Oct. 19, 2015
Gainesville, Fla. – Georgia Tech’s Casey and Michael Kay downed two ranked doubles teams in the USTA/ITA Southeast Regional this weekend but couldn’t add a third such win in Monday’s semifinals.
The Kays were stopped Monday by the 50th-ranked team of Jack Findel-Hawkins and Yannick Zuern of South Florida, 6-4, 7-6 (5), ending their finest performance as a team to date. They were the only unranked doubles team among the final four in the draw, having defeated the seventh-ranked duo of Benjamin Lock and Marco Nunez of Florida State in the round of 32, and the 20th-ranked team of Julian Roberts and Roberto Cid of South Florida in the quarterfinals.
“We played well but not well enough,” said Tech coach Kenny Thorne. “We got broken in the first game of the match on a well-played game, but they came out swinging. They served well the rest of the set, and we couldn’t break back. The momentum starting leaning in our favor in the second set, but we still couldn’t break. We lost serve at 5-5 and then broke back when they served for the match. The tiebreaker came down to hitting the tape on a ball after a great long point when up 5-4. Overall, we didn’t serve quite as well as the previous couple of days, and that put us in more tough situations. But it was well played from both sides. It was a great run for the Kays, winning the GT Invite and then making semis here. This was their first loss of the season.”
They have a 6-1 record this fall, including the championship of the Georgia Tech Fall Invitational.
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION — The Southeast Regional was one of 12 regional events taking place around the country this weekend. The site alternates between venues in each state annually. The Southeast regional gathered 64 of the top collegiate men’s players and 64 of the top doubles teams from Georgia and Florida for the five-day event that concluded with finals in both draws Monday morning. It was the Kays’ first loss of the fall after six straight wins, including the championship of the Georgia Tech Fall Invitational. The USF team went on to lose to Florida’s Diego Hidalgo and Gordon Watson in the championship match.
ABOUT GEORGIA TECH MEN’S TENNIS
Georgia Tech’s men’s tennis team is beginning 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.
