Men’s Tennis Central: #7 [7] Tennessee vs. #3 [2] Texas

STILLWATER, Okla. – The seventh-seeded Tennessee men’s tennis team is geared up to face No. 2 seed Texas in the NCAA Championships quarterfinals Thursday, May 16 at Greenwood Tennis Center. First serve is slated for 5 p.m. ET (4 p.m. CT).
 
Live stats will be provided and can be found here. CrackedRacquets will be providing coverage on ESPN+ here.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Vols cranked out a gritty 4-3 win over No. 10 Florida State in the Super Regionals, sparked by a comeback in singles play. After dropping the doubles point, Shunsuke Mitsui put UT on the board, routing Loris Pourroy, 6-2, 6-2, on court two. The Seminoles gained a 3-1 advantage with wins on courts six and five. 
 
The Vols began to chip away at Florida State’s lead, starting with top-ranked Johannus Monday’s 6-4, 7-5 victory over No. 4 Antoine Cornut-Chauvinc atop the lineup. Filip Pieczonka cranked out a three-set triumph over Jamie Connel, 6-4, 1-6, 6-2, on court three to tie the score at 3-all.
 
Angel Diaz battled Youcef Rihane at the No. 4 spot, dropping his first set in a tiebreaker 6-7(7), then rebounding to take his second set, 6-4. The two exchanged points in the third set, resulting in a tiebreaker at 6-all. The graduate fought to win 7-5 to send Tennessee to the Elite Eight.
 
SCOUTING TEXAS
Texas (25-3) is on a 16-match winning streak, notching a perfect 7-0 record in conference play. The Longhorns were crowned Big 12 regular season and tournament championships, sweeping TCU, 4-0, in the tournament final on April 21.
 
Second-ranked Eliot Spizzirri holds a 19-3 mark at the No. 1 singles position, tallying a 14-4 record against ranked opponents this season. Micah Braswell, ranked fifth in the nation, is undefeated (17-0) at the No. 2 spot. 
 
In doubles, Spizzirri and his partner, Siem Woldeab, are 8-5 as Texas’ top pair, holding a 5-2 record vs. ranked duos in 2024. Perrier-Yves Bailly and Eshan Talluri are 11-4 at the No. 2 position.
 
VOLS IN THE RANKINGS
Singles
#1 – Johannus Monday
#37 – Shunsuke Mitsui
 
Doubles
#6 – Johannus Monday/Angel Diaz
#77 – Shunsuke Mitsui/Filip Pieczonka
 
LONGHORNS IN THE RANKINGS
Singles
#2 – Eliot Spizzirri
#5 – Micah Braswell
#40 – Gilles-Arnaud Bailly
#56 – Jonah Braswell
#90 – Pierre-Yves Bailly
 
Doubles
#24 – Eliot Spizzirri/Cleeve Harper
#26 – Eliot Spizzirri/Siem Woldeab

VOLS ARE ELITE

UT holds an 8-3 program record in the NCAA Championships quarterfinals round. The last time Tennessee competed…