May 20, 2009
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Georgia Tech sophomore Guillermo Gomez picked up a 6-4, 6-2 win over Alabama’s Syketh Myneni to advance to the round of 32 Wednesday evening at the NCAA Singles Championships in College Station, Texas.
“Guillermo has been waiting awhile to play so his emotions were very high at the start of the match,” head coach Kenny Thorne said. “As play went on he began to settle down and started to play his game. Myneni is a very tough player and he doesn’t let players get into a rhythm all too often.
Eleventh-ranked Gomez improved his record to 29-9 on the season while picking up his 10th victory over a ranked opponent this year. He becomes the first Tech men’s player to reach the second round since Jose Muguruza advanced in 2005.
In his first match in over a month, Gomez took on No. 21 Mynenini on court six to begin play an hour and a half behind schedule. Tied at four games a piece in the first set, Gomez rattled off two-straight to take the first set. The Alicante, Spain native would then jump out to a 3-0 lead in the second before holding on for the 6-4, 6-2 victory.
“Having not played in a couple of weeks and battling through some injuries in the process made things a little tough at first,” Gomez said. “I just fought hard and kept getting better as the match went on. There is always a lot of tension in the first match of the tournament so it is very important to settle down and get the win. I will get better and gain more confidence as the tournament progresses.”
Gomez will face Southern Cal freshman Steve Johnson in the round of 32 on Thursday at 12:30 p.m. Johnson, who plays No. 2 singles for the 2009 NCAA Champion Trojans, defeated Ole Miss junior Kalle Norberg 6-3, 7-6 (2).
Live results are available on the official NCAA Championships website and can be accessed by clicking here: http://www.aggieathletics.com/ncaa2009/tennis/stats.html
