Feb. 16, 2013
THE FLATS – Georgia Tech won the doubles point for the sixth time in eight matches this spring, and the Yellow Jackets went on to sweep all six singles matches in straight sets to roll past winless Mercer, 7-0, and complete a double-header sweep of matches Saturday at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex.
The 65th-ranked Yellow Jackets, who had defeated No. 62 North Florida, 6-1, earlier in the day, evened their spring record at 4-4, while the Bears of the Atlantic Sun Conference fell to 0-7.
“Happy that our twos and threes came through for us early today in doubles, that got us off on the right track against a very good team,” said Tech head coach Kenny Thorne. “Juan Spir came back and played his game today. It’s always good to have your seniors play solidly. We need that, and we got excellent play from Vikram and Anish. Eddie gave us two solid matches at No. 5, and we were looking for some consistency from him.”
The Yellow Jackets got off to a quick start, breezing to the doubles point with three straight victories. The nation’s third-ranked doubles team of Juan Spir and Vikram Hundal returned to form after losing earlier in the day to North Florida. Spir/Hundal won 8-4 over Mercer’s freshmen twins Arnav and Arsav Mohanty.
Tech’s Nathan Rakitt and Juan Melian secured the doubles point with an 8-5 victory over Peter Tauchner and Joao Pagan. Colin Edwards and Eduardo Segura made it a clean sweep, 8-6, against Austin Emmet and Anderson Scarpa.
Rakitt, a freshman from Marietta, Ga., who had lost the only point for Tech in its earlier match Saturday against North Florida, rebounded to defeat Joao Pagan at No. 4 singles, winning 6-0, 6-2, for the Yellow Jackets’ second point. Eduardo Segura disposed of Peter Tauchner at No. 5, 6-2, 6-3, to make it 3-0 in favor of the Yellow Jackets.
Vikram Hundal clinched the match for Tech with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Arsav Mohanty, and Juan Spir and Juan Melian completed straight-set victories within seconds of each other at No. 1 and 2, respectively, within minutes after that. Spir defeated Arnav Mohanty, 6-4, 6-1, and Melian rolled past Anderson Scarpa, 6-3, 6-1.
Freshman Anish Sharma finished off the Bears with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Austin Emmet at No. 6.
#65 Georgia Tech 7, Mercer 0
Feb 16, 2013 at Atlanta, Ga.
(Ken Byers Tennis Complex)
Singles competition
1. #32 Juan Spir (GT) def. Arnav Mohanty (MER) 6-4, 6-1
2. Juan Melian (GT) def. Anderson Scarpa (MER) 6-3, 6-1
3. Vikram Hundal (GT) def. Arsav Mohanty (MER) 6-1, 6-1
4. Nathan Rakitt (GT) def. Joao Pagan (MER) 6-0, 6-2
5. Eduardo Segura (GT) def. Peter Tauchner (MER) 6-2, 6-3
6. Anish Sharma (GT) def. Austin Emmet (MER) 6-4, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. #3 Juan Spir/Vikram Hundal (GT) def. Arnav Mohanty/Arsav Mohanty (MER) 8-4
2. Nathan Rakitt/Juan Melian (GT) def. Peter Tauchner/Joao Pagan (MER) 8-5
3. Colin Edwards/Eduardo Segura (GT) def. Austin Emmet/Anderson Scarpa (MER) 8-6
Match Notes:
Mercer 0-7; Georgia Tech 3-4 (National ranking #65)
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (4,5,3,1,2,6)
Match played indoors
T-2:35
