Tennis '22-'23 Season

The women's roster has now been posted but w/o both Nicole's. Hopefully it's forthcoming.

 

Hi UT Tennis Fan,

With classes beginning one week from now, I thought I would check in with one final update on the summer. Last week NCAA doubles champion Cleeve Harper had the opportunity to play in the main doubles draw of the Rogers Cup in Montreal, and this week he is playing the Vancouver Challenger in singles qualifying and doubles main draw. Chih Chi Huang also played qualifying singles in Vancouver. Today, Cleeve was named to the Davis Cup Team for Canada and will travel to Spain with the team in September. Fantastic honor for Cleeve! And speaking of great honors, congratulations to Larry Eichenbaum for being named to the Texas Tennis Hall of Fame. Larry will be inducted in Waco on November 5 (announcement of Larry's induction). We are still waiting to see if RItchie Ciamarra (NCAA doubles champion with Cleeve) will receive a U.S. Open doubles wildcard. That announcement should come next week. Finally, our schedule for the coming season has been posted online. As you can see, we once again have challenged ourselves with one of the toughest schedules in the country.

Until next time, Hook'em!

Sincerely,
Bruce Berque

 

Hi UT Tennis Fan,

With the start of the school year, it is time to reconnect and update you on the upcoming season. Our schedule is once again one of the nation's toughest, and we will have many great home matches in the dual match season. Not appearing on this schedule, since it is not an official college event, is our Drop Shot Series $25k futures event to be held during the week of November 7. While we will not have any new players until the 2nd semester we are returning everyone except NCAA Doubles Champion Ritchie Ciamarra. We will fill you in on the new player/s once it becomes official. In news of former UT stars, Lloyd Glasspool continued his red hot run on the ATP doubles tour by reaching the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open in doubles (with partner Harri Heliovaara), taking out Kryrgios/Kokkinakis along the way. Lloyd's doubles ranking will jump to #22 in the world next week!

Our first tournament of the fall season will be next weekend in Athens, Georgia at the Southern Intercollegiates. We will face off against players from Georgia, USC, and Virginia, and will be back in touch with details towards the end of the week. Have a great weekend, and Hook'em!

Sincerely,
Bruce Berque

 

Thanks for sharing. I hope they do sign two for 2023 so that it's not so difficult replacing the 2024 class. Coach was at US Open so maybe it's a player who played in the JR draw.

 

Hi UT Tennis Fan,

Welcome to the 2022-2023 college tennis season! We had our first competition of the year last weekend in Athens. We competed against some very strong teams: defending national champion Virginia, Georgia, and USC. Our guys competed well and had some very good results. On the last day, we swept the 5 singles matches played vs Virginia, and won 2 of 3 doubles matches. On Saturday, we won 5 of the 7 singles matches (mostly vs USC), and picked up a win over the pre-season #2 ranked doubles team. And on Friday we split 4 doubles matches and 8 singles matches vs Georgia. For all the details and results please click on this press release. Next weekend Nevin Arimilli, Evin McDonald, Eshan Talluri, and Siem Woldeab will compete at Vanderbilt in another strong individual event. In other news, Austin native, and member of the 2019 National Championship Team, Colin Markes had a great experience last week as practice partner for the U.S. Davis Cup Team. Here is a great picture of Colin with the squad.

We will be back in touch next week with a recap of the Nashville event. Have a great week, and Hook'em!

Sincerely,
Bruce Berque

 

Tennis roster is updated with photos of everyone except the Pepperdine transfer.

2022-23 Women's Tennis Roster - University of Texas Athletics (texassports.com)

 

Hi UT Tennis Fan,

We had another successful tournament last weekend in Nashville, as Nevin Arimilli, Evin McDonald, Eshan Talluri, and Siem Woldeab went a combined 13-3 in singles and 5-1 in doubles. Siem Woldeab picked up 3 ranked wins, Evin McDonald won his singles flight with a 4-0 record, and Siem and Eshan won their doubles flight with with a 3-0 record. Next up is the ITA All American Championships in Tulsa. We will have some players in the pre-qualifying, some in the qualifying, and some directly in the main draw. Of course we will keep you updated as we go, but you can also check our website for updates beginning this weekend. Have a great day, and Hook'em!

