Sept. 26, 2014
THE FLATS – Freshman Michael Kay and Christopher Eubanks teamed up for an easy doubles victory, and each of them advanced in singles Friday in the opening round of the Georgia Tech Invitational at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex.
In the A (White) draw, Kay (Atlanta, Ga.), score an easy 6-1, 6-1 win over Furman’s Luke Synn, while Eubanks (Atlanta, Ga.), moved on after opponent Matt Browne of Furman fell ill as the Yellow Jackets went 2-2 in singles. Daniel Yun (Marietta, Ga.) won his first set against Jacob Behal of Furman, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, while Elijah Melendez (Suwanee, Ga.) lost 7-6, 6-4 to UAB’s Mitch Martell in the B (Gold) draw.
“Michael and Chris competed extremely well in their doubles match and executed a lot of the things we worked on this week. Michael was very solid in singles as well,” said Tech coach Kenny Thorne. “Daniel was good, but had a lot of unforced errors in his match. He and Elijah just need to continue to play matches.”
Kay takes on Eduardo Alfonzo of Florida Gulf Coast Saturday, while Eubanks plays Auburn’s Petar Tomic in the quarterfinal round. Both matches are scheduled for 10 a.m. At 12 noon in the West (loser’s) bracket), Yun faces Valentin Horvat of Georgia State, and Melendez meets Manuel Castellanos of Kennesaw State.
Later in the day, Kay and Eubanks made quick work of Furman’s Ryan Massinople and Ben Horst, 8-3, as the Jackets split their doubles contests Friday. They move on to face Auburn’s Dante Saleh and Petar Tomic in the semi-finals of the A (White) division Saturday. Melendez and Yun lost, 8-5, to Georgia State’s Eric Baum and Joseph Bishop and have a back draw match Saturday against Behal and Stefan Rhodes of Furman. All doubles matches Saturday begin at 9 a.m.
Two rounds of singles are scheduled for all players Saturday, beginning at 10 a.m. The Georgia Tech Invitational uses a compass draw to give each player an opportunity to play four matches. The Tech tournament has 48 players divided into three singles draws (White, Gold and Buzz) and three doubles draws (White, Gold and Buzz).
At the end of each round, the winners will continue in their draw in the same direction, while the losers move to other points on the compass to form a new satellite tournament (see link to draws above).
At end of round 1 – winners go East, losers go West. At end of round 3 – East losers go Northeast, North losers go Northwest, West losers ho Southwest, South losers go Southeast
At end of round 4 – losers are out of the tournament, winners play finals in each draw
Saturday, Sept. 27
9 a.m. – Doubles matches
10 a.m. – Singles matches
Sunday, Sept. 28
9 a.m. – Doubles matches
10 a.m. – Singles matches
About Georgia Tech Men’s Tennis
Georgia Tech’s men’s tennis team is in its 17th year under head coach Kenny Thorne. The Yellow Jackets have played in the NCAA Championship 14 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.
