No. 3 Men's Tennis preview: at No. 1 TCU
When: Wednesday, March 22, 2023, 5:30 p.m. CT
Where: Friedman Tennis Center, Fort Worth, Texas
Team Records: Texas (14-2, 0-0 Big 12), TCU (15-0, 0-0 Big 12)
Note: This match was scheduled separately from Big 12 Conference play and is designated as non-conference.
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Updated Team Stats
Notes
-TCU Series: Texas leads, 65-25-4
Texas leads the all-time series with TCU, 65-25-4, with the teams having played earlier this year in the finals of the ITA Indoors in Chicago. The Horned Frogs won that match, 4-0, to win the tournament championship. That was the fourth-straight win in the series for TCU, which won twice last season, first 4-0 in the quarterfinals of the ITA Indoors in Seattle and then 4-1 in their regular season conference match in Fort Worth, along with a 4-3 decision in Austin in 2021. Prior to that, they faced off in the quarterfinals of the 2019 NCAA Championships when the Longhorns took a 4-1 win at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla. Texas also won the regular season match-up that year, 6-1, in Fort Worth. The teams did not face each other in 2020 due to the pandemic shortened season. Prior to 2019, TCU had taken the previous four matches with two in Austin and two in Fort Worth.
Last Meeting
#3 TCU 4, #7 Texas 0
Monday, February 20, 2023
Chicago, Ill. • XS Tennis Village (ITA Indoors Final)
Singles – Order of Finish (3,4,5)
1. #17 Jake Fearnley (TCU) vs. #1 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) 6-1, 6-7 (5), unf.
2. #49 Luc Fomba (TCU) vs. #33 Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) 6-4, 3-4, unf.
3. Jack Pinnington (TCU) def. #65 Micah Braswell (UT) 6-4, 6-0
4. Sander Jong (TCU) def. #25 Siem Woldeab (UT) 6-2, 6-3
5. #124 Sebastian Gorzny (TCU) def. #112 Cleeve Harper (UT) 6-4, 6-1
6. Tomas Jirousek (TCU) vs. Evin McDonald (UT) 6-7 (5), 1-1, unf.
Doubles – Order of Finish (2,1)
1. Jake Fearnley/Luc Fomba (TCU) def. #4 Cleeve Harper/Eliot Spizzirri (UT) 7-5
2. Jack Pinnington/Sander Jong (TCU) def. Siem Woldeab/Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) 6-4
3. Pedro Vives/Sebastian Gorzny (TCU) vs. Micah Braswell/Chih Chi Huang (UT) 6-5, unf.
-Texas vs. TCU in 2022-23 tournament play
ITA National Fall Championships - Quarterfinals
No. 35 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) def. No. 65 Jacob Fearnley (TCU) 6-2, 7-6 (2)
-ITA Team Rankings
Texas was No. 3 in the latest computer rankings released March 21 by the ITA. The ranking marks the 71st-straight week in the top 15 dating back to April 2018. Meanwhile, TCU was No. 1.
-ITA Individual National Rankings
Texas had five listings in the ITA individual rankings that were released March 21 with four in singles and one doubles pair. That included two in the top 30 in singles and one in the top five of doubles.
Texas
Singles
No. 1 Eliot Spizzirri
No. 29 Siem Woldeab
No. 36 Pierre-Yves Bailly
No. 78 Micah Braswell
Doubles
No. 4 Cleeve Harper/Eliot Spizzirri
TCU
Singles
No. 16 Luc Fomba
No. 21 Jacob Fearnley
No. 43 Alexander Jong
No. 71 Sebastian Gorzny
Doubles
No. 5 Alexander Jong/Lui Maxted
No. 13 Jacob Fearnley/Luc Fomba
-Victorious return to Lake Nona
Texas defeated No. 67 UCF, 4-3, at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona, Fla., on March 18. The Longhorns won four-consecutive singles matches to clinch at 4-1 on the way to the final. After dropping the doubles point, UT picked up three singles victories within minutes of each other from Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1, Evin McDonald at No. 6, and Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 2. Senior Nevin Arimilli then clinched his third-straight match to cap the run with his win at No. 5.
