Austin, Texas – No. 7 Texas Men's Tennis topped No. 18 Arizona, 4-2, on Sunday at the Texas Tennis Center to give the Longhorns their second win over the Wildcats in the last two weeks. The teams met on January 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, and followed with singles victories by juniors No. 25 Siem Woldeab at No. 4, and No. 1 Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1, along with sophomore No. 33 Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 2.
With a 1-0 overall lead for Texas following doubles, Woldeab was the first off the court in singles with a 6-4, 6-4 win over No. 98 Herman Hoeyeraal. The first four games stayed on serve starting with Hoeyeraal until Woldeab broke through with a deuce-point win for a 3-2 lead that he extended to 4-2 on serve. Hoeyeraal got the break back 4-4, but Woldeab answered with his second deuce-point break to regain the lead before serving out the set. In the second, Woldeab was again first to break at 2-1 and consolidated it to 3-1 on serve. Much like the first set, Hoeyeraal got the break back, this time at 3-3, and Woldeab immediately broke back for 4-3. The rest of the set stayed on serve from there to Woldeab's win and a 2-0 lead for the Longhorns.
A short time later, Arizona got on the board has junior No. 65 Micah Braswell fell to Gustaf Strom, 6-3, 6-1, at No. 3. Braswell had won the opening game on serve, but Strom went on a 7-0 run that included two deuce points at 3-1 and 4-1 to take the set and a 1-0 lead in the second. Strom was then the first break in that set on another deuce point for a 3-1 lead. Braswell responded with a break of his own before holding his next serve on another deuce point to even it at 3-3, however Strom closed on a 3-0 run for the win.
The overall lead returned to two points for Texas after Spizzirri earned an efficient 6-2, 6-3 victory over No. 22 Jonas Ziverts. Spizzirri raced to a 4-0 lead out of the gates, and although Ziverts picked up a break and deuce-point hold to cut it in half, Spizzirri finished the set with a hold and deuce-point break to win. That was the start of another 4-0 run as Spizzirri also grabbed the first two games of the second set on a deuce-point hold and a break. Ziverts then came back with a 3-0 run that included two breaks and a deuce-point hold, but Spizzirri responded with his third 4-0 run of the match to finish it and make the overall score 3-1.
The next two matches ended virtually simultaneously with Bailly's finishing first by a split second as his opponent's shot hit the net just before the final point on No. 6 could take its second bounce. Bailly came through with the clinch in a second-set tiebreaker to defeat No. 78 Colton Smith, 6-3, 7-6 (2). Similar to several other times in the overall match, the first break of a set was answered in the next game. After the opening four games were on serve, Smith secured the first break at 3-2, but Bailly grabbed it back to start a 6-0 run that put him up 2-0 in the second set with two of those games going to deuce at 4-3 and then 1-0. Following that opening game break, the rest of the set stayed on serve until Smith finally got the break back to stay alive and even it at 5-5. Bailly then gave himself another opportunity to serve out the match after he broke back against Smith, but his next service game would end up going to deuce and being won by Smith to send the set to a tiebreaker. In that frame, Bailly captured a mini-break on the first point and did not look back as he set out on a 4-0 run on the way to a 7-2 win and the clinch.
With match point on No. 6 happening at the exact same time, the final team result was 4-2 for Texas as junior Evin McDonald was downed by No. 120 Jay Friend, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3. In the first set, McDonald used breaks for leads of 2-1 and 5-2 before finishing with a deuce-point hold. The second set then stayed on serve all the way to a 5-4 lead for Friend when he picked up the only break to send it to a third set. That would be the first of three-straight breaks as McDonald opened the next set with one and Friend answered to put it back on serve. That's where it stayed until Friend broke again for 5-3 and served out the final game.
In the lone unfinished match, senior Nevin Arimilli was trailing No. 85 Nick Lagaev, 7-6 (5), 4-1, at No. 5. Arimilli had taken a 2-0 lead with a deuce-point break in the opening game, but Lagaev got the break back to start a string of three-straight breaks that left it even at 3-3. The next two games were then holds, but two more breaks put the set at 5-5 on the way to staying on serve from there to a tiebreaker. In the breaker, Arimilli won the first point, but Lagaev went on a 6-0 run to seemingly take control. Arimilli rallied back to within 6-5, but came up just short when Lagaev took the next point and the set. Lagaev then won the final three games of the second set when play stopped.
Earlier in doubles, the Longhorns secured the point with wins at Nos. 1 and 3. The No. 4 duo of Harper and Spizzirri were off the court first with a 6-3 win over Ziverts and Friend at No. 1. The match was triple set of alternating 3-0 runs, as the Longhorns used a deuce-point break in the second game for one, while the Wildcats posted two deuce-point holds and a break to even it. Texas then posted the final 3-0 run for the win.
The last two matches both made their way to tiebreakers with Braswell and senior Chih Chi Huang pairing for a 7-6 (4) win over Strom and Hoeyerall to get home first and clinch the point. Despite there being six deuce points in the 12 games, only one was a break, which went to Arizona for a 2-1 lead. However, Texas broke right back and then used the first of the remaining deuce points to hold for a 3-2 lead. They also held at the deuce for 4-3, and although the rest of the match stayed on serve, the final three games all went to deuce leading to the breaker. The first nine points in that frame alternated between the teams starting with the Longhorns until Braswell and Huang broke the Wildcats' final two serves to win.
At that point, the remaining match at No. 2 between the duo of Woldeab and Bailly and the Arizona pair of Smith and Jared Horwood had just gone to a tiebreaker when play concluded. That match also featured a number of deuce points as the teams combined for five, three of which were won by Texas. The first of those was a break in the second game that had answered an opening break by Arizona. The Wildcats then broke again for a 3-2 lead, and although the next three games all went to deuce, the remainder of the match stayed on serve until the Longhorns used the final deuce point to break and send it to a tiebreaker where it ended.
Texas next heads to Chicago to compete in the ITA National Indoor Championships from Friday, Feb. 17, through Monday, Feb. 20. The bracket and match times will be announced later this week.
#7 Texas 4, #18 Arizona 2
Singles – Order of Finish (4,3,1,2,6)
1. #1 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) def. #22 Jonas Ziverts (ARIZ) 6-2, 6-3
2. #33 Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) def. #78 Colton Smith (ARIZ) 6-3, 7-6 (2)
3. Gustaf Strom (ARIZ) def. #65 Micah Braswell (UT) 6-1, 6-3
4. #25 Siem Woldeab (UT) def. #98 Herman Hoeyeraal (ARIZ) 6-4, 6-4
5. Nevin Arimilli (UT) vs. #85 Nick Lagaev (ARIZ) 6-7 (5), 1-4, unf.
6. #120 Jay Friend (ARIZ) def. Evin McDonald (UT) 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
Doubles – Order of Finish (1,3)
1. #4 Cleeve Harper/Eliot Spizzirri (UT) def. Jonas Ziverts/Jay Friend (ARIZ) 6-3
2. Siem Woldeab/Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) vs. Colton Smith/Jared Horwood (ARIZ) 6-6, unfinished
3. Chih Chi Huang/Micah Braswell (UT) def. Gustaf Strom/Herman Hoeyeraal (ARIZ) 7-6 (4)
