New York, N.Y. – No. 3 Texas Men's Tennis (7-2) swept No. 13 Michigan (5-5), 4-0, in the ITA National Indoor Championships Consolation Bracket in New York on Saturday.
Texas secured the doubles point with wins at Nos. 3 and 2, and followed with victories from seniors No. 2 Micah Braswell at No. 2, No. 1 Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1, and Cleeve Harper at No. 5 for the clinch.
In doubles, the tandem of Micah Braswell and freshman Gilles-Arnaud Bailly were the first to finish taking down Nicholas Steiglehner and Alex Cairo, 6-2, at No. 3. Braswell and Bailly took the match's first three games before the Michigan duo managed to hold serve for 3-1. The next three games also stayed on serve, with the latter two decided by deuce points. With Braswell and Bailly leading 5-2, the Texas tandem broke serve to win the match.
Court 1 was the next to finish with No. 5 Spizzirri and Harper dropping their match to Jacob Bickersteth and Gavin Young, 6-3. Bickersteth and Young jumped out to a 3-0 lead before Texas' duo held serve for 3-1. The rest of the match stayed on serve with the last being a deuce-point hold to give Bickersteth and Young the win.
The doubles point was then decided at No. 2 where senior Eshan Talluri and junior Pierre-Yves Bailly defeated Patorn Hanchaikul and Will Cooksey, 6-4. Momentum seemed to be favoring Michigan after Hanchaikul and Cooksey held on a deuce point for a 3-1 lead, but Talluri and Bailly stormed back by taking the match's next four games for a 5-3 advantage. Hanchaikul and Cooksey tried to flip the script with a deuce-point break for 5-4, but Talluri and Bailly answered with a deuce-point break of their own in the following game to win the match.
In singles play, Micah Braswell was the first to finish registering a 6-0, 6-3 win over No. 48 Bickersteth at No. 2. Braswell opened the match by taking the first seven games before Bickersteth was able to hold serve in the second game of the second set for 1-1. Braswell claimed the second set's only break for 5-3 and closed out the match on his serve.
Spizzirri was next off the singles court with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over No. 17 Young at No. 1. Young broke in the opening game of the match, but Spizzirri responded with a 6-0 run to take the set. In the second set, Spizzirri held on deuce point in the second game to spark what would become a 5-0 run for a 5-1 advantage. The streak featured a deuce-point break in the fifth game to maintain Spizzirri's momentum. Young ended the streak on a deuce-point hold for 5-2 that was also a match point for Spizzirri, but the Texas senior captured the match on serve in the next game.
The clinching match for Texas was Harper's 6-4, 6-4 win over Cooksey at No. 5. Harper opened the match with a 2-0 lead before Cooksey held serve. At 2-1, the senior held then broke on a deuce point for a 4-1 advantage. Cooksey responded with a break and a hold to narrow Harper's lead to 4-3, but the rest of the set stayed on serve. Harper had a chance to take the set at 5-3 on a deuce point, and although Cooksey managed to hold, Harper served out the set in the following game. The second set opened with breaks from both players for 1-1. The set's next six games stayed on serve for 4-4 before Harper collected a pivotal break for 5-4. He then clinched the sweep for Texas on serve in the following game.
With the match won, Nos. 3, 4, and 6 were all left unfinished. Gilles-Arnaud Bailly was leading No. 125 Hanchaikul, 7-6 (3), 2-1, at No. 3 when play stopped. Bailly found himself in an early 2-0 deficit before surging back with two breaks during a 3-0 run for a 3-2 advantage. Hanchaikul broke back for 3-3, but Bailly would break once again for 4-3. The next two games were held before Hanchaikul broke on a deuce point for 5-5. Hanchaikul regained the lead on a deuce-point hold in the following game for 6-5, but the Texas freshman held on a deuce point in the following game to force a tiebreaker. Bailly began the tiebreaker with a 3-0 lead before Hanchaikul would hold twice to make the score 3-2. Bailly answered with two holds of his own for 5-2 then forced a minibreak for 6-3, and won the tiebreaker, 7-3, on his following serve. Bailly had the early advantage in the second set when Harper clinched the match.
At No. 4, No. 53 Pierre-Yves Bailly was in the third set of his match with Bjorn Swenson when the match ended. Swenson won the first set 6-2, but Bailly would storm back in the second set with a 6-1 win, which saw Bailly claim both games that were decided on deuce point. Bailly was leading the third set 2-0 and was looking to add to his 7-0 run when his match was left unfinished.
Sophomore No. 37 Jonah Braswell was trailing Nicholas Steiglehner, 4-6, 2-2, in the second set when play stopped. Braswell fell in a highly contested first set which featured four games decided on deuce points. The set's only break was on a deuce point for a 5-4 Steiglehner lead, and the Wolverine would capitalize with a hold in the following game. Braswell answered by opening the second set with a hold then a deuce-point break for a 2-0 advantage, but Steighlehner broke back and then held to even the set just before Texas clinched the match.
Up next, the Longhorns will face the 7 seed No. 4 South Carolina at 12 p.m. ET/11 a.m. CT on Sunday in another ITA National Indoor Championships consolation match.
#3 Texas 4, #13 Michigan 0
Singles – Order of Finish (2,1,5)
1. #1 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) def. #17 Gavin Young (MICH) 6-1, 6-2
2. #2 Micah Braswell (UT) def. #48 Jacob Bickersteth (MICH) 6-0, 6-3
3. Gilles-Arnaud Bailly (UT) vs. #125 Patorn Hanchaikul (MICH) 7-6 (3), 2-1, unf.
4. #53 Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) vs. Bjorn Swenson (MICH) 2-6, 6-1, 2-0, unf.
5. Cleeve Harper (UT) def. Will Cooksey (MICH) 6-4, 6-4
6. #37 Jonah Braswell (UT) vs. Nicholas Steiglehner (MICH) 4-6, 2-2, unf.
Doubles – Order of Finish (3,1,2)
1. Jacob Bickersteth/Gavin Young (MICH) def. #5 Eliot Spizzirri/Cleeve Harper (UT) 6-3
2. Pierre-Yves Bailly/Eshan Talluri (UT) def. Patorn Hanchaikul/Will Cooksey (MICH) 6-4
3. Micah Braswell/Gilles-Arnaud Bailly (UT) def. Nicholas Steiglehner/Alex Cairo (MICH) 6-2
