Eliot Spizzirri

Last updated
Eliot Spizzirri
Eliot Spizzirri (2023 Cary) 04.jpg
Spizzirri at the 2023 Cary Challenger
Country (sports)Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Born (2001-12-23) December 23, 2001 (age 23)
Stamford, Connecticut, United States
Height1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
College University of Texas
CoachThomas Blake, Patrick Hirscht [1]
Prize moneyUS $416,824
Singles
Career record2–4
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 127 (April 7, 2025)
Current rankingNo. 127 (April 7, 2025)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open Q2 (2025)
US Open 1R (2024)
Doubles
Career record0–3
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 179 (April 7, 2025)
Current rankingNo. 179 (April 7, 2025)
Grand Slam doubles results
US Open 1R (2021, 2023)
Last updated on: March 3, 2025.

Eliot Spizzirri (born December 23, 2001) is an American tennis player. Spizzirri has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 127 and a doubles ranking of No. 179, both achieved on April 7, 2025.

Contents

Junior career

Spizzirri achieved a career-high ITF Junior Ranking of No. 20 on 9 September 2019. [2]

He played singles and doubles in all four 2019 junior grand slam events. Spizzirri reached the doubles round of 16 in all four junior grand slams and the singles round of 32 at the Australian Open. [3]

During his ITF junior career, Spizzirri secured five other ITF doubles titles and two singles titles from 2016 to 2018. [4]

In 2017, Spizzirri won the 16s doubles title at the USTA Easter Bowl with Spencer Whitaker [5]

On November 18, 2018, Spizzirri won an ITF title in doubles at the Campeche, Mexico Grade 1 tournament. [6]

College career

He played college tennis at the University of Texas, where in 2023 and 2024 he was the ITA National Player of the Year, one of only four college tennis players to finish as the top-ranked singles player twice since the ITA rankings began in 1981. [7] In 2023, he was also the ITA Senior Player of the Year. [8] Both years his ranking qualified him for the Accelerator Programme, an ATP/ITA collaboration to accelerate the professional development pathway for players in the American Collegiate system. [9]

In both 2023 and 2024, Spizzirri was named to the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-American Men's Tennis Team, earning first-team honors both years and in 2024, he was named the Team Member of the Year, the organization's top honor for men's tennis. [10] He finished the 2023 season as the No. 2 ITA Collegiate Doubles player with partner Cleeve Harper. [11]

In October 2023, Spizzirri captured the singles title at the ITA Men's All-American Championships, becoming the third player from Texas to do so. [12]

Spizzirri was a four-time ITA All-American in doubles and a three-time ITA All-American in singles. [13] In the Big 12, he was a two-time Player of the Year, the first player in Texas history to win the award twice. The 2024 season was the fourth straight Spizzirri earned All-Big 12 recognition, having been on the first team in both singles and doubles in 2023, the second team in both in 2022 when he played through injury, and the first team in both in 2021. [14] He set two Big 12 Player of the Week Award records, achieving the honor 5 times during a season, which he has done twice, and 11 times during his career. [15]

He was the No.1 national tennis recruit in 2019. [16]

Professional career

2021-2023: Grand Slam debut in doubles

In 2021, Spizzirri won the singles ITF Futures title in Decatur, Illinois and captured the doubles ITF Futures title in Champaign, Illinois, with Ben Shelton [17]

Spizzirri received a wildcard into the singles qualifying round of the 2021 US Open, where he defeated world No. 163 Alejandro Tabilo 5–7, 7–6, 6–3 in the first round. He also received a wildcard into the doubles main draw that year with Tyler Zink, where they lost in the first round. [18] [19]

Spizzirri competed in the ATP 2023 Lexington Challenger, winning the doubles championship with Tyler Zink with a defeat over George Goldhoff and Vasil Kirkov, and also reached the second round in singles. [20]

He also received a wildcard into the singles qualifying round of the 2023 US Open, [19] where he defeated No. 167 Matteo Gigante 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-1 in the first round, No. 122 Aleksandar Kovacevic in the second round before he had to retire in the third set of the final round due to heat exhaustion in his match against No. 154 Emilio Nava. That year he also received a wildcard into the doubles main draw again with Tyler Zink, [19] where they lost to French duo Adrian Mannarino (No. 35) and Arthur Rinderknech (No. 73).