-Comeback against the Pack
The Longhorns rallied for a 4-3 win over No. 20 NC State in Austin on March 14. Texas trailed 3-1 before winning three-consecutive singles matches, including the last two in three sets with the final match decided in a tiebreaker. In all, Texas won four singles matches, including Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 2, Cleeve Harper at No. 5, Micah Braswell at No. 3, and Nevin Arimilli at No. 6 to clinch his second-straight match for the team. It was Arimilli who went to the tiebreaker and overcame a 5-3 deficit in that to win.
-Holding the Card
Texas downed No. 25 Stanford, 5-2, at the Bay Club in South San Francisco, Calif., on March 10. The match had been moved indoors and offsite from the Stanford campus due to weather, but the Longhorns prevailed for their ninth top-25 win of the season. Texas won the doubles point with victories at Nos. 2 and 3 and followed with singles wins by Siem Woldeab at No. 4, Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1, Nevin Arimilli at No. 6 to clinch, and Cleeve Harper at No. 5.
-Spizzirri named Big 12 Player of the Week (Feb. 28)
Eliot Spizzirri was named Big 12 Men's Tennis Player of the Week for the week ending Feb. 26. It marks the third time he has earned the honor this season and the eighth time in his career. Spizzirri led Texas to a 5-2 win over No. 40 Texas A&M on Feb. 25 with a 6-3, 7-5 win over No. 63 Noah Schachter at No. 1 singles, along with a 6-2 win with partner Cleeve Harper over Schachter and Trey Hilderbrand at No. 1 that helped secure the doubles point against the Aggies.
-Four-straight over the Aggies
Texas defeated No. 40 Texas A&M, 5-2, on Feb. 26 the Longhorns' fourth-straight win in the all-time series. The Longhorns won the doubles point with victories at Nos. 1 and 2 and followed with singles wins by juniors No. 54 Micah Braswell at No. 3, No. 1 Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1, Evin McDonald at No. 6 to clinch at 4-1, and No. 22 Siem Woldeab at No. 4.
-The MOP
Eliot Spizzirri was tabbed the ITA Indoor Nationals Most Outstanding Player and to the All-Tournament Team at the No. 1 singles line. Spizzirri played four singles matches and went 2-0 with wins over Justin Boulais of No. 1 Ohio State, and No. 7 Andrew Fenty to clinch over No. 4 Michigan. He was also one game away from a potential win over Melios Efstathiou of Wake Forest when the match was clinched and had just forced a third set against No. 17 Jake Fearnley of TCU when that match concluded.
-First-ever final at ITA Indoor Nationals
Texas traveled to Chicago for the ITA National Indoor Championships from Feb. 17-20 and came home with the program's first trip to the tournament final and first runner-up trophy. In doing so, the Longhorns completed an impressive run that featured five victories over ranked opponents with three of those coming against the top-10, including No. 22 Cal and No. 14 Arizona at the ITA Kickoff Weekend earlier in Austin, followed by No. 9 Wake Forest, No. 1 Ohio State and No. 4 Michigan before finally falling to No. 3 TCU in Chicago.
-Avengers top Michigan
The Longhorns avenged their 2022 NCAA Round of 16 loss to Michigan with a 4-3 victory at the ITA Indoors on Feb. 19. For the second-straight day, Texas earned a top-five win and delivered an opponent its first loss of the season as the Wolverines entered match at 12-0. The Longhorns captured the doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 3, including a dramatic tiebreaker to clinch at No. 3, before adding singles victories from Cleeve Harper at No. 5, Siem Woldeab at No. 4, and Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1 to clinch.
-Avengers take down No. 1
Texas rebounded from its loss earlier in the season at Ohio State in Columbus on Feb. 5 with a 4-3 win over the Buckeyes at the ITA Indoors on Feb. 18 after the Buckeyes had risen to No. 1. Despite dropping the doubles point, the eighth-seeded Longhorns rallied for four singles victories, including Nevin Arimilli at No. 6, Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1, Micah Braswell at No. 3, and Pierre-Yves Bailly for the clinch at No. 2. It was Ohio State's first loss of the season after starting 13-0.
-Sweeping the Deacons
The Longhorns swept No. 9 Wake Forest, 4-0, in the Round of 16 at the ITA National Indoor Championships. Texas won the doubles point with wins at Nos. 1 and 2 and recorded singles victories by Micah Braswell at No. 3, Cleeve Harper at No. 112, and Nevin Arimilli at No. 6 for the clinch.
