May 28, 2010
Athens, Ga. – Georgia Tech’s Guillermo Gomez, the No. 4 overall seed in the NCAA Men’s Tennis Singles Championship, dropped a 6-4, 6-4 decision Friday to Bradley Klahn of Stanford in the round of 16 at the University of Georgia’s Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
Klahn, the nation’s 13th-ranked player, was able to get a service break at 4-4 in each set, then serve out the set. In the first set, Gomez went ahead 40-0 on his serve, but Klahn rallied to win and take the lead. In the second set, he broke Gomez on a double fault for the game.
“He played very fast and had a big forehand,” said Gomez. “He wanted to play very short points. I didn’t play as well as I can play, but felt I was very close through the whole match. I have to give him a lot of credit. He broke me when it was 4-4 in the first set, and I made some mistakes. I just have to draw on that for next year. But it has been a good year for me and for our team.”
The junior from Alicante, Spain, dropped to 3-3 all-time in NCAA Tournament singles competition, but made the farthest advance of his career. After dropping his opening match as a freshman, he made the round of 32 last year before being eliminated.
“I felt the match might have gone a little differently had he been able to win at 4-4 in the first set,” said Tech head coach Kenny Thorne. “But he wasn’t able to close it out. Still, Guillermo has had a tremendous year. He will be an All-American again.”
Gomez finished the year 29-8 in singles play and 16-7 against ranked opponents. His career record now stands at 85-25, and he ranks sixth all-time in singles victories.
In third-round women’s action Friday, Tech’s No. 1 player and the tournament’s top seed, Irina Falconi, defeated Venise Chan of Washington, 6-1, 6-4, and advanced to the quarterfinal round, where she will face Georgia’s Chelsey Gullickson Saturday.