2024: First ATP win, Grand Slam and top 250 debuts

Spizzirri received a wildcard into the singles qualifying round of the 2024 Miami Open but lost to JJ Wolf in the first round.

Spizzirri won two ITF World Tennis titles, capturing the M25 Tulsa, USA in June [21] and the M25 Laval, Canada in July. [22] He also reached the finals of the M25 Wichita, USA, in June, losing to former Texas teammate Micah Braswell, as well as the double final with Cleeve Harper. [23]

He recorded his first main draw ATP Tour win at the 2024 Hall of Fame Open over Li Tu as a wildcard. [24]

Ranked No. 343, he made his singles Grand Slam debut at the 2024 US Open after qualifying for the main draw. [25] Two months later, he made his top 250 debut on 14 October 2024, following his first ATP Challenger final in Tiburon. [1]

2025: First Challenger title, top 150

Spizirri won his first ATP Challenger Tour title at the 2025 San Diego Open and reached a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 144 on 3 March 2025. At the same tournament he also won the doubles title partnering again with compatriot Tyler Zink. [26]

Personal life

Spizzirri's twin brother, Nick, is a first-team All-American [27] squash player at the University of Pennsylvania who finished 11th at the 2019 World Junior Squash Championships. [28] In 2024, he was part of the US team that competed in the World Team Squash Championships held in Hong Kong, finishing 13th out of 32 teams. [29]

ATP Challenger and ITF World Tennis Tour finals

Singles: 7 (4 titles, 3 runner-ups)

Legend
ATP Challenger Tour (1–2)
ITF WTT (3–1)
Finals by surface
Hard (4–3)
Clay (0–0)
ResultW–L   Date   TournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScore
Loss0–1 Sep 2024 Tiburon Challenger, USAChallengerHard Flag of the United States.svg Nishesh Basavareddy 1–6, 1–6
Loss0–2 Jan 2025 Cleveland Open, USAChallengerHard (i) Flag of the United States.svg Colton Smith 4–6, 7–6(8–6), 3–6
Win1–2 Feb 2025 San Diego Open, USAChallengerHard Flag of the United States.svg Mackenzie McDonald 6–4, 2–6, 6–4
ResultW–L   Date   TournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScore
Win1–0Aug 2021M25 Decatur, USAWTTHard Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Aidan McHugh 6–2, 7–5
Loss1–1Jun 2024M25 Wichita, USAWTTHard Flag of the United States.svg Micah Braswell4–6, 3–6
Win2–1Jun 2024M25 Tulsa, USAWTTHard Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bernard Tomic 6–4, 3–6, 7–6(7–3)
Win3–1Jul 2024M25 Laval, CanadaWTTHard Flag of the United States.svg Karl Poling6–4, 6–3

Doubles: 8 (5 titles, 3 runner-ups)

