Jan. 16, 2016
THE FLATS – The Georgia Tech men’s tennis team faced competitors from Oklahoma, the No. 2 team in the country. The matches were part of second day of the MLK Invitational, which is hosted by Georgia Tech at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex. The event is a round robin with no team scores or winners. Ole Miss and Georgia faced off earlier in the day.
The Jackets were able to take two of the six singles matches and one of the three doubles matches. Both of the doubles losses were decided by tiebreakers.
“I’ve told the guys all season long – doubles are going to come down to tiebreakers,” head coach Kenny Thorne said. “It just will, and it’s not any surprise. You just have to be comfortable in the moment. They played more solid and came up with the serves. I think we pressed a little bit and tried to do a little more than we had to in the doubles. But we still played some pretty solid doubles.”
Chris Eubanks was impressive yet again in singles, defeating Oklahoma’s Axel Alvarez Llamas by a score of 6-4, 7-5. Llamas is the No. 60 player in the country and defeated Eubanks twice last season.
“Managing your head after losing to somebody a couple of times – he did a great job of that,” Thorne said of Eubanks.
Singles competition
GT vs Oklahoma
Spencer Papa (Oklahoma) def. Nathan Rakitt (Georgia Tech) 6-1, 5-7, 6-1
#6 Christopher Eubanks (Georgia Tech) def. #60 Axel Alvarez Llamas (Oklahoma) 6-4, 7-5
Florin Bragusi (Oklahoma) def. Cole Fiegel (Georgia Tech) 6-3, 3-6, 6-0
#92 Alex Ghilea (Oklahoma) def. Carlos Benito (Georgia Tech) 6-4, 2-6, 6-1
Andre Biro (Oklahoma) def. Daniel Yun (Georgia Tech) 6-0, 7-5
Casey Kay (Georgia Tech) def. John Milstead (Oklahoma) 7-6, 6-3
Doubles Competiton
GT vs Oklahoma
Alex Ghilea/Andre Biro (Oklahoma) def. Casey Kay/Cole Fiegel (Georgia Tech) 7-6 (8-6)
Axel Alvarez Llamas/Spencer Papa (Oklahoma) def. Christopher Eubanks/Nathan Rakitt (Georgia Tech) 7-6 (7-3)
Carlos Benito/Andrew Li (Georgia Tech) def. Florin Bragusi/John Milstead (Oklahoma) 6-3
ABOUT GEORGIA TECH MEN’S TENNIS
Georgia Tech’s men’s tennis team is in its 18th year under head coach Kenny Thorne. The Yellow Jackets have played in the NCAA Championship 15 times. Connect with Georgia Tech Men’s Tennis on social media by liking their Facebook page, or following on Twitter (@GT_MTEN). For more information on Tech men’s tennis, visit Ramblinwreck.com.
