Austin – No. 4 Texas Men’s Tennis (5-1) claimed a 4-1 victory against Stanford (2-3) on Sunday afternoon at the Texas Tennis Center.
After taking the doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 1, the Longhorns secured singles victories from senior No. 2 Micah Braswell at No. 2, freshman Gilles-Arnaud Bailly at No. 3, and senior No. 82 Cleeve Harper at No. 5. Texas also led the remaining two unfinished singles matches involving senior No. 1 Eliot Spizzirri and sophomore No. 28 Jonah Braswell when play stopped.
In doubles, the tandem of senior Siem Woldeab and junior Pierre-Yves Bailly finished first by taking down Kyle Kang and Nico Godsick, 6-1, at No. 2. The Texas duo jumped out to an early lead which featured a deuce-point hold for 3-0. Kang and Godsick held serve in the fourth game, which proved to be their only win, as Woldeab and Bailly would close out the match on another 3-0 run.
At No. 1, the nation’s third-ranked doubles team in Spizzirri and Harper secured the doubles point for Texas with a 6-3 win over Samir Banerjee and Nishesh Basavareddy. The match’s first break occurred in the eighth game when Spizzirri and Harper broke on a deuce point for 5-3, then went on to hold on a deuce point to win the match.
Micah Braswell and Gilles-Arnaud Bailly’s match against Aryan Chaudhary and Harsh Hemang Parikh was left unfinished with Stanford leading, 5-4. The Longhorn duo opened the match by breaking a deuce point then holding serve for 2-0. A few games later, Stanford claimed consecutive deuce points to even the match at 3-3. Chaudhary and Parikh rode their momentum by taking the next two games for 5-3, but Braswell and Bailly broke for 4-5, deflecting a match point for the Cardinal.
In singles play, Micah Braswell was the first to finish, registering a 7-5, 6-1 win over No. 37 Banerjee on court 2. Braswell started off with a 3-0 advantage after holding both of his serves decided by deuce point. Banerjee held then broke to narrow his deficit to 3-2. Braswell broke back for 4-2, but Banerjee would take the next three games for a 5-4 lead. However, Braswell responded with a break, hold, and another break to win the first set. The senior’s 3-0 run to end the first set ballooned into an 8-0 run to provide a 5-0 lead in the second set. Banerjee managed to hold and fend off a match point at deuce, but Braswell would close out the match with a hold in the following game.
Gilles-Arnaud Bailly was next off the court with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Max Basing at No. 3. Basing began the match on a 3-0 run, but Bailly would answer with a 3-0 run of his own for 3-3. Both players were able to hold their serves for the next four games, with Bailly holding a deuce point in the fourth. The freshman then broke for 6-5 and finished the first set with a hold. Bailly rode his momentum into the second set by starting on a 4-0 run which was capped off by a deuce-point hold. The set’s next three games were all stayed on serve before Basing broke to make the score 5-3, but Bailly was able to break back in the following game to clinch the match.
With Texas leading the overall match 3-0, No. 49 Pierre-Yves Bailly dropped his match to Kyle Kang, 7-5, 6-4, at No. 4, making the score 3-1. Kang broke on a deuce point in the third game for 2-1, as part of a 5-0 run for a 5-1 lead. Bailly battled back with a 4-0 run of his own, which began with consecutive deuce-point wins, but at 5-5, Kang was able to break then hold to claim the first set. The second began with both players breaking on deuce points for 1-1. At 2-2, the next three games were broken with the latter two decided at deuce resulting in a 4-3 advantage for Kang, and the serves in the final three games were all held to finish the match.
The clinching match for Texas was No. 82 Harper’s 6-7 (3), 6-0, 6-3 win over Hudson Rivera at No. 5. The first set was highly contested with both players holding on deuce points for 4-3 and 4-4. Later in the set, Rivera broke on a deuce point for 6-5, but Harper would do the same to commence a tiebreaker. Rivera opened the breaker with a minibreak and hold for 2-0 and would cling to a 2-1 advantage after a minibreak from Harper. Rivera maintained his lead with another minibreak for 3-2 and went on to hold serve for 5-2. Rivera once again managed to minibreak Harper for 6-3 before taking the tiebreaker with a hold. In contrast with the first set, the second set was a one-sided Harper sweep with Harper breaking on the set’s only deuce point in the third game. The turning point in the third set came at 3-3 when Harper broke Rivera’s serve for 4-3, then finished the match with a hold and a break.
Two Longhorns were leading their matches when play stopped. Spizzirri was ahead of Basavareddy, 3-2, in the third set at No. 1 before the match was halted. Spizzirri finished the first set on a 4-0 run for a 6-3 win. In the second set, Basavareddy fought back by winning three of the four deuce points, including fending off two match points with Spizzirri leading, 5-4, and eventually taking the set 7-5. Every serve was held in the third set, with Basavareddy’s first being at deuce.
Jonah Braswell was one game away from winning his match against No. 53 Neel Rajesh, 3-6, 7-5, 5-2, when play ended. Rajesh captured the first set’s only break for 4-2, propelling him to a 6-3 win. In the second set, Braswell lost three deuce points on the way to trailing, 5-1, but flipped the script and erupted for a 9-0 run, including four deuce-point wins, that gave him the set, 7-5, and set him up with a 3-0 lead in the third. Braswell then captured the set’s next break for 5-1, but Rajesh broke back to extend the match, which was left unfinished.
Up next, Texas will host Florida on Saturday, Feb. 10 at 1 p.m. CT at the Texas Tennis Center.
#4 Texas 4, #15 Stanford 1
Singles – Order of Finish (2,3,4,5)
1. #1 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) vs. Nishesh Basavareddy (STAN) 6-3, 5-7, 3-2, unf.
2. #2 Micah Braswell (UT) def. #37 Samir Banerjee (STAN) 7-5, 6-1
3. Gilles-Arnaud Bailly (UT) def. Max Basing (STAN) 7-5, 6-3
4. Kyle Kang (STAN) def. #49 Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) 7-5, 6-4
5. #82 Cleeve Harper (UT) def. Hudson Rivera (STAN) 6-7 (3-7), 6-0, 6-3
6. #28 Jonah Braswell (UT) vs. #53 Neel Rajesh (STAN) 3-6, 7-5, 5-2, unf.
Doubles – Order of Finish
1. #3 Eliot Spizzirri/Cleeve Harper (UT) def. Samir Banerjee/Nishesh Basavareddy (STAN) 6-3
2. Siem Woldeab/Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) def. Kyle Kang/Nico Godsick (STAN) 6-1
3. Micah Braswell/Gilles-Arnaud Bailly (UT) vs. Aryan Chaudhary/Harsh Hemang Parikh (STAN) 4-5, unf.