the midst of a second-set breaker. They then flew to the west coast and claimed a 6-0 sweep at No. 44 USC. After taking the doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 3, Texas secured five singles matches with wins from Lucas Brown at No. 6, Gilles-Arnaud Bailly at No. 2, Micah Braswell at No. 1 to clinch, Cleeve Harper at No. 5, and Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 3.
-Another win versus No. 1
Texas topped No. 1 Ohio State, 5-2, at a packed Texas Tennis Center on March 10 in front of a crowd of 1,012. The Longhorns clinched the victory at 4-0 before the match reached its final score. In 10 matches against No. 1 teams since 2019, Texas is now 6-4, including 3-0 against the Buckeyes. After shifting the doubles lineup, the Longhorns claimed the doubles point in dramatic fashion with wins at Nos. 3 and 1 and went on to collect four singles victories from Gilles-Arnaud Bailly at No. 3, Micah Braswell at No. 2, Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1 for the clinch, and Cleeve Harper at No. 6.
-One point away at No. 2 TCU
The Longhorns came up just short to No. 2 TCU, 4-3, in a non-conference road match in Fort Worth on March 2. After TCU took the doubles point with wins at Nos. 1 and 3, Texas captured three singles wins from Micah Braswell at No. 2, Jonah Braswell at No. 6, and Gilles-Arnaud Bailly at No. 3. However, TCU earned singles wins on Nos. 4, 5 and 1 with the overall contest going deep into the third set of the final match at No. 1 where Eliot Spizzirri had a match point in a second-set tiebreaker before the Horned Frogs fended it off and eventually prevailed.
-Red Storm sweep
Texas claimed a 7-0 victory against No. 55 St. John’s on Jan. 28 at the Texas Tennis Center. After taking the doubles point with 6-0 sweeps at Nos. 2 and 3, the Longhorns captured all six singles matches in straight sets with wins from Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 4, Micah Braswell at No. 2, Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1 for the clinch, Lucas Brown at No. 6, Gilles-Arnaud Bailly at No. 3, and Jonah Braswell at No. 5.
-Six-straight trips to the ITA National Indoor Championships
In winning the 2024 ITA Kickoff Weekend Texas Regional, the Longhorns advanced to the ITA National Indoor Championships for the sixth-straight year. This year, Texas once again left the tournament with two victories, including sweeps over No. 13 Michigan and No. 4 South Carolina, however both were in consolation matches after the Longhorns fell to No. 14 Arizona, 4-2 in the Round of 16. Last season, they achieved a program first by reaching the final with wins over No. 9 Wake Forest, No. 1 Ohio State and No. 4 Michigan, before falling to No. 3 TCU in the title match. Texas had reached the quarterfinals in all five of the previous years, which includes 2021 when the national site hosted only eight teams and started in the quarters. The Longhorns won their opening round match in each of the four other years against Illinois in 2019, UCLA in 2020, Florida in 2022 and Wake Forest in 2023.
-Back-to-back sweeps at ITA Indoors
The Longhorns put together back-to-back sweeps to close out their trip to the ITA Indoors in New York by defeating No. 13 Michigan, 4-0, and No. 4 South Carolina, 5-0. Against the Gamecocks, Texas claimed a dramatic doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 3, and then picked up singles wins at Nos. 5, 1, 2 and 4 from Cleeve Harper, Eliot Spizzirri, Micah Braswell, and Pierre-Yves Bailly, respectively, with Bailly finishing his match point just after Braswell’s clinching point. Versus the Wolverines, the Longhorns secured the doubles point with wins at Nos. 3 and 2 and followed with victories from Micah Braswell at No. 2, Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1, and Cleeve Harper at No. 5 for the clinch. Those wins came after Texas ran into a No. 14 Arizona team that was firing on all cylinders. The Wildcats claimed the doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 3. Then despite singles victories from Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1, and Micah Braswell at No. 2, Arizona was able to secure singles wins at Nos. 3, 4 and 5 to clinch. The Longhorns had evened the overall match at 2-2, but after the Wildcats regained a 3-2 lead, the match No. 5 went in Arizona’s favor in a third-set tiebreaker, and the match at No. 6 went unfinished in its third set, preventing Texas from completing the comeback.
