Eliot Spizzirri announced on Sept. 5 that he will be returning to the Forty Acres for one last season with the Texas men’s tennis team.
The 21-year-old senior from Greenwich, Connecticut has achieved many feats at the college level, finishing 2023 ranked No. 1 in singles and No. 2 in doubles by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association and winning Big 12 Player of the Year. He was ranked as the No. 1 at the end of his junior season and was honored as the 2023 ITA National Player of the Year.
Spizzirri focused on his professional career this summer. In July, he made his ATP Challenger Tour debut at the Cranbrook Tennis Classic in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Then, he competed in the United States Open Tennis Championships in August, making it to the third round of qualifying after earning a wild card. With these appearances, Spizzirri debated whether or not to turn professional.
“I think most of the top college players want to go on and play pro tennis or at least give it a shot,” Spizzirri said.
But among all of these accomplishments in both his college and professional career, he decided that he could not leave Austin without a certain accomplishment under his belt: a national championship.
“I’ve made incredible memories with the team, and we’ve achieved some amazing things on and off the court, but that goal is one that’s still out there for us to reach,” he said.
When signing his commitment to compete in the Texas men’s tennis program in November 2019, he knew that a national championship was “always the goal.”
The Texas men’s tennis team won its first NCAA title against Wake Forest in May 2019. During Spizzirri’s time in the program starting in 2020, the team has come very close to earning its second ever title but has not done so. During the 2023 championship, the Longhorns made it to the semifinals but fell short to University of Virginia Cavaliers, who ended up winning the tournament.
This upcoming season, Spizzirri, along with the rest of the program, have their eyes set on this goal, the goal Spizzirri has wanted to achieve since coming to Austin. With “unfinished business” to take care of, he is ready to get back on the court and go for the NCAA title.
“Ultimately, I decided I couldn’t leave this special group of guys without giving everything I have to winning a national championship,” Spizzirri said.
