ORLANDO, Fl. – Georgia Tech men’s tennis players Andres Martin & Marcus McDaniel were back in action at NCAA Championships at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fl., on Monday. Martin/McDaniel joined forces to compete in the first round of the 2021 NCAA Division I Men’s Doubles Championships, defeating South Carolina’s No. 13 Daniel Rodrigues/Connor Thomson. Martin in a dominate 6-3, 6-3. Martin also laced it up for the second round of the NCAA Division I Men’s Singles Championship, taking on No. 6 Sam Riffice from Florida.
The No. 19 ranked duo found themselves tied up at three-all in the first set before scoring three straight to take an early lead. They rode that momentum into the second set going up 4-1, with Rodrigues/Thomson trying to comeback bringing the score to a 4-3 advantage for Tech midway through the second. Martin/McDaniel were calm and composed though, rallying to another 6-3 set win. This is the fifth win against ranked opponents for Martin/McDaniel this year. It is also the highest ranked pairing they have beaten when playing together. They are now 6-3 when playing on the same court this season.
The Jackets advance to the round of 16 and will square off against Tennessee’s Adam Walton/Pat Harper, who beat Duke’s Sculley/Johns 6-0, 6-4 this evening.
Martin took the first set against Riffice in a 6-2 showing, before falling 2-6 and 0-6 in the second & third. Martin ends the year with an 18-9 overall singles record. His final ranking prior to NCAA’s was No. 46 in the nation. Martin was Mr. Reliable all year, having garnered a 12-5 record at position two and a 5-4 record against ranked opponents in the regular season. He was 9-1 versus regional opponents this year. One of his top highlights of the year in singles play was defeating UGA’s Trent Bryde, who was ranked No. 15 both times he played Martin.
The entirety of the 2021 NCAA Men’s Division I National Championships will be broadcast on the TennisOne app.
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