Oct. 16, 2008
Georgia Tech sophomores Doug Kenny and Ryan Smith each earned a bid into the main draw of the ITA Mideast Regional Championships with a pair of wins in Chapel Hill, N.C. Thursday.
“I am proud of the way Ryan and Doug played today,” head coach Kenny Thorne said. “With the high-level of talent in this tournament, having six players in the main draw is what we were hoping for.”
Kenny and Smith easily handled their first-round opponents, Kenny defeating Rob Lowe in straight-sets, 7-6, 6-3, and Smith dropping Liberty’s Clay Clypert, 7-5, 6-4.
Junior Austin Roebuck and freshman Dusan Miljevic didn’t fare as well in their opening matches, as Roebuck fell to UNC’s Zach Hunter 6-4, 6-2, and Miljevic to Elon’s Alberto Rojas 7-6, 6-2.
Smith drew tougher competition in the second round of qualifying, needing to come back from a set down en route to a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over Elon’s Chase Helpingstine. Kenny continued to roll on with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Sammi Belakolf of Richmond.
In doubles play, Kenny and Roebuck teamed up for a 8-4 win over Wake Forest’s Andrew Brasseaux and David Hopkins in the first round, before falling to Davidson’s Callum Gee and Eric Noble in an extra set heart-breaker, 9-8 (7-4).
Kenny and Smith will join teammates Guillermo Gomez, Eliot Potvin, Miguel Muguruza and Kevin King, all whom were already selected to play in the singles main draw.
The main draw will begin Friday morning with matches taking placed at the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center in Durham and the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center in Chapell Hill, N.C.
-RamblinWreck.com-
