Nov. 6, 2009
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Georgia Tech’s fifth-ranked Guillermo Gomez knocked off No. 3 Robert Farah of Southern Cal before taking down Wisconsin’s Moritz Baumann, Friday evening, to advance to the semifinals at the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships in New Haven, Conn.
“Today was a successful day for me,” Gomez said. “Both players were very good so it was a great battle. Coach [Thorne] and I had a good game plan going in, and I executed just that. It’s great to make it to the semifinals but I am not content being there. I want to go much further.”
Gomez will face Virginia’s Michael Shabaz Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center on the Yale University campus. Shabaz was a 6-4, 7-6 (6) victor over second-ranked Olekesandr Nedovyesov of Oklahoma State.
It was a rematch of sorts early in the day, as Gomez faced the same Robert Farah that he fell to in the same round just one day short of a year ago in 2008. After dropping the first set 3-6, the Alicante, Spain native rallied to take the second by a 6-1 score. Down 2-3 in the third, Gomez would pull ahead and take the set 6-4 to win the match.
Farah, the third-ranked player in the nation and top player for the defending NCAA Champion USC Trojans, is the highest ranked opponent Gomez has defeated since stepping on the Flats in 2007.
“My match against Farah was very tough since he is a very good player,” Gomez added. “I was very happy to beat him after he knocked me out of the tournament last year. It just shows what a difference a year makes and more importantly how hard we are working at Tech each and every day.”
In the evening, Gomez had to keep digging for the second match of the day. The Tech junior continued his onslaught as he rolled to a 6-4, 6-1 win over Wisconsin’s Moritz Baumann, making him one of four remaining contenders fighting for the national championship.
Gomez improves his overall record to 12-1 on the fall season.
