Austin – No. 3 Texas Men's Tennis secured a 7-0 sweep over Lamar without dropping a set in the 2024 home opener at the Texas Tennis Center on Friday.
The Longhorns claimed the doubles point, winning all three of their doubles matches, along with singles victories by seniors No. 2 Micah Braswell at No. 3 and No. 1 Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1, junior No. 49 Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 4 for the clinch, freshmen Lucas Brown at No. 6 and Gilles-Arnaud Bailly at No. 2, and sophomore No. 28 Jonah Braswell at No. 6.
In doubles, Micah Braswell and Gilles-Arnaud Bailly were the first off the court with a 6-2 win over Max Amling and Haruki Omori-Cowie at No. 1. The Cardinals won the opening game on serve, but the Longhorns responded with three straight and six of the next seven for the win. Seniors Evin McDonald and Eshan Talluri quickly followed suit with a 6-3 win over Martin Garcia-Ripoll and Gustav Hasslegren at No. 3 to clinch the doubles point for Texas, although the teams played out the final match. That left Jonah Braswell and Brown on the court at No. 2, and they were able to take down Brandon Do and Leon Nickel, 6-4, at No. 2. Texas earned a break in the opening game and made that stand up for the rest of the match on the way to the win.
In singles, Micah Braswell was again first off the court with an efficient 6-1, 6-0 win over Garcia-Ripoll. Braswell broke serve in the opening game and then held on a deuce point for an early 2-0 lead. Garcia-Ripoll got one game back on serve in the third game, but it would be the only game he would win in the match as Braswell closed on a 10-0 run.
Spizzirri won his match over Amling shortly after Braswell's win to make it 3-0 for Texas. Both players held serve through the first four games, but Spizzirri broke through in the fifth game and never looked back, claiming the first set, 6-2. Spizzirri's momentum carried him into the second set where he took an early 2-0 lead. Amling would hold serve in the third game of that set, but Spizzirri would close out the match by winning the next four games for 6-1.
Pierre-Yves Bailly then clinched the match with his 6-2, 6-0 win over Brandon Do. Bailly earned a break in the third game and followed by holding serve and then breaking at deuce to make the score 4-1. Do held on a deuce point in the seventh game, but Bailly would do the same to close out the first set. In the second, Bailly did not drop a single game, claiming the lone deuce point of the set, which occurred in the fourth game, for the victory.
Similarly, Brown commanded his match against Omori-Cowie. Brown would open the match by breaking a deuce point in the second game, and fend off Omori-Cowie for the next two games to give him an early 4-0 lead. Omori-Cowie would break through in the fifth game, which was decided by deuce point, but Brown closed out the first set by winning the final two games to make the score 6-1. Brown cruised in the second set by sweeping it and claimed the lone deuce point of that frame, which occurred in the third game.
That left two matches on the court, with Gilles-Arnaud Bailly facing Leon Nickel, and Jonah Braswell taking on Joan Crespo, with both looking for their first dual-match victories at Texas. Bailly defeated Nickel, 6-3, 6-1, for his first overall collegiate victory at UT and a 6-0 lead for the Longhorns. Braswell then got his first dual-match win starting with a first set that saw four games decided by deuce point, with Braswell winning three of them to take it, 6-2. Braswell would close out the match with another 6-2 win, securing the first break of the set at deuce for 4-2 as part of a 4-0 run that closed out the match and capped off the season opener for the Longhorns.
Texas returns to the court to face Abilene Christian on Sunday at 12 p.m. CT at the Weller Indoor Tennis Center.
#3 Texas 7, Lamar 0
Singles – Order of Finish (3,1,4,6,2,5)
1. #1 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) def. Max Amling (LU) 6-2, 6-1
2. Gilles-Arnaud Bailly (UT) def. Leon Nickel (LU) 6-3, 6-1
3. #2 Micah Braswell (UT) def. Martin Garcia-Ripoll (LU) 6-1, 6-0
4. #49 Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) def. Brandon Do (LU) 6-2, 6-0
5. #28 Jonah Braswell (UT) def. Joan Crespo (LU) 6-2, 6-2
6. Lucas Brown (UT) def. Haruki Omori-Cowie (LU) 6-1, 6-0
Doubles – Order of Finish
1. Micah Braswell/Gilles-Arnaud Bailly (UT) def. Max Amling/Haruki Omori-Cowie (LU) 6-2
2. Jonah Braswell/Lucas Brown (UT) def. Brandon Do/Leon Nickel (LU) 6-4
3. Evin McDonald/Eshan Talluri (UT) def. Martin Garcia-Ripoll/Gustav Hasslegren (LU) 6-3