Sincerely,
Bruce Berque

 

I noticed the men's team has basically all of their players in some draw for the ITA All-American. I think they have three doubles teams and at least six players.

The women, on the other hand, have like two singles players and no doubles.

Curious.

 

just guessing but i'm thinking Lucas Brown may enroll early during Spring and join the team this year. Hope I'm wrong and that there are other signees too joining.

I'm surprised Charlotte is not playing fall matches except for ITF tournies. It might be more beneficial for international players to improve their itf rankings so they can get into more future ITF tournies, while it may be helpful for US players to be ranked high in college to receive special exemptions and invites

 

I'm assuming Taisiya Pachkaleva is still recouping from her May injury that occurred at the NCAA Championships.

Any guesses as to a line up when the Spring season begins?

 

Hi UT Tennis Fan,

We have had a busy fall season of training and tournament play, but all is well with UT Men's Tennis! To finish out the individual portion of the season, Eliot Spizzirri will play singles at the ITA Fall Championships, and pair with NCAA Champion Cleeve Harper in doubles. Play begins in San Diego on Wednesday, November 2nd. Then on Monday, November 7 play will begin at the Drop Shot Series Men's $25k pro tournament at our facility. Many of our guys will be playing, although unattached and not representing Texas.

Looking ahead, I expect exciting news on the recruiting front within the next few weeks, so stay tuned! Speaking of the future, our 2023 dual match season is right around the corner. We have once again put together a very challenging schedule, which includes several home matches against top programs. Big non-conference home matches this year include Georgia, CAL (Berkeley), Arizona, Pepperdine, Texas A&M, NC State, and USC.

I will be back in touch in the coming weeks with an update on recruiting and the end of the fall season. Have a great weekend, and Hook'em!

Sincerely,
Bruce Berque

 

Congratulations to Eliot Spizzirri for making it all the way to the final of the ITA Fall Championships in San Diego last week (recap)! I have been coaching college tennis for over 30 years and I can't say that I have seen a better example of what it means to have a winner's mentality than what Eliot has done over the last 15 months, playing without his most dependable shot (backhand) due to injury during that period. He has retooled his game, developed strengths, and become an even better competitor. I can't think of too many other players who would have been able to lose his best shot and still find a way to play #1 on a top 10 college team, reach the semifinals of both singles and doubles at the ITA All American, and reach the final of the ITA Fall Championship. Eliot will undoubtedly finish the fall season in the top 5 in the rankings in both singles and doubles. The good news is that he is now beginning to use his left hand again to hit short court backhands, and the expectation is that he will be full strength for the upcoming dual match season. Keep your fingers crossed!

While the fall season of college matches is now complete, several of our guys are back in action at home beginning today at the drop shot series $25,000 futures. For a full schedule of matches please check the tournament website each day. Nevin Arimilli, Evin McDonald, and Eshan Talluri begin qualifying play today, while Micah Braswell and Siem Woldeab will begin main draw play tomorrow or Wednesday. The doubles entries have not been finalized yet, but we will be represented there as well.

I will be back in touch by the end of the week with another update, including an announcement of a new player joining our team in January. Until then, have a great week, and Hook'em!

Sincerely,
Bruce Berque

 

TY for sharing the updates! wonder why he hasn't mentioned anything on Pierre. If he's healthy and Elliot can get back to 90-95% 1-4 is looking good. I was pleasantly surprised at the fall results from Siem. I feel like his best Fall so far! I'm guessing Lucas Brown enrolls early this Spring, although i would love the surprise if it was Pierre's little brother Gilles joining the team =P

 

Didn't know Pierre had a little brother. Looking at his Instagram, he sure is following a lot of the current players. Good sign, right?

 

Hi UT Tennis Fan,

It has been a busy week already, so I wanted to check in with another update. Starting with sad news unfortunately, I was notified today that David Nelson, a member of the 1967 Southwest Conference Championship Team, passed away last night after a battle with ALS. David's brothers John and Dan indicated that there will be a memorial service, but not for some time. Please keep the Nelson family in your thoughts and prayers.

