The 2023 ITA Men’s All-American Main Draw Semifinals took place on Saturday at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
In Singles, it would be top seed [1] Eliot Spizzirri (Texas) taking on Ozan Baris (Michigan State) at the top of the draw while [3] Murphy Cassone (Arizona State) faced off against Gavin Young (Michigan) in the bottom half.
Baris and Cassone would win their first sets, but it would be Murphy Cassone to go on to win in straights as he defeated Young 6-4 6-2.
Top seeded Spizzirri would take the match to a third set after a 3-6 6-1 scoreline. It would ultimately be Eliot taking the match over the finish line as he fended off Baris with a 6-4 final set score. Tomorrow’s Final will be the second ITA Men’s All-American Singles Championship played between the Arizona State and Texas programs, with Arizona State’s Sargis Sargsian defeating Chad Clark (Texas) in the 1994 tournament.
Spizzirri, also partnered with Cleeve Harper (Texas), would find trouble yet again as the top seeded pair would need another third set to decide their semifinal matchup, this time against Hunter Heck / Karlis Ozolins (Illinois). With the match set at 6-2 3-6, Spizzirri and Harper would take over to a 10-4 super tiebreak win, and book The Longhorns their first ever trip to the ITA Men’s All-American Doubles Championship.
On the other half of the draw, Ohio State’s Robert Cash and JJ Tracy faced off against James Hopper and Inaki Montes of Virginia. Ohio State would come out with a strong 6-1 opening set and take that momentum into a 6-1 6-3 final scoreline. This will be the third time in five years that Ohio State will be represented in the Championship of the ITA Men’s All-American Doubles Draw.
Be sure to follow along on all of our socials for updates and on Cracked Racquets for live streaming and coverage of tomorrow’s Championship Sunday.
Links to Streaming for Championship Day:
- Sunday, October 8th (Championships): https://www.youtube.com/live/HJRkvWRhWvU?si=RGaffSop4OeOnx1R
Links to Draws:
Link to Photo Gallery:
