Waco, Texas – No. 1 Texas Men's Tennis swept No. 41 Baylor, 4-0, on Saturday at the Hurd Tennis Center in Waco. The Longhorns stayed perfect in the Big 12 at 4-0 to set up a match for the regular season conference title against No. 2 TCU next Saturday in Austin.
Texas secured the doubles point with wins at Nos. 3 and 1 and followed with singles victories by junior No. 84 Micah Braswell at No. 3, junior No. 33 Siem Woldeab at No. 4, and sophomore No. 27 Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 2 to clinch.
After the Longhorns took a 1-0 lead with the doubles point, Braswell returned to action after missing the last four matches due to an injury and was first off in singles with an efficient 6-2, 6-2 win over No. 53 Finn Bass. After Bass held his opening serve, Braswell went on a 5-0 run that included two deuce-point breaks. Bass got one game back on serve, but Braswell closed out the set with a deuce-point hold after that. In the second, Braswell complied another 5-0 run from the beginning. Bass stayed alive with a deuce-point break and a hold, but Braswell served out the match from there for a 2-0 Texas lead.
Moments later, Woldeab extended that lead with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Juampi Mazzuchi at No. 4. Each player picked up a deuce-point break to begin the match, and after Mazzuchi held for a 2-1 lead, Woldeab set out on a 5-0 run that included two deuce-point holds to take the set. The second stayed on serve up to 3-3 when Woldeab captured the only break of the set on a deuce point to take the lead, which he maintained to his 6-4 win.
Not long after that, Bailly clinched it for the Longhorns with a 6-0, 6-4 win over Marko Miladinovic. Bailly swept the first set with only one game reaching a deuce point, which came on serve in the opening game. The second was back and forth with each player breaking the other's first serve starting with Miladinovic. After the next three games were holds, Bailly broke again on a deuce point for 4-2, but Miladinovic responded with another to put it back on serve. That's where it stayed for the next two games until Bailly grabbed the break he needed to win, 6-4, and clinch for UT.
In the remaining three matches, junior Cleeve Harper was approaching an opportunity to serve for his match against Ethan Muza, leading, 6-1, 5-4, at No. 5 when play stopped. In the first set, Harper sandwiched a pair of 3-0 runs around Muza's lone win of the frame. In the second, Harper broke first for 3-2, which he consolidated to 4-2 with a deuce-point hold. Muza got the break back to even it, 4-4, but Harper broke again at deuce in the next game when the match concluded.
At No. 1, junior No. 1 Eliot Spizzirri had just begun a third set against Zsombor Velcz where they were on serve with Velcz leading, 6-4, 3-6, 1-0. In the first set, Spizzirri had moved out to a 3-0 lead after a break in the second game, which he made 4-1 after a deuce-point hold. Velcz also held at deuce to make it 4-2, which was the start of a 5-0 run for the set. In the second, the first six games followed the same scoring pattern as the first set up to a 4-2 lead for Spizzirri, however this time, the following three games stayed on serve to his 6-3 win. Velcz then took the opening game of the third set with a deuce-point hold when play finished.
The last singles match had senior Nevin Arimilli trailing Luc Koenig, 6-4, 5-4, at No. 6. Despite Koenig's first three serves all going to deuce, the first six games stayed on serve until Arimilli broke for a 4-3 lead. However, Koenig answered the break to start a 3-0 run that he completed with another break at deuce for the 6-4 win. Arimilli pushed out to a 2-0 lead in the second with a break in the opening game, but Koenig got it back on a deuce point to make it 2-2. Arimilli then broke again and held for 4-2 before Koenig won the final three games when play stopped.
Earlier in doubles, senior Chih Chi Huang and junior Evin McDonald paired together for the fifth-straight match and came away with their fourth win in as many decisions with a 6-3 victory over Christopher Frantzen and Justin Braverman at No. 3. The match stayed on serve to a 4-3 lead for the Longhorns when they broke on a deuce point for 5-3 and held in the next game for the win.
The No. 3 duo of Harper and Spizzirri then clinched the point with their sixth top-20 win of the season, downing Bass and Mazzuchi, 7-5, at No. 1. That match stayed on serve for the first 10 games until Harper and Spizzirri, like their teammates, captured the deciding break on a deuce point for a 6-5 advantage before serving out the match.
The remaining contest at No. 2 with Woldeab and Bailly facing Koenig and Velcz was tied, 5-5, when the doubles point finished. The Texas pair had been the earliest to break in the three matches for a 2-1 lead, which they increased to 3-1 on serve. However, after the next five games were also on serve, Baylor broke back on a deuce point to even it at the end.
The Longhorns (20-2, 4-0) will conclude the regular season with an opportunity to play for the Big 12 title against No. 2 TCU, which is also 4-0 in the conference, on Saturday, April 15, at 7 p.m. CT. That match will air on Longhorn Network.
#1 Texas 4, #41 Baylor 0
Singles – Order of Finish (3,4,2)
1. Zsombor Velcz (BU) vs. #1 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) 6-4, 3-6, 1-0, unf.
2. #27 Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) def. Marko Miladinovic (BU) 6-0, 6-4
3. #84 Micah Braswell (UT) def. #53 Finn Bass (BU) 6-2, 6-2
4. #33 Siem Woldeab (UT) def. Juampi Mazzuchi (BU) 6-2, 6-4
5. Ethan Muza (BU) vs. Cleeve Harper (UT) 1-6, 4-5, unf.
6. Luc Koenig (BU) vs. Nevin Arimilli (UT) 6-4, 5-4, unf.
Doubles – Order of Finish (3,1)
1. #3 Eliot Spizzirri/Cleeve Harper (UT) def. #20 Finn Bass/Juampi Mazzuchi (BU) 7-5
2. Luc Koenig/Zsombor Velcz (BU) vs. Siem Woldeab/Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) 5-5, unf.
3. Chih Chi Huang/Evin McDonald (UT) def. Christopher Frantzen/Justin Braverman (BU) 6-3
