No. 6 Men's Tennis preview: ITA Kickoff Weekend
When: Sat.-Sun., Jan. 28-29, 2023
Where: Weller Indoor Tennis Center/Texas Tennis Center, Austin, Texas
Team Records: Texas (3-0, 0-0 Big 12), Cal (2-1, 0-0 Pac-12), Arizona (2-0, 0-0 Pac-12), FAU (3-2, 0-0 C-USA)
Weller Indoor Tennis Center Live Stats: https://hookem.at/MTNIndoorStats
Note that matches played in Weller Indoor Tennis Center will not have live video available.
Texas Tennis Center North Courts Live Stats: https://hookem.at/TTCNorthStats
Texas Tennis Center South Courts Live Stats: https://hookem.at/TTCSouthStats
Texas Tennis Center Live Video: https://hookem.at/MTN-Watch
Updated Team Stats
Tournament Schedule
Saturday, Jan. 28
No. 6 Texas vs. No. 22 Cal, 9:30 a.m. CT, Weller Indoor Tennis Center
No. 14 Arizona vs. FAU, 12:30 p.m. CT, Weller Indoor Tennis Center
Sunday, Jan. 29
Texas-Cal winner vs. Arizona-FAU winner, 12 p.m., North Courts
Texas-Cal loser vs. Arizona-FAU loser, 12 p.m., South Courts
Notes
-Cal Series: Texas leads, 13-6
Texas and Cal met at least once every year from 2014-19 with the Longhorns taking six of those seven total contests, including the most recent, which was played in Austin in an NCAA Tournament Super Regional during Texas' run to the 2019 National Championship. Senior Chih Chi Huang is the only current Longhorn to have participated in that match, which was a 4-0 sweep for Texas. It was the second-straight season the teams had met in Austin in the NCAA Tournament after the Longhorns topped the Bears in the 2018 second round, 4-0, at the Texas Tennis Center. The lone win for Cal in the stretch of seven matches was 4-0 in an indoor match in Austin in 2016.
Texas-Cal Series (Last Seven Meetings)
2019: No. 2 Texas 4, No. 24 Cal 0 (NCAA Round of 16, Austin, Texas, Texas Tennis Center)
2018: No. 11 Texas 4, No. 34 Cal 0 (NCAA 2nd Round, Austin, Texas, Texas Tennis Center)
2017: No. 8 Texas 4, No. 6 Cal 3 (Berkeley, Calif.)
2016: No. 24 Cal 4, No. 26 Texas 0 (Austin, Texas, Weller Tennis Center)
2015: No. 9 Texas 4, No. 26 Cal 1 (NCAA 2nd Round, Austin, Texas, Caswell Tennis Center)
2014: No. 9 Texas 4, No. 17 Cal 1 (NCAA Round of 16, Athens, Ga.)
2014: No. 10 Texas 4, No. 11 Cal 2 (ITA Indoors, Houston, Texas)
Last Meeting
No. 2 Texas 4, No. 24 California 0
May 11, 2019 • Austin, Texas • Texas Tennis Center (NCAA Tournament Round of 16)
Singles – Order of Finish (4,1,2)
1. #7 Christian Sigsgaard (UT) def. Yuta Kikuchi (CAL), 6-2, 6-4
2. #12 Yuya Ito (UT) def. Jack Molloy (CAL), 6-3, 6-3
3. #80 Leonardo Telles (UT) vs. Paul Barretto (CAL), 6-6, unf.
4. #55 Harrison Scott (UT) def. Ben Draper (CAL), 6-3, 6-3
5. Colin Markes (UT) vs. Jacob Brumm (CAL), 6-1, 5-4, unf.
6. Rodrigo Banzer (UT) vs. Bjorn Hoffmann (CAL), 6-3, 1-6, unf.
Doubles – Order of Finish (3,1)
1. #5 Harrison Scott/Christian Sigsgaard (UT) def. #28 Yuta Kikuchi/Jacob Brumm (CAL), 6-3
2. Colin Markes/Leonardo Telles (UT) vs. Paul Barretto/Can Kaya (CAL), 5-3, unf.
3. Chih Chi Huang/Yuya Ito (UT) def. Jack Molloy/Ben Draper (CAL), 6-1
-Texas vs Cal in 2022-23 tournament play
ITA All-American Championships
Cleeve Harper (UT) def. Ryder Jackson (Cal), 4-6, 6-1, 7-5
-Arizona Series: Series tied, 3-3
Should they play, Texas and Arizona would be meeting for the third time in the last four years with the previous being a 4-3 win for the Wildcats in Tucson last year. Prior to that was a 4-3 win for the Longhorns in a regular season non-conference match in 2021 at the Texas Tennis Center. That match had represented the first meeting since 1993, which was a 6-1 win for the Longhorns in Austin. The other win for Texas was also in Austin in 1991 with an 8-1 final. Arizona's other wins came in 1989, a 5-4 decision at the Corpus Christi Invitational, and by the same score in 1992 in Tuscon.
