Austin – No. 7 Texas Men’s Tennis bested No. 15 Arizona, 4-3, in a hard-fought thriller that saw all six singles contests go to three sets on Friday at the Texas Tennis Center.
The Longhorns took the doubles point that had two matches finish at 7-5 and then added singles wins by freshman No. 78 Micah Braswell at No. 2, sophomore Evin McDonald at No. 5 and junior Nevin Arimilli at No. 6. In addition to all singles matches going three sets, two of those were decided by tiebreakers, including McDonald’s, and Arimilli clinched the match at 7-5 in his third set.
After doubles, each singles match went back and forth with Arizona striking first at No. 4 with a 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 win by Alejandro Reguant over junior Chih Chi Huang. Huang went on a run in the middle of the match where he won nine of 11 games for a 3-0 lead in the third, but Reguant put together a 5-0 run to counter that before winning and evening the overall score.
The Wildcats took their lone lead of the day shortly after that when No. 105 Gustaf Strom was able to down sophomore Cleeve Harper, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. After Harper took the opening set with a break in the final game, Strom used wins on three out of four deuce points for the second set before closing 6-2 in the third.
The Longhorns recaptured the lead by taking the next two matches, starting with Braswell’s 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-1 win over No. 54 Filip Malbasic for his third-straight win over a ranked opponent. The first set stayed on serve to 2-2 starting with Malbasic, and after each player followed with a break, the set was back on course where it stayed until the breaker. There, the players alternated points up to a 3-2 lead for Malbasic when he pushed to leads of 4-2 and 5-3. However, Braswell was able to tie it at 5-5 before the next three points again alternated to give Malbasic a 7-6 lead and he then closed at 8-6. After falling behind 3-2 on a deuce point break in the second set, Braswell answered with a deuce point break of his own and turned it on from there as part of a 4-0 run to send it to the third. Malbasic was able to win the opening game of that set on serve, but Braswell regained his momentum and finished on a 6-0 run that was part of winning 10 of the last 11 games.
With the overall match evened at 2-2, both McDonald and sophomore No. 120 Eliot Spizzirri found themselves in simultaneous third-set tiebreakers. McDonald’s finished first for a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (5) victory over Carlos Hassey. McDonald picked up a break and a hold in the first two games of the match and maintained that lead for the rest of the set with it staying on serve to his win. The second set continued that trend and also stayed on serve all the way to a 5-4 lead for Hassey when he was able to finish it with a break. In the third, McDonald used a break and a deuce point hold to establish a 4-2 lead, but Hassey went on a 3-0 run for his own lead and put the set back on serve where it stayed until the tiebreaker. In that frame, Hassey jumped out to a 2-0 edge, but McDonald answered with a 4-0 run before Hassey again tied it at 4-4. The next three points alternated starting with McDonald before he broke through for the win at 7-5 and a 3-2 overall lead for Texas.
The lead lasted only seconds before No. 50 Jonas Ziverts won the second of two tiebreakers in the match against Spizzirri, 7-6 (3), 0-6, 7-6 (4). After Ziverts used a break and a hold for a 4-2 lead in the first, Spizzirri went on a 3-0 run to put the set back on serve and had a set point at deuce in the following game, but Ziverts grabbed the point to tie it and then broke for the lead. Spizzirri answered the break to send it to a breaker, but Ziverts used a 3-0 run in that for a 5-2 lead on his way to the 7-3 win. At that point, Spizzirri went on a tear by winning nine of the next 10 games for a sweep of the second set and a 3-1 lead in the third, but Ziverts regained the lead by taking four of the next five games. With the set back on serve, it went to the second tiebreaker where Ziverts took a 3-1 lead. Spizzirri fought back to even it at 4-4, but Ziverts finished with the final three points.
That left it to court 6 where Arimilli had been moved into the singles lineup after sophomore No. 57 Siem Woldeab played only in doubles. Arimilli opened his match against Nick Lagaev with a break and a deuce point hold and maintained that lead on serve up to 5-3 when he closed the set with another break. He picked up his second consecutive break to open the next set, but Lagaev posted a 4-0 run to establish his lead. Arimilli got two games back to pull within 4-3, but Lagaev again went on an extended run of 5-0 for the set and a 3-0 lead in the third. Despite trailing 3-0, Arimilli was only down one break. The next two games were decided on deuce points, but Arimill held to a 5-2 deficit before setting out on a 5-0 run that included fending off a match point on a deuce. He instead turned into a 5-5 tie before using another deuce win for the 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 final and the 4-3 team victory.
The day opened like it closed with incredible drama at doubles, Arizona jumped out to 1-0 leads in all three matches despite Texas being on serve at Nos. 1 and 3. At No. 3, the Wildcat pair of Malbasic and Strom extended that lead to 2-0 with a deuce point on serve, but Braswell and sophomore Jacob Bullard answered with a deuce point hold of their own to get back within one. Arizona then held for 3-1, but it was all Texas from there as Braswell and Bullard put together a 5-0 run to take the match at 6-3.
At No. 2, the match stayed on serve up to 2-2 starting with the Arizona duo of Hassey and Reguant against Harper and Huang. The Longhorn pair broke and held on deuce points to go up 4-2 and then extended to 5-3 before the Wildcats closed on a 4-0 run to win 7-5.
The point was then decided at No. 1 where Woldeab returned to the lineup after missing the last two matches with an injury. He partnered with Spizzirri against Ziverts and Jett Middleton, but the Texas duo got off to a slow start and went down two breaks at 3-0. A deuce point break of their own got them on the board and a hold in the next game pulled them within 3-2. However, the next four games stayed on serve, including a deuce point win for the Wildcats in the third of those, leaving Arizona up, 5-4. Spizzirri and Woldeab then got the break they needed to even it at 5-5 before holding on a deuce point and then breaking on a spectacular return from Woldeab to complete a 4-0 run for the 7-5 final.
The Longhorns (13-3) return to the court next Saturday, March 27, at 12 p.m. CT against No. 29 South Florida at the Texas Tennis Center.
#7 Texas 4, #15 Arizona 3
Singles – Order of Finish (4,3,2,5,1,6)
1. #50 Jonas Ziverts (ARIZ) def. #120 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) 7-6 (3), 0-6, 7-6 (4)
2. #78 Micah Braswell (UT) def. #54 Filip Malbasic (ARIZ) 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-1
3. #105 Gustaf Strom (ARIZ) def. Cleeve Harper (UT) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
4. Alejandro Reguant (ARIZ) def. Chih Chi Huang (UT) 6-1, 2-6, 6-4
5. Evin McDonald (UT) def. Carlos Hassey (ARIZ) 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (5)
6. Nevin Arimilli (UT) def. Nick Lagaev (ARIZ) 6-3, 3-6, 7-5
Doubles – Order of Finish (3,2,1)
1. Siem Woldeab/Eliot Spizzirri (UT) def. Jonas Ziverts/Jett Middleton (ARIZ) 7-5
2. Carlos Hassey/Alejandro Reguant (ARIZ) def. Chih Chi Huang/Cleeve Harper (UT) 7-5
3. Micah Braswell/Jacob Bullard (UT) def. Filip Malbasic/Gustaf Strom (ARIZ) 6-3