In brighter news, we are pleased to announce the signing of Lucas Brown to join our team this coming January. Lucas is the top player in Texas, and the #6 ranked player in the country. We are very excited to have him on board, and expect him to have a great career as a Longhorn. The plan is for Lucas to redshirt his first semester, and begin to compete for the team in the fall of 2023. Please click on this press release for more details about Lucas.

Although the fall season of college tournaments is now over, several of our current and former players are in action this week at the Texas Tennis Center, competing in the Drop Shot Series Men's $25k pro tournament. Siem Woldeab and Micah Braswell both beat good players today (with Micah picking up his first ATP singles point) to move on to the second round, which begins at 11 am tomorrow (Thursday). Also still alive in the singles draw are 2019 National Championship Team members Colin Markes and Christian Sigsgaard. Meanwhile in Calgary, Canada, 2022 NCAA Doubles Champion Cleeve Harper is playing in an ATP Challenger this week, and is off to a great start, taking out world # 428 Max Hans Rehberg in his first round match, and also advancing in doubles. Speaking of NCAA Doubles Champions, 2015 NCAA Doubles Champion Lloyd Glasspool is now ranked a career high #14 in the world in doubles, and has qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals beginning next week in Italy. It has been an amazing year for Lloyd!

That's all for now. Will be back in touch soon. Until next time, Hook'em!

Sincerely,
Bruce Berque

 

They really could use another spring signed to play 6 line. That’s always been inconsistent for berque last few years that I wish he would address. Brown signing was known for a while and he’s been teasing us about player/s or impact signing last year, so here’s hoping

 

Just a quick note to let you know that Micah Braswell has reached the final of the Drop Shot Series $25k Men's Professional Tennis Tournament at the Texas Tennis Center. He beat Longhorn Legend Christian Sigsgaard (#1 player on our 2019 NCAA Championship Team) in the Semifinals. Austin's own Colin Markes (#5 player on that same Championship team) also reached the semifinals, after beating #1 seed Bernard Tomic in the quarters.

Micah will play in the final after the doubles championship match, which started at 11 am central. Micah's match is scheduled not before 12 pm central. If you want to watch Micah's match, but can't make it out to the courts, you can click on this live scoring link to south court 5. There will be a live stream, but not likely live scores, but if you turn your volume up you should be able to hear the official calling out the score after each point. Have a great day! Hook'em

link to Micah's championship match

Sincerely,
Bruce Berque

 

Hi UT Tennis Fan,

Yesterday was an exciting day at the Texas Tennis Center, as Micah Braswell won his first professional $25k singles title on his home courts! The Longhorns were represented well, with 3 of the 4 semifinalists. Micah defeated Longhorn Legend Christian Sigsgaard in one semifinal, while Austin's own Colin Markes took out #1 seed Bernard Tomic in the quarterfinals to reach the other semifinal. For more details on Micah's big win, click here. And if you would like to see Micah's post match interview click here.

In other news, 2015 NCAA Doubles Champion, and U.S. Open and French Open Quarterfinalst Lloyd Glasspool continues to make a big splash on the professional doubles tour. Lloyd is currently ranked #14 in the world in doubles, and qualified for the Nitto ATP Tour Finals, as one of the world's top 8 doubles teams. Play has begun with two groups in the round robin stage. After the first round, Lloyd and partner Harri Heliovaara sit in first place with a straight set first round win. To follow Lloyd's progress this week, please click here.

You can count on us staying in touch as news comes up, but I expect a little slow down for the holidays. Until next time, Hook'em!

Sincerely,
Bruce Berque

 

Evan Burnett committed for the 2024 class. He’s not highly ranked and I believe the coaches like his upside. He grew like 4 inches in last year so his game is evolving a bit. He won usta nats in doubles so I see him playing doubles maybe 2nd or 3rd year. If he keeps the trajectory of improvements, he could maybe challenge in the 5-6 line up later in his college career

 

Happy New Year UT Tennis Fan!