-Three-straight wins over Florida
Texas claimed a 4-3 victory against Florida on Feb. 10 at the Weller Indoor Tennis Center. The Gators claimed the doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 1, but the Longhorns responded by winning the first four singles matches to clinch at 4-1 and finish with victories from Cleeve Harper at No. 5, Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1, Gilles-Arnaud Bailly at No. 2, and sophomore No. 37 Jonah Braswell at No. 6. Both of the remaining two singles matches then went to third-set superbreakers before resulting in two additional points for Florida.
-Four-straight wins over Stanford
The Longhorns claimed a 4-1 victory against No. 15 Stanford on Feb. 4 at the Texas Tennis Center. It was the fourth-straight win against the Cardinal and the sixth in the last seven meetings. After taking the doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 1, the Longhorns secured singles victories from Micah Braswell at No. 2, Gilles-Arnaud Bailly at No. 3, and Cleeve Harper at No. 5. Texas also led the remaining two unfinished singles matches involving Eliot Spizzirri and Jonah Braswell when play stopped.
-ITA Kickoff Weekend Texas Regional Champions
Texas hosted an ITA Kickoff Weekend regional for the 10th-straight year and advanced to the ITA National Indoor Championships for the sixth-consecutive season dating back to 2019. The Longhorns earned a pair of 4-1 wins over UTSA and Oklahoma State. The Roadrunners took the doubles point with wins at Nos. 1 and 3, but the Longhorns stormed back, winning four consecutive singles matches including Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1, Micah Braswell at No. 2, Pierre Yves-Bailly at No. 3, and Lucas Brown at No. 6. Against the Cowboys, the Longhorns secured the doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 3, and then received singles victories from Spizzirri at No. 1, Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 4, and Micah Braswell at No. 2.
-Edged by No. 1 Virginia
Texas took it to the third set of the final singles match, but was edged by No. 1 Virginia, 4-3, at the Texas Tennis Center on January 18. The Cavaliers claimed the doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 3, and although Texas was able to collect three singles wins by senior Micah Braswell at No. 2, Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 4, and Gilles-Arnaud Bailly at No. 3, Virginia secured wins at Nos. 1, 6 and 5.
-Texas sweeps first two matches of 2024
Texas secured 7-0 sweeps over Lamar (Jan. 12) and Abilene Christian (Jan. 14) without dropping a set in any of the singles and doubles contests to open the 2024 season. The match against Lamar was played at the Texas Tennis Center, while the contest against ACU moved indoors due to cold weather. The Longhorns played out all three doubles matches in both and then Eliot Spizzirri, Gilles-Arnaud Bailly, Pierre-Yves Bailly, Jonah Braswell and Lucas Brown all went 2-0 in singles. In addition to those, Micah Braswell earned a singles win against Lamar, while Siem Woldeab did against ACU.
-Harper named Big 12 Men’s Tennis Player of the Week (Jan. 9)
Cleeve Harper went a combined 4-0 without dropping a set in his singles and doubles matches at the Miami Spring Invitational in Coral Gables, Fla. The two doubles victories earned Harper and his partner Eliot Spizzirri the doubles championship and included a decisive 6-1 win over No. 40 Vladislav Melnic and Adrien Burdet of Miami, along with an 8-5 win over Murphy Cassone and Martin Vergara of Arizona State. Harper was also 2-0 in singles with solid straight-sets victories over Vergara at 6-3, 6-4, and Antonio Prat of Miami, 6-4, 6-2.
-Longhorns sweep singles, doubles titles at Miami Spring Invite
In a weekend cut well short due to weather, Texas swept the singles and doubles titles at the Miami Spring Invite, as Micah Braswell won in singles, and the pairing of Cleeve Harper and Eliot Spizzirri won in doubles, both with 2-0 records in those categories. The Longhorns won 15 of their 20 singles matches and six of their nine doubles contests over their three days at the Miami Spring Invite.
