Oct. 1, 2009
ATLANTA – Hoping to make up for lost matches at the season-opening Southern Intercollegiate two weeks ago, Georgia Tech’s men’s tennis team will host the Georgia Tech Fall Invitational this weekend at the Bill Moore Tennis Center.
Admission is free to the three-day event, which begins Saturday at 8 a.m. with two divisions of doubles play, followed by two divisions of singles beginning at 9 a.m., and concludes Monday with championship matches in each division.
Twelve teams are sending players to this weekend’s event, including Armstrong Atlantic State, Auburn, Clemson, Furman, Georgia, Georgia State, Lipscomb, UNC-Wilmington, South Alabama, Tennessee and Virginia Tech.
Georgia Tech players entered in the draw are senior Austin Roebuck, juniors Doug Kenny, Miguel Muguruza and Ryan Smith, sophomore Dusan Miljevic and freshman Magin Ortiga. Sophomore Kevin King will sit out with tendonitis in his shoulder, and freshman Juan Spir, recovering from spring shoulder surgery, is questionable.
“It is wide open and a good opportunity for all six of our guys,” said head coach Kenny Thorne. “The competition is stronger this year, which allows us to see exactly where we are. Many of the players that have done well in this tournament seem to go on and play well for their team. I am excited to see who breaks out in singles and doubles for us.”
Tech’s top players will not be in the Fall Invitational – All-American Guillermo Gomez and juniors Dean O’Brien and Eliot Potvin are competing in the D’Novo/ITA All-American Championships, which begins Saturday in Tulsa, Okla. Gomez, a junior from Alicante, Spain and the nation’s 5th-ranked player, is entered in the main draw, while O’Brien, from Benmore, South Africa, and Potvin, from Hampden, Maine, will go through a qualifying draw.
“Eliot will play on Saturday to start the tournament off. He played well in Athens last week and needs to continue to do so to do well in Tulsa,” said Thorne. “The All-American tournament will have all the top players in college, so there won’t be any easy rounds. It’s a good opportunity for Eliot, Dean and Guillermo to challenge themselves against the best in college. I know they are excited and ready to play. Dean and Guillermo will get a chance to play doubles out there as well. We need to get some doubles matches in so that is a good challenging place to start.”
Due to weather problems at the SIC two weeks ago, Thorne was able to see only two of his doubles teams in action, and only one of those, Roebuck and Potvin, played more than one match.
In the singles draws, Gomez won five matches (one was a walk-over) and reached the finals before rain washed out the championship match, and Potvin won twice and reached the round of 16 in the top division. O’Brien, ranked No. 82 in the nation, went 1-1.
In the second division, Miljevic won three matches and reached the round of 16 before rain washed out the remaining competition. Muguruza and Roebuck each reached the round of 16 before losing. Kenny, Smith and Ortiga each lost in the first round.
