THE FLATS – The Georgia Tech men’s tennis team lost its opening match of the season 4-0 to Georgia on Saturday evening in front of a packed-out Ken Byers Tennis Complex.
The Bulldogs began the match with doubles victories on Courts 1 and 3 to seal the doubles point.
Freshman Hidde Schoenmakers was making his collegiate dual-match debut and would begin his career on the biggest stage of all, Court 1. Schoenmakers entered the spring as the lone freshman on the squad and the highest ranked Yellow Jacket at #72.
He seized the moment as he traded games with Georgia’s lead player and held the lead at 4-3 before Arda Azkara pulled away in the opening set. The two continued to trade fireworks, Azkara ultimately won the frame to seal the match.
Jonathan Irwanto made his Georgia Tech spring debut and recorded six winning games on the No. 33 player in the nation on Court 3. Gianluca Carlini dropped 6-3, 6-3 to the No. 23 player in the nation.
Elias Shokry returned to dual play following an injury that kept him sidelined all of last spring. He fought for every inch in his first match back and played an epic first-set where he forced a 10-8 set tiebreaker.
Georgia Tech will look to bounce back with two matches on Monday. The Jackets will face Liberty at 11 a.m. before squaring off with Wofford at 4 p.m. Live video and stats will be available on ramblinwreck.com
Georgia 4, Georgia Tech 0
Singles:
- Arda Azkara (UGA) def. #72 Hidde Schoenmakers (GT) 6-4, 6-2
- #23 Will Jansen (UGA) def. Gianluca Carlini (GT) 6-3, 6-3
- Jonathan Irwanto (GT) vs. #33 Santiago Giamichelle (UGA) 3-6, 3-5 (unfinished)
- #100 Noah Johnston (UGA) def. Richard Biagiotti (GT) 6-1, 6-2
- Elias Shokry (GT) vs. #119 Gabriele Vulpitta (UGA) 6-7 (8), 0-0 (unfinished)
- Robert Bauer (GT) vs. Derrick Chen (UGA) 2-6, 3-5 (unfinished)
Doubles:
- Will Jansen/Gabriele Vulpitta (UGA) def. Gianluca Carlini/Hidde Schoenmakers (GT) 6-0
- Richard Biagiotti/Jonathan Irwanto (GT) vs. Arda Azkara/Santiago Giamichelle (UGA) 3-3 (unfinished)
- Derrick Chen/Noah Johnston (UGA) def. Elias Shokry/Robert Bauer (GT) 6-1
Georgia Tech (0-1) | Georgia (1-0)
Order of Finish: Doubles (1, 3); Singles (4, 2, 1)
Full Steam Ahead
Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.
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