Oct. 13, 2017
Qualifying Round Bracket | 2017 ITA Southeast Regional Championship Central
THE FLATS – Georgia Tech men’s tennis junior Phillip Gresk and freshman Brandon Freestone had fine performances, each recording wins in the first day of the ITA Southeast Regional Presented by Oracle on Friday afternoon.
Gresk went 2-0 on the day, first downing Kennesaw State’s Andrew Lahey in straight sets, 6-3, 6-0 to begin his run. The junior would then go on to battle Stetson’s fourth-seeded player in qualifiers, Malik Bhatnagar, who was coming off of a first-round bye.
Despite trailing 5-4 in the first set, Gresk stayed strong and prevailed with a tide-changing 7-5 victory in the first. Riding the momentum, he made quicker work of Bhatnagar in the second set, winning 6-3 to advance to the second day with a chance to play in the main draw still on the line.
Freestone began the tournament against Miami’s Pablo Aycart. After a tepid start, the freshman found his footing and held firm the entire match to take his first victory as a Yellow Jacket in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3.
The Roswell native’s second-round matchup featured Georgia State’s seventh-seeded player, Giles Hussey. Freestone and Hussey battled in a thrilling first set that went to tiebreaker. Unfortunately, Freestone would fall in the backbreaking first, 7-6(6) before dropping the second set, 6-0.
The regional continues at the Byers Tennis Complex on Saturday, Oct. 14, beginning at 8:30 a.m. Qualifying singles play will conclude in the morning, followed directly by main draw singles action. Main draw doubles will also begin on Saturday.
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