Oct. 15, 2015
Gainesville, Fla. – All four Georgia Tech players in the qualifying draw of the USTA/ITA Southeast Regional championship advanced Thursday and are within one win each of reaching the main draw, which begins Friday.
USTA/ITA Regional information | Tournament draws and results
SINGLES UPDATE – Senior Casey Kay and sophomore Elijah Melendez each won twice on Thursday. Kay (Atlanta, Ga.) defeated Miami’s Kevin. Bondar and Stetson’s Coilin MacNamara in straight sets, while Melendez (Suwanee, Ga.) also scored straight-set wins over Pierre-Emmanuel Fossier of Stetson and Nile Clark of Miami.
Yun (Marietta, Ga.) and Li (Hong Kong) each had first-round byes before picking up straight-set wins, respectively, over Lucas Vaz of Florida Gulf Coast and David Durham of Kennesaw State.
The final round of qualifying to determine the eight players who move into the main draw will take place at 8 a.m. Friday. Yun will face Florida Atlantic’s Ignacio Jimenez, while Kay meets South Florida’s Everth Dzib, Melendez takes on Florida State’s Terrence Whitehurst and Li plays Georgia State’s Sebastian Acuna.
Sophomore Christopher Eubanks, senior Nathan Rakitt and junior Cole Fiegel begin singles competition in the main draw Friday morning. First-round lineup includes Fiegel vs. Jack Findel-Hawkins of North Florida, Rakitt vs. Loic Blanco of Stetson, Eubanks vs. Terrell Whitehurst of Florida State and Michael Kay vs. Ben Wagland of Georgia.
DOUBLES UPDATE – Rounds of 64 and 32 will take place Friday. Eubanks and Rakitt have a first-round bye, as do Casey and Michael Kay and Fiegel and Melendez. Yun and Li will open against Piotr Lomacki and Max Andrews of Miami.
HEAD COACH Kenny Thorne SAID – “It was a good day for the Jackets. The guys need a good tournament, and we got off to a good start today. Fortunately they were all straight-set matches, which is important for tomorrow, which will be a tough day with two singles rounds and one doubles round scheduled. Time to embrace it.”
THURSDAY’S RESULTS
Qualifying Round of 64
Casey Kay def. Kevin Bondar (Miami), 6-3, 7-6 (4)
Elijah Melendez def. Pierre-Emmanuel Fossier (Stetson), 6-4, 6-1
Qualifying Round of 32
Daniel Yun def. Lucas Vaz (Florida Gulf Coast), 7-5, 6-3
Casey Kay def. Coilin MacNamara (Stetson), 6-4, 7-6 (4)
Elijah Melendez def. Nile Clark (Miami), 7-6, 7-5
Andrew Li def. David Durham (Kennesaw State), 6-1, 6-0
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION – The Southeast Regional is one of 12 regional events taking place around the country this weekend. The site alternates between venues in each state annually. The Southeast regional gathers 64 of the top collegiate men’s players and 64 of the top doubles teams from Georgia and Florida for the five-day event that concludes with finals in both draws Monday morning.
ABOUT GEORGIA TECH MEN’S TENNIS
Georgia Tech’s men’s tennis team is beginning its 18th year under head coach Kenny Thorne. The Yellow Jackets have played in the NCAA Championship 15 times. Connect with Georgia Tech Men’s Tennis on social media by liking their Facebook page, or following on Twitter (@GT_MTEN). For more information on Tech men’s tennis, visit Ramblinwreck.com.
