Men's Tennis 2021 Review

Season Statistics (pdf)

THE FLATS – No. 30 Georgia Tech men’s tennis finished the 2021 season with a 13-10 record after reaching the NCAA Division I Tournament for the first time since 2017. The Yellow Jackets went 6-6 in ACC play this spring making it as far as the conference quarterfinals in a close 4-3 loss to Virginia. Redshirt freshmen duo Marcus McDaniel & Andres Martin both earned at-large bids to the NCAA Singles & Doubles Championships, which will take place May 23-28 at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida, after the conclusion of the team championship, which runs from May 17-22.  It is the first time in program history two freshmen have qualified for NCAA’s in the same year, let alone in both singles & doubles play.

2021 served as the 13th time Byers Men’s Tennis Head Coach Kenny Thorne has guided the Yellow Jackets to an NCAA Tournament birth. An early First Round exit for Tech came at the hands of No. 38 Memphis in a 4-2 loss in Knoxville this past weekend.

In overall singles play this year every Tech player averaged at least a .500 record or better throughout the regular and post-season. The squad amassed a 91-57 (.615) overall singles record, as well as a 44-31 (.587) overall doubles record. McDaniel & Martin combined for a 33-16 record in singles, while Martin went a team-high 17-5 in doubles action. McDaniel is currently ranked No. 25 and Martin is slotted at No. 50 in the latest ITA Singles Rankings.

The pair were both named to the All-ACC Team, with McDaniel garnering First Team honors, and Martin receiving Second Team Honors. McDaniel was 8-4 against ranked opponents in singles this year, gaining big wins over the likes of No. 8 Henri Squire of Wake Forest and No. 13 Alexis Galarneau of NC State. Early in the season Martin also had a top-10 singles victory after he toppled No. 9 Trent Bryde at UGA in early-February. In the ACC quarterfinals Martin/McDaniel defeated No. 10 ranked UVA’s Carl Soderlund/William Woodard. McDnaiel/Martin saw a huge leap in the ITA Singles Rankings prior to the start of NCAA’s, climbing from 50th in the country to 19th in a week.

Fellow redshirt freshman Keshav Chopra finished the season strong, going on an eight match singles win-streak towards the end of the season, gathering a six match win streak to end ACC’s. Chopra was 9-6 in overall doubles matches. Redshirt sophomore Pablo Schelcher mirrored Martins’ efforts in ACC singles matches, both achieving 7-5 records against conference foes. Schelcher was a reliable 8-5 at position three. True freshman Chen Dong collected an 11-4 record at position six, going 4-1 in ACC doubles matches. Dong also accumulated a 5-0 record when paired with Martin in doubles. Dong ended his freshman campaign winning five straight singles matches. Collectively Tech was 18-5 at position two, anchoring a fair 14-8 showing at position one.

Tech could have used some improvement on the national stage against ranked foes in doubles, posting a 4-8 record against top-ranked opponents. However, they were 10-2 in tournament play.

The majority of Tech’s roster will return for the 2021-22 season, with Zummy Bauer & Brandon Freestone serving as the Jackets 2021 seniors. Bauer was a doubles specialist, while Freestone saw action with a 6-3 singles record. Bauer was 6-4 when paired with Brandon McKinney. McKinney, a redshirt freshman, was an even 12-12 overall in singles.