I hope you are enjoying the holiday season, and looking forward to a great start to 2023! Speaking of the new year, the dual match season is just around the corner, and our players are definitely looking forward to it! Today we officially announced our new volunteer coach, Sudanwa Sitaram ("Suds"). Suds is no stranger to Texas Men's Tennis, having played for Texas from 2011-2014, serving as team captain during his senior year. He is an experienced developmental coach with an outstanding playing background, and is absolutely passionate about Texas Tennis. Please click on this press release for more details. As previously released, we also have a new player joining us next week. Lucas Brown, from Plano, TX, will be coming on board as a freshman, but will redshirt for the semester. Lucas will begin competing as a Longhorn next Fall, and I fully expect him to be an impact player for us throughout his career!

We will kick off the 2023 season with a tune up tournament in Miami January 6-8. We will compete against Georgia, Miami, and South Carolina in a "dual match style" format, but only individual results will be counted (no team scoring). Then after one week in Austin, we will head back to Florida for the first dual match of the season, vs. University of Florida. Our first home match of the year will be January 20 vs. UTSA, and we will follow that up with a big showdown vs. Georgia on Sunday, January 22. Mark your calendars now and please help us spread the word so we can pack the stands. For our full schedule (which includes home matches vs Georgia, Cal-Berkeley, Pepperdine, Arizona, Texas A&M, NC State, USC, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, and TCU) just click the schedule tab at the top of this e-mail.

Sandwiched in between the UTSA and Georgia matches will be our Texas Men's & Women's Tennis Kick Off Banquet. For all the details please click on the attached flyer and be sure to RSVP to Megan Hoffman (as indicated on the flyer) if you can make it. At the banquet we will recognize last season's accomplishments for both programs, introduce the players and coaches making up this year's teams, and provide an opportunity for our seniors to reflect on their experiences on the 40 acres.

I will be in touch again after the Miami trip with an update, and a preview of our first dual match. Until then, Happy New Year, and Hook'em!

Sincerely,
Bruce Berque

 

Cracked racquets coverage on the mens team


I wonder if the addition recruit BB referred to during the summer might have been Giles but with all the success he had in juniors, def makes sense to aim for pro circuit soon. Otherwise I’m a bit surprised he didn’t recruit anyone to play this coming season considering all the injuries this team has endured. To keep it lean to the top 6 guys. I don’t think chi chi had much good itf or fall results either

 

Hi UT Tennis Fan,
Happy New Year! Our team got things rolling in 2023 with a successful trip to Miami for the final tune up before the dual match season. Most of the guys played one singles and one doubles match each day against players from Georgia, Miami, and South Carolina. Unfortunately, not all of our players were ready to compete, as a few are still trying to get healthy. Eliot Spizzirri was named the singles champion for the week, and Chih Chi Huang and Eshan Talluri picked up the doubles title. Other highlights include Pierre-Yves Bailly returning to match play and picking up a win over the #1 ranked player in the country, and Eshan Talluri picking up a singles win over the #21 ranked player in the country. For more details, please click on the press releases from day 1, day 2, and day 3.

We will head back to Florida this coming weekend for our first dual match of the year, vs University of Florida. I will be back in touch before then with a preview. Our first home match of the year will be vs UTSA on September 20, followed by Georgia on September 22. On Saturday, the 21st we will host the Texas Men's and Women's Tennis Kickoff Banquet. I have attached the invitation to this e-mail. Please RSVP as indicated on the invitation if you plan on attending and have not done that.

Have a great rest of your week, and Hook'em!

Sincerely,
Bruce Berque

 

Previous post said JANUARY, not September

 

Hi UT Tennis Fan,

Greetings from Gainesville, Florida, where we are preparing to open our dual match season tomorrow vs the University of Florida. Here is a detailed preview of tomorrow's match. If you click on the preview, you will see links to both live scoring and video. We will return to Austin after tomorrow's match and begin preparation for our home opening weekend (Friday, January 20 at 4 pm vs UTSA and Sunday, January 22 at 2 pm vs #7 Georgia). On Saturday, January 21 at 6pm we will host the Texas Men's and Women's Tennis Kickoff Banquet. If you would like to attend and have not yet rsvp'd, please follow the directions on the attached invitation. Have a great weekend, and Hook'em!

