May 26, 2010
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ATHENS, Ga. – Georgia Tech’s Guillermo Gomez, the No. 4 overall seed in the NCAA Men’s Tennis Singles Championship, survived a first-round scare from Wisconsin’s Moritz Baumann, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, at the University of Georgia’s Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
With the score tied 4-4 in the third set, Gomez held serve then finally broke 22nd-ranked Baumann, beating the Badger standout for the third time in his career.
“It was very close until the last game,” said Gomez, who is appearing in the NCAA Singles Championship for the third straight year. “The first match is always the most difficult one.”
Gomez will play Alabama’s Saketh Myneni in the second round of the 64-player tournament at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday. Myneni defeated Radford’s Ivan Salec 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 on Wednesday.
“He didn’t play his very best tennis, but he hung in there and battled,” Yellow Jacket head coach Kenny Thorne said.
Gomez improved to 2-2 all-time in NCAA Tournament singles competition, winning his first-round match for the second straight year. He also improved to 3-0 all-time against Baumann, whom Gomez beat most recently in November.
Gomez pointed out two factors that may have helped him on Thursday – the support from a contingent of Yellow Jacket fans, and temperatures that reached just under 90 degrees.
“The support here today really helped me a lot. I had a couple of my Spanish friends here and that was very helpful for me,” said Gomez, an Alicante, Spain native.
“And where I’m from, it’s hot, too. So that helped as well.”
Gomez improved to 28-7 in singles play this year and 15-6 against ranked opponents. His career record now stands at 84-24.