-Back from 2023
In the sixth season under head coach Bruce Berque, Texas returns most of its singles and doubles lineups from a team that finished the regular season ranked No. 1, reached the NCAA Final Four and ITA National Indoor final and won the Big 12 Championship in 2023. The departures were seniors Chih Chi Huang and Nevin Arimilli with Huang contributing significantly at No. 3 doubles with multiple partners, while Arimilli took on a regular singles lineup spot later in the season and posted a 10-4 record (7-3 at No. 6). The rest of the roster returns with Eliot Spizzirri going 20-1 at No. 1 and 36-5 overall, Pierre-Yves Bailly posting a 14-9 overall record that included an 11-5 mark at No. 2, Micah Braswell notching a 20-12 overall record, including 12-6 at No. 3, Siem Woldeab splitting time between No. 3 and No. 4 for an 18-8 dual match mark and 30-12 overall, Cleeve Harper registering a 13-4 record at No. 5 with a 19-11 mark overall, and a split between Arimilli and Evin McDonald at No. 6 with McDonald going 6-3 in that spot. Eshan Talluri rounded out the group with a 9-5 overall record.
-Six newcomers arrive for their first dual match season on the 40
The Longhorns add six new faces for 2024 staring with sophomore transfer Jonah Braswell from Florida, who joined the team in the fall. Freshman Rahul Sachdev also arrived in the fall, while the other four are also freshmen but came in the spring. Those include Gilles-Arnaud Bailly, who is the brother of Pierre-Yves Bailly, from Bilzen, Belgium, Evan Burnett from Woodside, Calif., Timo Legout from Paris, France, and Calvin Wang from Laguna Beach, Calif.
-Fall/Summer Wrap-up
The Longhorns had a number of impressive results during 2023 fall play, highlighted by Micah Braswell and Eliot Spizzirri combining to sweep the singles titles at the two fall majors. Braswell took the ITA National Fall Championships, while Spizzirri won the ITA All-American Championships. It gave Texas the sweep for just the second time in program history and the first time by two different players. Yuya Ito previously won both tournaments in 2019. It also marked just the fourth time different players from the same school combined to win the two titles. In addition to the singles titles, Spizzirri and Cleeve Harper advanced to the doubles final of the All-American Championships. Braswell had reached the Fall Nationals with another singles title at the ITA Texas Regionals, becoming the third Longhorn since 2017 to win that championship, along with Christian Sigsgaard (2018) and Leo Telles (2017). In the semifinals, Braswell had to defeat his brother and new teammate, Jonah, to get to the final. Lucas Brown also made it to the singles consolation final. Spizzirri went on to help Team USA win the championship of the Master’U BNP Paribas Championships in Paris in December, while in the summer, he played with the USTA Collegiate Summer Team and followed that by reaching the third round of qualifying at the U.S. Open. Overall, Texas posted a 53-25 singles record in four events, including the Longhorn Invitational, with Micah Braswell leading the way with a 14-2 mark, followed by Spizzirri, who was 6-0. Jonah Braswell, Brown and Harper also posted at least six wins.
-Year seven at the Texas Tennis Center
Texas completed its seventh year at the Texas Tennis Center with a 10-1 mark this season for an 82-9 (.901) overall record in its history. Last season, the Longhorns were 13-0, and additionally, set an all-time Texas Tennis attendance record of 1,332 against TCU in a match that saw them clinch the Big 12 regular season title. The season before, the Longhorns posted a 10-3 record with the only losses coming to top-five teams by 4-3 scores against No. 1 Florida and No. 2 Ohio State, and 6-0 to No. 4 Baylor. Texas posted a 14-2 mark in 2021, which included wins over No. 6 Texas A&M, No. 9 Florida and No. 15 Arizona. In a shortened season in 2020, UT recorded a 9-0 record with wins against No. 8 Stanford, No. 18 Georgia and No. 21 Florida State. The Longhorns finished 2019 at 15-1, including wins over No. 1 Ohio State, No. 6 Baylor and No. 12 Columbia, along with three NCAA Tournament victories. The lone loss that year came to No. 15 USC. During its inaugural season, Texas posted a 10-2 record, including winning the 2018 Big 12 Tournament.
