Men’s Tennis’ Braswell, Bailly selected for ITA Texas Region Awards – University of Texas Athletics

Austin – Texas Men’s Tennis senior Micah Braswell and freshman Gilles-Arnaud Bailly each earned Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Texas Region awards, the organization announced on Wednesday. Braswell was named the region’s Senior Player of the Year, while Bailly was the Rookie of the Year.

Braswell becomes the second consecutive Longhorn to be chosen as the Texas Region Senior Player of the Year, following Eliot Spizzirri, who qualified as a senior last season. Yuya Ito was also awarded it in 2020. Meanwhile, Bailly is now the fourth Longhorn in the last five years to receive the Rookie of the Year honor, following his brother, Pierre-Yves Bailly in 2022, Braswell in 2021, and Siem Woldeab in 2020.

An ITA All-American in singles this year, Braswell produced one of the most dominant singles seasons in program history this year, amassing a 40-3 overall record that included a perfect 22-0 mark in dual matches at No. 2, and a 37-match winning streak, while securing 17 top-50 wins. He finished No. 3 in the final singles rankings, and during one of the two weeks (Feb. 7) when Spizzirri was not No. 1, it was Braswell in that spot for the first time in his career. Outside of that, he held the No. 2 spot during most of the spring season. 

Braswell won the singles title at the ITA National Fall Championships to combine with Spizzirri for a Texas sweep of the fall majors for just the second time in program history and the first time by two different players. It also marked just the fourth time different players from the same school combined to win the two titles. That came on the heels of Braswell also winning the ITA Texas Regionals title. Braswell concluded his UT career with 119 singles wins, which is third all-time in school history, trailing Paul Koscielski by just one for second place, and Jack Brasington by just two for first. His .778 winning percentage is No. 6 in program history.

The Big 12 Freshman of the Year, Gilles-Arnaud Bailly arrived at Texas in January and vaulted to a 20-3 overall singles record and 20-2 in dual matches in his early career, with 17 of those decisions at No. 3 and five of them at No. 2. He is 7-1 against ranked opponents this year He entered the ITA singles rankings himself for the first time on March 5 at No. 48, has been as high as No. 31 and finished No. 44 despite not having played in the fall. He tied for the team lead with six overall clinches this year with Braswell and Spizzirri, two of which came against TCU when they were No. 2 and No. 3, and three in the NCAA Tournament against No. 25 UCLA, No. 17 Texas A&M, and No. 6 Wake Forest. Bailly played most of his doubles matches with Braswell, with the duo compiling a 7-2 record with three wins in their last four contests together, and he played twice with his brother, Pierre-Yves Bailly, with one win and one unfinished. 

This season, Braswell and Bailly helped Texas to an NCAA National Runner-Up finish, the Big 12 regular season and tournament championships, and a 27-4 record. The 27 wins were the second-most in a season for the program since 2010, while reaching the fourth Final Four in the last five years.