411OnTheForty: Payton Holden reaches flight final in ITA Texas Regional Championships

WACO, Texas — Senior Payton Holden reached the final of his singles flight and two of the Horns’ doubles teams won their finals for the Texas men’s tennis team in the ITA Texas Regional Championships Sunday in Waco.

Play stopped before Holden’s singles final could be contested. The senior, who was the No. 2 seed, took down Daichi Akiyoshi of UT-Arlington in the quarterfinals, 7-5, 6-2, and then No. 8 seed Kacper Dworak of Louisana in the semifinals, 6-2, 6-4.

Holden paired with Siem Woldeab in doubles action capture the North Final in the Red Draw Doubles in the first of UT’s two victories in doubles play, as freshman Micah Braswell and sophomore Jacob Bullard combined for a dominant win over their fellow Longhorn teammates, Leighton Allen and Nevin Arimilli, 8-3, in the East Final of the Blue Draw Doubles.

Texas will get a two-week break from competition before hitting the courts in Fort Worth for the second time this fall. The Horns will compete at the Big 6 Fall Invitational from November 6-8. The “Big 6” is derived from the “Big 12” and includes the six Big 12 schools competing in men’s tennis; Baylor, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas and Texas Tech.