Legend
ATP Challenger Tour (3–2)
ITF WTT (2–1)
Finals by surface
Hard (5–3)
Clay (0–0)
ResultW–L   Date   TournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Win1–0 Jul 2023 Lexington Challenger, USAChallengerHard Flag of the United States.svg Tyler Zink Flag of the United States.svg George Goldhoff
Flag of the United States.svg Vasil Kirkov
4–6, 6–3, [10–8]
Loss1–1 Sep 2024 Tiburon Challenger, USAChallengerHard Flag of the United States.svg Patrick Kypson Flag of Australia (converted).svg Luke Saville
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Tristan Schoolkate
4–6, 2–6
Loss1–2 Nov 2024 Knoxville Challenger, USAChallengerHard (i) Flag of the United States.svg Micah Braswell Flag of Australia (converted).svg Patrick Harper
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Johannus Monday
2–6, 2–6
Win2–2 Jan 2025 Canberra Tennis International, AustraliaChallengerHard Flag of the United States.svg Ryan Seggerman Flag of France.svg Pierre-Hugues Herbert
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Jérôme Kym
1–6, 7–5, [10–5]
Win3–2 Feb 2025 San Diego Open, USAChallengerHard Flag of the United States.svg Tyler Zink Flag of Venezuela.svg Juan José Bianchi
Flag of the United States.svg Noah Zamora
6–7(3–7), 7–6(7–4), [10–8]
ResultW–L   Date   TournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Win1–0Nov 2019M15 Austin, USAWTTHard Flag of the United States.svg Tyler Zink Flag of the United States.svg Ian Dempster
Flag of the United States.svg Justin Butsch
4–6, 6–3, [10–7]
Win2–0Jul 2021M25 Champaign, USAWTTHard Flag of the United States.svg Ben Shelton Flag of South Korea.svg Chung Yun-seong
Flag of Japan.svg Rio Noguchi
6–4, 6–0
Loss2–1Jun 2024M25 Wichita, USAWTTHard Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Cleeve Harper Flag of the United States.svg Pranav Kumar
Flag of the United States.svg Joshua Sheehy
7–6(7–4), 3–6, [8–10]

Junior Grand Slam finals

Doubles: 1 (1 title)

ResultYearTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Win 2019 US Open Hard Flag of the United States.svg Tyler Zink Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Andrew Paulson
Flag of Belarus.svg Alexander Zgirovsky
7–6(7–4), 6–4

References

  1. 1 2 "Spizzirri's 'little moment' that led to big dreams". 23 October 2024.
  2. "Eliot Spizzirri Juniors Singles Overview".
  3. "2022-2023 Men's Tennis Roster".
  4. "2022-2023 Men's Tennis Roster".
  5. "Past Champions - Easter Bowl champions since 1968".
  6. "COPA MUNDIAL CAMPECHE FMT".
  7. "ITA National Player of the Year".
  8. "2023 Division 1 Men's Tennis National Awards".
  9. "ATP and ITA Unite to Accelerate Professional Development for US Collegiate Players".
  10. "2023-24 Academic All-America® Men's Tennis teams announced for all NCAA and NAIA divisions".
  11. "ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings sponsored by Tennis-Point".
  12. "2023 ITA Men's All-American Championships".
  13. "Three from Men's Tennis earn ITA All-America honors".
  14. "No. 3 Men's Tennis sweeps Big 12 postseason awards".
  15. "Spizzirri named Big 12 Men's Tennis Player of the Week".
  16. "Player record Eliot Spizzirri".
  17. "2022-2023 Men's Tennis Roster".
  18. "Spizzirri earns doubles main draw wild card at U.S. Open". 27 August 2021.
  19. 1 2 3 "Spizzirri earns singles qualifying wild card for U.S. Open". 16 August 2023.
  20. "Tyler Zink and Elliott Spizziri claimed the US Open Boys Doubles title in 2019. Last night they repeated as Lexington Challenger champs. Well done!!". 6 August 2023.
  21. "M25 Tulsa".
  22. "M25 Laval".
  23. "M25 Wichita".
  24. "Former College stars Quinn, Spizzirri win in Newport". 16 July 2024.
  25. "Spizzirri recovers from missed match points, qualifies for US Open main draw". ATPTour. 22 August 2024.
  26. "Former college No. 1 Spizzirri wins first Challenger title; Coric returns to winner's circle". 3 March 2025.
  27. "Five Named College Squash All-America; Taha, Kueh, and Spizzirri Named to First Team".
  28. "2022-2023 Men's Squash Roster".
  29. "US Squash Announces 2024 World Team Championships Squad".