-Spizzirri named Big 12 Player of the Week (Feb. 14)
Eliot Spizzirri was chosen Big 12 Men's Tennis Player of the Week for the week ending Feb. 12. It marked the second time he has earned the honor this season and the seventh time in his career. Spizzirri posted three overall wins during the week, including two top-100 singles victories, in leading Texas to a 2-0 record in home matches against Pepperdine (5-2) and No. 18 Arizona (4-2).
-Twice as nice against the Wildcats
Texas topped No. 18 Arizona, 4-2, on Feb. 12 at the Texas Tennis Center to give the Longhorns their second win over the Wildcats in two weeks. The teams met on Jan. 29 in Austin at the Weller Indoor Tennis Center as part of the ITA Kickoff Weekend with Texas winning that match, 4-0. The Longhorns took a tightly-contested doubles point with wins at Nos. 1 and 3, including a tiebreaker at No. 3, and followed with singles victories by Siem Woldeab at No. 4, Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1, and Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 2.
-Surfing the Wave
The Longhorns defeated Pepperdine, 5-2, on Feb. 11 at the Texas Tennis Center by capturing five singles victories. Those included Micah Braswell at No. 4, Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1, Siem Woldeab at No. 3, Cleeve Harper at No. 5 for the clinch, and Nevin Arimilli at No. 6. They lifted Texas past the Waves after having fallen in the doubles point earlier in the match.
-Spizzirri is No. 1
Eliot Spizzirri reached No. 1 in the initial spring Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) singles rankings released on Feb. 8. In doing so, Spizzirri became the first Longhorn to earn the top spot in singles since Søren Hess-Olesen in 2015.
-Top-10 matchup in Columbus
Texas dropped its first match of the season, falling to No. 2 Ohio State, 4-0, at the Ty Tucker Tennis Center in Columbus on Feb. 5. The Longhorns had a difficult time with deuce points throughout the early half of the match as the Buckeyes won the only two during doubles and then all 10 throughout the first sets across the six singles courts. Texas turned that around in the second sets, winning nine out of 12, but it was too late to rally in the overall match.
-Pac-ing up and heading to the ITA Indoors
Texas put together a pair of ranked wins over Pac-12 opponents to win the ITA Kickoff Austin Regional title and advance to the ITA National Indoor Championships for the fifth-straight year. This year's tournament will take place in Chicago from Feb. 17-20. The Longhorns downed No. 22 Cal, 4-1, on Jan. 28 and followed that with a 4-0 sweep of No. 14 Arizona on Jan. 29. Both matches were played at the Weller Indoor Tennis Center due to weather. Cleeve Harper went a combined 4-0 in the matches with a top-80 singles win against Arizona, while Eliot Spizzirri was 3-0 and in position for a top-20 singles win against the Wildcats in a match that went unfinished, and Siem Woldeab was 3-1 with a top-60 win against Arizona and his only defeat being a doubles tiebreaker against Cal.
-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 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 17 non-conference dual matches 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 have road matches at No. 2 Ohio State (Feb. 5/L, 4-0), No. 25 Stanford (Mar. 9/W, 5-2), No. 67 UCF (Mar. 18/W, 4-3) and No. 1 TCU (Mar. 22) 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), RV Pepperdine (Feb. 10/W, 5-2), No. 18 Arizona (Feb. 12/W, 4-2), No. 40 Texas A&M (Feb. 26/W, 5-2), No. 20 NC State (Mar. 14/W, 4-3) and No. 8 USC (Mar. 26). The Longhorns also played No. 22 Cal (Jan. 28/W, 4-1) and No. 14 Arizona (Jan. 29/W, 4-0) in the ITA Kickoff Weekend, and No. 9 Wake Forest (Feb. 17/W, 4-0), No. 1 Ohio State (Feb. 18, W, 4-3), No. 4 Michigan (Feb. 19, W, 4-3) and No. 3 TCU Feb. 20 (L, 4-0) at the ITA Indoors.
-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 is in 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 an 84-24 overall record (.778), including 14-2 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 2021 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.
-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 with wins over No. 12 Georgia on Jan. 22, Pepperdine on Feb. 10, No. 18 Arizona on Feb. 12, No. 40 Texas A&M on Feb. 26, and No. 20 NC State on March 14, giving the Longhorns a 64-8 (.889) 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.