Last Two Meetings
#14 Arizona 4, #5 Texas 3
Jan. 21, 2022 • Tucson, Ariz. • Robson Tennis Center
Singles – Order of Finish (1,2,6,5,4,3)
1. Jonas Ziverts (ARIZ) def. Eliot Spizzirri (UT) 6-4, 6-3
2. Gustaf Strom (ARIZ) def. #20 Micah Braswell (UT) 6-4, 6-3
3. Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) def. Colton Smith (ARIZ) 6-7 (5), 7-5, 1-0 (10)
4. Richard Ciamarra (UT) def. #53 Herman Hoeyeraal (ARIZ) 2-6, 7-6 (2), 1-0 (6)
5. #73 Cleeve Harper (UT) def. Carlos Hassey (ARIZ) 7-6 (3), 6-4
6. Filip Malbasic (ARIZ) def. Chih Chi Huang (UT) 7-5, 6-4
Doubles – Order of Finish (1,3,2)
1. #13 Richard Ciamarra/Cleeve Harper (UT) def. Jonas Ziverts/Herman Hoeyeraal (ARIZ) 6-1
2. Carlos Hassey/Colton Smith (ARIZ) def. Eliot Spizzirri/Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) 6-4
3. Jett Middleton/Filip Malbasic (ARIZ) def. Chih Chi Huang/Micah Braswell (UT) 6-3
#7 Texas 4, #15 Arizona 3
Mar. 19, 2021 • Austin, Texas • Texas Tennis Center
Singles – Order of Finish (4,3,2,5,1,6)
1. #50 Jonas Ziverts (ARIZ) def. #120 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) 7-6 (3), 0-6, 7-6 (4)
2. #78 Micah Braswell (UT) def. #54 Filip Malbasic (ARIZ) 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-1
3. #105 Gustaf Strom (ARIZ) def. Cleeve Harper (UT) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
4. Alejandro Reguant (ARIZ) def. Chih Chi Huang (UT) 6-1, 2-6, 6-4
5. Evin McDonald (UT) def. Carlos Hassey (ARIZ) 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (5)
6. Nevin Arimilli (UT) def. Nick Lagaev (ARIZ) 6-3, 3-6, 7-5
Doubles – Order of Finish (3,2,1)
1. Siem Woldeab/Eliot Spizzirri (UT) def. Jonas Ziverts/Jett Middleton (ARIZ) 7-5
2. Carlos Hassey/Alejandro Reguant (ARIZ) def. Chih Chi Huang/Cleeve Harper (UT) 7-5
3. Micah Braswell/Jacob Bullard (UT) def. Filip Malbasic/Gustaf Strom (ARIZ) 6-3
-Texas vs Arizona in 2022-23 tournament play
N/A
-FAU Series: Texas leads, 1-0
Should they play, Texas and Florida Atlantic would be meeting for the second time in their history with the other contest being a 4-1 win for the Longhorns in the first round of the 2001 NCAA Tournament in Baton Rouge, La.
#22 Texas 4, FAU 1
May 12, 2001 • Baton Rouge, La. • W.T. Robinson Tennis Stadium (NCAA First Round)
Singles – Order of Finish (1,5,3,4)
1. #35 Jean Simon (UT) def. Doug Devriendt (FAU), 7-6 (3), 6-3
2. #99 Craig Edmondson (UT) vs. Yalin Bilgin (FAU), unf.
3. Jose Zarhi (UT) def. Martin Jirak (FAU), 6-3, 6-3
4. Ron Kloppert (UT) def. Andre Buzzoni (FAU), 7-6 (6), 6-4
5. Sandra Spotti (FAU) def. Will Clinton (UT), 7-6 (5), 6-0
6. Michael Domanski (UT) vs. Christian Paiz (FAU), unf.
Doubles – Order of Finish (3,1)
1. #37 Ron Kloppert/Jean Simon (UT) def. Yalin Bilgin/Martin Jirak (FAU), 8-3
2. Jose Zarhi/Craig Edmondson (UT) vs. Christian Paiz/Doug Devriendt (FAU), unf.
3. Ryan Haymond/Michael Domanski (UT) def. Fabio Faerman/Sandro Spotti (FAU), 8-2
-Texas vs FAU in 2022-23 tournament play
N/A
-Spizzirri named Big 12 Player of the Week (Jan. 24)
Eliot Spizzirri was tabbed Big 12 Men's Tennis Player of the Week for the week ending Jan. 22. It marked the first time he earned the honor this season and the sixth time in his career. The Longhorns opened the year with back-to-back awards following Siem Woldeab's the previous week. In two dual matches, Spizzirri registered three top-20 wins, two top-10 victories and capped it with a win over the No. 1 singles player in the country to clinch both doubles points and both overall matches in Texas' wins against UTSA (7-0) and No. 12 Georgia (4-3). He also paired with Cleeve Harper for doubles wins over the No. 19 duo of Quinn and Trent Bryde and No. 6 pair Alan Magadan and Sebastian Rodriguez of UTSA.
