Austin – No. 1 Texas Men's Tennis advanced the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 with 4-0 sweep of No. 32 Pepperdine at the Texas Tennis Center on Sunday. It marks the ninth-straight year the Longhorns have reached the Round of 16 where they will play No. 14 (16 seed) North Carolina next Saturday in Austin.
Texas won the doubles point at Nos. 1 and 3 and followed with singles wins by juniors No. 61 Micah Braswell at No. 3, No. 54 Siem Woldeab at No. 4, and Cleeve Harper at No. 5 for the clinch.
Following doubles, Braswell was first off the singles court with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Eero Vasa to give the Longhorns a 2-0 overall advantage. Braswell broke first for a 2-1 lead, which he consolidated to 3-1 on serve. He later broke again on a deuce point for the set in the last game. The only other break in the match would also be Braswell's, and also came on a deuce point, this time for a 5-3 lead in the second set before he served out the match.
Woldeab extended the lead to 3-0 with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Pietro Fellin. After each player held their opening serve starting with Woldeab, he set out on a 4-0 run to establish a 5-1 advantage. Fellin got one break back for 5-2, but Woldeab held his next serve on a deuce point for the win. Each player held serve again to start the second set starting with Fellin, but Woldeab again broke first for 2-1 on a deuce point. That started a string of four-straight service games for Fellin going to deuce. Fellin had broken back for 2-2 to get on serve again, which is where it stayed until Woldeab broke again for 5-4 and then served out the match.
The clinch came moments later, as Harper closed the overall match with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Maxi Homberg. Harper held his opening serve on a deuce point, then broke and held again for a 3-0 lead. The next four games were also on serve until Harper broke on a deuce point for 5-2 and held on another for the set, the last four games of which all ended up at deuce. In the second, Homberg broke first for a 2-1 lead, but Harper answered it for 2-2. The players later exchanged breaks again with Homberg moving in front 5-4, but this time, Harper's response, which came on a deuce point, began a 3-0 run to the victory.
Three matches were left unfinished, including junior No. 1 Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1, sophomore No. 28 Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 2 and senior Nevin Arimilli at No. 6. Spizzirri's match against No. 107 Tim Zeitvogel had just moved to a third set when play stopped with Spizzirri winning the first, 6-3, and Zeitvogel taking the second, 7-5. Zeitvogel pushed out to a 3-0 lead that included two breaks, the second of which came on a deuce point. However, the set belonged to Spizzirri after that as he set out on a 6-0 run with deuce-point wins starting and finishing it. In the second, Spizzirri took a 3-2 lead with the first break, which he maintained until he was up 5-4 and serving for the match. However, Zeitvogel broke back to stay alive as part of a 4-0 run to close the set.
Bailly, who missed playing singles in the previous match due to injury, returned to that lineup and was trailing No. 69 Daniel De Jonge, 5-7, 1-3 when play stopped. The first set stayed on serve almost the whole way until De Jonge finally broke in the last game to win. He also collected the only other break of the match for 3-1 in the second after having just held his own serve on a deuce point.
The final match had Arimilli trailing Linus Carlsson Halldin, 6-7 (2), 3-4, at the conclusion of play. Halldin broke first for a 4-3 lead that he made 5-3 on serve, but Arimilli got the break back on a deuce point for 5-5 and the frame later headed to tiebreaker. There, Halldin separated from a 2-2 tie with a 5-0 run to the finish. In the second, Halldin broke on a deuce point in the second game to set up a 3-0 lead, and after Arimilli held for 3-1, the last three games were all breaks with two going to Arimilli.
Earlier in doubles, the No. 3 duo of Harper and Spizzirri led off with a 6-3 win over the No. 64 pair of De Jonge and Zeitvogel at No. 1. The Longhorns picked up the only break of the match on the Waves' first service game to get out to a 3-0 lead, which they maintained to the finish.
The clinch came from senior Chih Chi Huang and junior Evin McDonald, who earned a 6-4 victory over Fellin and Halldin at No. 3. Texas broke first on a deuce point for 4-2, but Pepperdine broke back in the next game and then held on a deuce point to tie it. However, the last two games belonged to the Longhorns, as they broke for 6-4 to close the match.
The remaining contest at No. 2 between the No. 75 duo of Woldeab and Bailly against Vasa and Homberg was even at 5-5 when play finished. The Waves broke on a deuce point in the opening game and then held for a 2-0 lead, but after a clutch deuce-point hold by the Longhorns for 3-4, they got the break back to tie and then took the lead on serve, 5-4. Texas had a match point at deuce in the next game, but Pepperdine was able to stay alive with a hold.
The Longhorns next face the 16 seed No. 14 North Carolina in a Super Regional on Saturday, May 13, at 3 p.m. CT at the Texas Tennis Center.
#1 Texas 4, #32 Pepperdine 0
Singles – Order of Finish (3,4,5)
1. #1 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) vs. #107 Zeitvogel,Tim (PEPPM) 6-3, 5-7, unf.
2. #28 Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) vs. #69 Jonge,Daniel De (PEPPM) 5-7, 1-3, unf.
3. #61 Micah Braswell (UT) def. Vasa,Eero (PEPPM) 6-3, 6-3
4. #54 Siem Woldeab (UT) def. Fellin,Pietro (PEPPM) 6-3, 6-4
5. Cleeve Harper (UT) def. Homberg,Maxi (PEPPM) 6-2, 7-5
6. Nevin Arimilli (UT) vs. Halldin,Linus (PEPPM) 6-7 (2-7), 3-4, unf.
Doubles – Order of Finish (1,3)
1. #3 Eliot Spizzirri/Cleeve Harper (UT) def. #64 Jonge,Daniel De/Zeitvogel,Tim (PEPPM) 6-3
2. #75 Siem Woldeab/Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) vs. Vasa,Eero/Homberg,Maxi (PEPPM) 5-5, unf.
3. Chih Chi Huang/Evin McDonald (UT) def. Fellin,Pietro/Halldin,Linus (PEPPM) 6-4
