Austin – No. 3 Texas Men's Tennis (6-1) posted a 4-3 victory against Florida (3-4) on Saturday afternoon at the Weller Indoor Tennis Center.
Florida 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 senior Cleeve Harper at No. 5, senior No. 1 Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1, freshman 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.
After the Gators took a 1-0 with the doubles point, Harper was the first to finish in singles, registering a 6-1, 6-2 win over No. 82 Tanapatt Nirundorn on court 5. Harper began the match on a 3-0 run, which was capped off by a deuce-point hold in the third game. Nirundorn held the following game for 3-1, but Harper would answer by winning the next seven games, claiming two deuce point breaks along the way. With Harper leading 4-0 in the second set, both players went on to hold their serves for the remainder of the match with Harper holding on a deuce point to win and even the overall score, 1-1.
Spizzirri was next off the singles courts with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Adhithya Ganesan at No. 1. Spizzirri broke on a deuce point then held for a 2-0 advantage to open the match. Both players went on to hold their next two serves before the Texas senior broke for 5-2 and then served out the set. The second began with three deuce-point breaks for a 2-1 Spizzirri lead. Spizzirri went on to win the next three games, claiming another deuce-point break in the process. With Spizzirri up 5-1, he forced a deuce point for a match point, but Ganesan was able to fend it off for 5-2. However, Spizzirri held in the following game to give the Horns a 2-1 lead.
Gilles-Arnaud Bailly extended the lead to 3-1 with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Aidan Kim on court 2. Both players broke the first two games, with Bailly breaking on a deuce point for 1-1. The next break occurred in the sixth game where Bailly claimed a deuce point for 4-2. The Texas freshman held the following game, then broke on another deuce point to win the first set. Similar to the first set, both players broke the first two games to begin the second. With the set tied, 3-3, Bailly held on a deuce point for 4-3 and rode his momentum to a break then hold, closing out the match.
The clinching match for Texas was Jonah Braswell's 6-3, 6-3 win over Kevin Edengren at No. 6. The win marked Braswell's first time clinching an overall dual match for the Longhorns, doing so over his former team. Braswell opened the match on a 3-0 run before Edengren broke on a deuce point in the fourth game. The next four games all stayed on serve with Braswell picking up a deuce-point hold for 4-2 in the sixth game. Leading 5-3, Braswell broke Edengren to take the first set. In the second, Edengren claimed the first break in the fifth game for a 3-2 advantage, but Braswell broke back for 3-3 then took a deuce-point hold for 4-3, beginning what would become a 4-0 run to win the match.
With the overall match already clinced, Woldeab and Pierre-Yves Bailly finished out their matches, which both were decided by superbreakers.
Woldeab faced Nate Bonetto on court 4, where the Texas senior took the first set, 7-6 (5). Woldeab found himself trailing, 4-2, before storming back for a 5-4 lead. Both players would go on to hold serve, leading to a tiebreaker. There, Woldeab faced an early 3-0 deficit before surging back once again by holding his next two serves and following with a mini-break two points later to narrow Bonetto's lead to 4-3. In the same fashion, Woldeab managed to hold his next serves for a 5-4 advantage, pick up another mini-break two points later for a 6-5 lead. Woldeab then held his final serve, earning him the first set. The second set saw Woldeab ahead, 4-2, before Bonetto went on a 4-0 run to win and set up a superbreaker. With Woldeab leading that, 5-2, Bonetto responded with a 4-0 run for a 6-5 advantage. The Texas senior answered with a mini-break for 7-6, but Bonetto broke back for an 8-7 lead. Bonetto then forced another mini-break for 9-8 and closed out the match on his serve for the 10-8 win.
Pierre-Yves Bailly then also fell in another superbreaker to No. 89 Jeremy Jin, 6-7 (3), 6-2, 1-0 (11) at No. 3. With Bailly leading the first set 4-3, he held on a deuce point for 5-3. Jin responded with a hold then broke on a deuce point for 5-5 that had been a set point for Bailly. Both players then held their next serves, setting up a tiebreaker. Leading 4-3, Bailly created separation in the tiebreaker by breaking both of Jin's serves for 6-3, and then held for the 7-3 first-set win. However, Jin responded to the tiebreaker loss with a 4-0 run to open the second set. Bailly weathered the storm with deuce-point breaks for 4-1 and 5-2, but Jin would break the set's final game for a 6-2 win. The superbreaker was a seesaw affair, which never featured a lead greater than two points, including a 4-2 edge for Bailly. Jin's first lead was after he broke two Bailly serves for 5-4, which Jin then increased to 6-4 on serve. Bailly would put together a 4-0 run to lead, 8-6, and then had a match point at 9-8, but Jin reclaimed the lead, 10-9, after holding his serves, and the players exchanged points until Jin broke for a 13-11 win.
Earlier in doubles, the tandem of Woldeab and Pierre-Yves Bailly dropped their match to the No. 58 duo of Kim and Bonetto, 6-4, at No. 2. The match's first four games were all held, with the first two games being decided by deuce points. Kim and Bonetto broke first for a 3-2 advantage, then held for 4-2. The Texas duo answered in the following game by holding on a deuce point, but the match ended after both teams held serve the rest of the way.
At No. 1, the No. 5 pair of Spizzirri and Harper fell to Ganesan and Nirundorn, 7-6 (0). The Florida tandem began the match on a 3-0 run, which included a deuce-point break in the second game. Spizzirri and Harper responded with a 3-0 run of their own to even the match, but the remaining games were all held leading to a tiebreaker, with Ganesan and Tanapatt claiming two deuce points in the process for leads of 5-4 and 6-5. The breaker then belonged to the Gators, as they won seven-straight points to clinch the doubles.
Texas' tandem of Gilles-Arnaud Bailly and senior Micah Braswell led Jin and Henry Jefferson, 1-0, in a tiebreaker when play was halted. Braswell and Bailly took the match's first break in the sixth game for a 4-2 advantage, but Jefferson and Jin responded by breaking on a deuce point in the following game, then holding serve for 4-4. Braswell and Bailly regained the lead with a deuce-point hold for 5-4 and were at match point in the following game, but Jefferson and Jin held the deuce point for 5-5. Both teams held serve in the next two games for 6-6 to set up the tiebreaker, and the Texas duo held serve for the first point before play stopped.
Up next, the Longhorns will head to New York City to compete in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships which begin on Friday, Feb. 16.
#3 Texas 4, Florida 3
Singles – Order of Finish (5,1,2,6,4,3)
1. #1 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) def. Adhithya Ganesan (UF) 6-2, 6-2
2. Gilles-Arnaud Bailly (UT) def. Aidan Kim (UF) 6-2, 6-3
3. #89 Jeremy Jin (UF) def. #53 Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) 6-7 (3), 6-2, 1-0 (11)
4. Nate Bonetto (UF) def. Siem Woldeab (UT) 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 1-0 (8)
5. Cleeve Harper (UT) def. #82 Tanapatt Nirundorn (UF) 6-1, 6-2
6. #37 Jonah Braswell (UT) def. Kevin Edengren (UF) 6-3, 6-3
Doubles – Order of Finish (2,1)
1. Adhithya Ganesan/Tanapatt Nirundorn (UF) def. #5 Eliot Spizzirri/Cleeve Harper (UT) 7-6 (0)
2. #58 Aidan Kim/Nate Bonetto (UF) def. Siem Woldeab/Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) 6-4
3. Micah Braswell/Gilles-Arnaud Bailly (UT) vs. Henry Jefferson/Jeremy Jin (UF) 6-6 (1-0), unf.