-Horns take down Dawgs
The Longhorns downed No. 12 Georgia, 4-3, at the Texas Tennis Center on Jan. 22. Texas claimed the doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 1, including clinching at No. 1 in a dramatic tiebreaker, along with singles victories by Siem Woldeab at No. 3, Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 2 and No. 3 Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1 to clinch the overall match. Spizzirri's came over No. 1 Ethan Quinn.
-Texas sweeps UTSA in home opener
The Longhorns secured a 7-0 sweep over UTSA in the 2023 home opener at the Texas Tennis Center on Jan. 20. Texas claimed the doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 1, including a top-10 win for Eliot Spizzirri and Cleeve Harper at No. 1, along with singles victories by Siem Woldeab at No. 2, Evin McDonald at No. 6, Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1 to clinch, Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 3, Chih Chi Huang at No. 5, and Cleeve Harper at No. 4.
-Woldeab tabbed Big 12 Player of the Week (Jan. 17)
Siem Woldeab was named Big 12 Men's Tennis Player of the Week for the week ending Jan. 15. It was Woldeab's first weekly honor of the season and the second of his career. He produced strong results in both singles and doubles in leading Texas to a 5-2 win at No. 13 Florida. Woldeab paired with Pierre-Yves Bailly to be first off the court on the way to the Longhorns winning the doubles point, downing the No. 43 duo of Jonah Braswell and Lukas Greif at No. 3. He was then also first off the court in singles with a victory over Greif at No. 4, giving Texas a 2-0 lead. The Longhorns then clinched the match at 4-1 and extended the lead to 5-1 before the eventual 5-2 final.
-Texas opens season with win at No. 13 Florida
Texas opened the 2023 season with a 5-2 win at No. 13 Florida at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex in Gainesville, Fla., on Jan. 15. It marked the 26th-straight year the Longhorns started the season with a victory, dating back to 1998. The Longhorns put together two solid doubles wins at Nos. 1 and 3 before taking singles matches by Siem Woldeab at No. 4, Cleeve Harper at No. 5, Chih Chi Huang at No. 6 to clinch it, and No. 3 Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1.
-Longhorns sweep titles at Miami Invite
Texas opened spring play by winning both the singles and doubles titles at the Miami Spring Invite in the tournament that ran from Jan. 6-8 in Coral Gables, Fla. Eliot Spizzirri posted a perfect 3-0 singles record to take that top honor, while the pair of Chih Chi Huang and Eshan Talluri matched it to earn the doubles nod. On the final day of play, the Longhorns secured three top-25 singles victories against players from Georgia with Pierre-Yves Bailly knocking off No. 1 Ethan Quinn, Spizzirri topping No. 10 Philip Henning, and Talluri downing No. 21 Blake Croyder for his first career win over a ranked opponent in singles.
-Challenging non-conference schedule
The Longhorns have 10 non-conference dual matches scheduled this season against teams that appear in the ITA national rankings that started with a 5-2 road win at No. 13 Florida to open dual match play on Jan. 15. The Longhorns also travel to No. 2 Ohio State (Feb. 5), No. 3 TCU (Mar. 4) and No. 18 Stanford (Mar. 9) with the match against TCU coming prior to Big 12 play to make it non-conference. At home, Texas welcomes No. 12 Georgia (Jan. 22/W, 4-3), No. 20 Pepperdine (Feb. 10), No. 14 Arizona (Feb. 12), RV Texas A&M (Feb. 26), RV NC State (Mar. 14) and No. 7 USC (Mar. 26). The Longhorns will also play No. 22 Cal (Jan. 28) in the ITA Kickoff Weekend and have the potential to face No. 14 Arizona in the second round (Jan. 29).
-Back from 2022
Beginning the fifth season under head coach Bruce Berque, Texas returns almost all of its regular singles and doubles lineups from a team that persevered through an injury-plagued 2022 season, but still finished with an 18-11 record, its eighth-straight season of 18 or more wins, an appearance in an eighth-straight NCAA Tournament Sweet 16, and a fourth-straight appearance in the quarterfinals of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships. The lone departure was senior Richard Ciamarra, who went out in style by combining with Cleeve Harper to win the NCAA Doubles National Championship. That duo earned doubles All-America honors, as did the combination of Eliot Spizzirri and Siem Woldeab. Micah Braswell was a first-team All-Big 12 selection in singles, while Spizzirri and Pierre-Yves Bailly were second-team all-conference in singles. Bailly was also named the Big 12 Freshman of the Year. Chih Chi Huang and Evin McDonald return after combining to play a majority of the matches at No. 6 singles, as do Nevin Arimilli and Eshan Talluri.