Sincerely,
Bruce Berque

 

Hi UT Tennis Fan,
Happy MLK Day! I hope your week is off to a great start! Our season got off to a great start yesterday as we defeated University of Florida by the score of 5-2. Please click on this press release for all the details. We will play our first home match this Friday at 4 pm vs UTSA, and then follow that up with a showdown vs #7 Georgia on Sunday at 2pm. Both matches are expected to be played outdoors at the Texas Tennis Center. If you would like to join us for Saturday's Texas Tennis (Men's and Women's) Kick-Off Banquet, and have not yet RSVP'd, please do so by following the directions on the attached invitation. Here is a summary of what is coming up this weekend:

Friday at 4 pm - 1st Home match (vs UTSA)
Saturday at 6 pm - Texas Tennis Kick-Off Banquet
Sunday at 2 pm - Home match vs #7 Georgia

Sincerely,
Bruce Berque

 

Hi again UT Tennis Fan,
I am writing with a reminder that we will play our first home match of the year tomorrow at 4 pm vs UTSA at the Texas Tennis Center. Here is a detailed preview of tomorrow's match. We will be back on the courts on Sunday at 2 pm with another big early season match, this time vs Georgia. We are hoping to pack the stands, so if you are in town we would sure appreciate it if you would come support, and bring all your friends with you. If you cannot make it you will be able to follow via our live scoring and video streams by clicking on the links on the match preview (see above).

In my last e-mail, I told you about our road win over Florida on Sunday. Here is a brief highlight video from the match to give you a taste of the kind of tennis you will see if you come out this weekend! Finally, In news of UT Men's Tennis Alumni, Lloyd Glasspool, currently ranked #12 in the world in doubles, won his first round match at the Australian Open today. Good luck to Lloyd the rest of the way!

Have a great night, and Hook'em!

Sincerely,
Bruce Berque

 

Hi again UT Tennis Fan,
We had a very good win today over Georgia at the Texas Tennis Center, before close to 400 people. For more details, and some pictures from the match, please click on this press release. We have another big home weekend next week, when we take on CAl-Berkeley at 11 am on Saturday in the first round of the ITA Kick-Off. On Sunday, we will play either Florida Atlantic or Arizona. The team that finds a way to win two matches next weekend will qualify for the National Indoors in Chicago in 3 weeks from now. Please mark your calendars now for Saturday at 11 am and Sunday at 12 pm. I'll touch base with you again later in the week with a full preview of the weekend. Have a great night, and Hook'em!

Sincerely,
Bruce Berque

 

Is Micah hurt again?

 

Just a quick note to let you know that, due to the forecast of rain, our ITA Kick-Off first round match vs CAL-Berkeley is now scheduled for tomorrow at 9:30 am, and will be played indoors at the Weller Tennis Center at the UT Golf Club (2516 University Club Drive). Please check our social media accounts and website for further updates throughout the weekend. For a full preview of tomorrow's match, please click on this press release.

Finally, last night our team had the opportunity to visit the cardiac wing of Dell Children's Hospital. Dr. Charles Frazer, a UT Men's Tennis Alumnus, met with us and explained the wonderful work he and his team is doing for children with heart disease. We also visited with patients who have recently had heart surgery and transplants. It was an invaluable experience. Here is the video of the TV coverage of our visit.

Have a great weekend, and hope to see you at the courts tomorrow and Sunday if you are in town.

Sincerely,
Bruce Berque

 

HI UT Tennis Fan,

We had a strong 4-1 win over CAL-Berkeley today in the 1st round of the ITA Kick-Off. Rain forced us inside, but the Weller Tennis Center treated us well! Check out all the details here. Tomorrow we will take on #14 Arizona, with a spot in the National Team Indoors on the line. The match is scheduled for 12:00 pm outdoors at the Texas Tennis Center. Stay tuned to twitter and our website for news of any rain induced delays. We are cautiously optimistic that we will be able to play outside. Rain or shine, this should be a fantastic match, and we truly need all the support we can get, so please plan on coming out and bringing your friends if you are in town. Have a great sleep, and Hook'em!

Sincerely,
Bruce Berque