-Doubles National Champions
Cleeve Harper and Richard Ciamarra won the 2022 NCAA Doubles National Championship last May at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex in Champaign, Ill. It marked the seventh doubles title in UT history by six different pairs, and the first since 2015 when Lloyd Glasspool and Søren Hess-Olesen won it. It is also just the second since 1944 when John Hickman and Felix Kelley won it, while Hickman and Walter Driver took it in 1943. The others include Bruce Barnes and Karl Kamrath in 1931, and back-to-back wins by Lewis White and Louis Thalheimer in 1923 and 1924.
-Brown arrives on the 40
The Longhorns add one new face for 2023 in true freshman Lucas Brown from Plano, Texas. Brown is a January enrollee who was the top-ranked player in the state of Texas and rated No. 6 nationally by TennisRecruiting.net. Throughout his juniors career, he has earned a total of 19 USTA National Balls, including eight gold, nine silver and two bronze. He has also earned a No. 1 USTA national ranking in every age division from 12s-18s. Brown completed most of his high school coursework at iUniversity Prep and spent his final semester at the Laurel Springs School.
-Berque at the Helm
Bruce Berque begins his fifth season as the head coach at Texas having taken over midway through the 2019 season. From there, he has led the Longhorns to a 73-22 overall record (.768) that includes a 3-0 record this season and an 18-11 mark last season with an appearance in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. It also includes a 24-6 in 2022 with an appearance in the Final Four, 13-3 in a season shortened by the pandemic in 2020, and 15-2 in 2019 en route to the guiding Texas to its first team National Championship. The Longhorns also earned the Big 12 regular season championship that year. Texas finished ranked in the top four in three of those seasons at No. 3 in 2021, No. 4 in 2020 and No. 1 in 2019, while ranking No. 12 in 2022.
-Fall Wrap-up
The Longhorns had a number of impressive results during 2022 fall play, highlighted by Eliot Spizzirri making the singles final of the ITA National Fall Championships, and the semifinals of the ITA All-American Championships. Spizzirri also partnered with Cleeve Harper to reach the doubles semifinals of the All-Americans and the Round of 16 at Fall Nationals. The duo twice defeated the No. 2-ranked doubles pair of Stefan Dostanic and Bradley Frye of USC during the fall. Overall in singles, Spizzirri posted a 10-3 record and was 8-0 against ranked opponents. Siem Woldeab was also exceptional in singles play, posting an 11-2 record with 10 of those wins coming against ranked opponents, two against top-15 players, and the lone two defeats both coming against top-40 foes. He reached the final of the Commodore Invitational, falling in three sets, and made the Round of 16 of the ITA All-Americans. Micah Braswell was limited in the fall, but still reached the quarterfinals of the All-Americans, while Evin McDonald (8-2) and Eshan Talluri (7-4) both registered solid fall records. Pierre-Yves Bailly missed the fall while recovering from an injury.
-ITA Rankings
Texas was ranked No. 6 in the 2023 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Top 25 Coaches Poll announced Jan. 25. The ranking marks the 64th-straight week in the top 15 dating back to April 2018. Meanwhile, Cal was ranked No. 22, and Arizona was No. 14 in the poll.
-Final Fall ITA Individual National Rankings
Texas had five listings in the final fall ITA individual rankings that were released Nov. 16 with four in singles and one doubles pair. That included two in the top 15 in singles and one in the top 10 of doubles. Pierre-Yves Bailly did not play in the fall, so he did not appear in the rankings.
Texas
Singles
No. 3 Eliot Spizzirri
No. 13 Siem Woldeab
No. 30 Micah Braswell
No. 104 Evin McDonald
Doubles
No. 7 Cleeve Harper/Eliot Spizzirri
Cal
Singles
No. 52 Ryder Jackson
Doubles
No. 27 Yuta Kikuchi/Carl Emil Overbeck
Arizona
Singles
No. 19 Jonas Ziverts
No. 54 Herman Hoeyeraal
No. 74 Nick Lagaev
No. 78 Jay Friend
No. 85 Colton Smith
No. 117 Gustaf Strom
Doubles
N/A
FAU
Singles
No. 112 Kevin Huempfner
Doubles
No. 32 Nicolas Acevedo/Filip Krolo
No. 51 Kevin Huempfner/Hunter Robbins
-Year Six at the Texas Tennis Center
Texas opened its sixth year at the Texas Tennis Center with a 7-0 sweep of UTSA on Jan. 20 and followed it with a 4-3 win over No. 12 Georgia on Jan. 22, giving the Longhorns a 60-8 (.882) overall record in its history. Last season, the Longhorns posted a 10-3 record at home 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.
