April 5, 2018
THE FLATS – Georgia Tech men’s tennis begins its four-match road trip through the Tar Heel State as it takes on NC State and No. 1 Wake Forest this weekend.
The Yellow Jackets (5-11, 1-5 ACC) will face the Wolfpack (13-5, 3-4 ACC) on Friday, April 5 and the first-ranked Demon Deacons (16-2, 5-1 ACC) on Sunday, April 7.
NC State is coming off back-to-back conference wins as it narrowly defeated No. 25 Notre Dame 4-3 on March 30 before turning around and downing Boston College, 5-2. The Wolfpack are led by Alexis Galarneau, currently 11-8 overall and 7-7 at the No. 1 spot, while Tadas Babelis has amassed a 8-2 record at the No. 2 position to be 12-6 overall. Since moving down to the No. 5 court, Ivan Saveljic has won four-straight to be 6-1 there overall.
Struggling some with the doubles point, Galarneau and Michael Ogden have shined for them, currently 4-0 at the No. 2 doubles, 5-2 overall after winning three straight. Igor Saveljic and brother, Ivan, have been the mainstays at the No. 1 court, and are 4-6 this season.
First-ranked Wake Forest enters this weekend in the middle of a four-match homestand – where its 8-1 this season. Despite being No. 1 in the country, the Demon Deacons have split their last four matches, dropping decisions to Florida State and Florida while downing Notre Dame and North Carolina. Wake is led by five nationally ranked singles players on the roster, most notably No. 5 Petros Chrysochos and No. 8 Borna Gojo. Chrysochos is currently 26-4 overall and 15-1 in dual matches at the No. 2 position – currently on a 12-match win streak. Gojo has been mainly at the 1 spot this season, compiling a 7-2 record there.
In doubles, the Deacons sport several ranked combinations, Chrysochos and Bar Botzer have played together most in dual matches this season, compiling an 11-3 record at all courts to reach a No. 79 ranking. Alan Gadjiev and Gojo also have played six matches together (5-1) at the No. 1 and 3. Despite just playing seven matches together (7-0) and two in dual matches, Chrysochos and Skander Mansouri are the top-ranked team in the nation despite not having played against the ACC this year.
Georgia Tech enters this weekend looking to right the ship as they’ve dropped four-straight matches. Hampered by nagging injuries, the Yellow Jackets have been unable to string together the wins, but are still battling.
In singles, Carlos Divar still leads the Jackets at the No. 1 spot, ranking 64th in the country this week with a 14-12 overall record. Michael Kay continues to inch toward the 60-career-win mark, winning his last two to move to 11-4 in dual matches (5-1 in the ACC) and 56 wins in his career. Moving back into the lineup, Chris Yun is also on a hot-streak of late, winning three-straight – two of which in straight sets
In doubles, the duo of Kay and Divar still rank in the top 15 nationally, coming in this week at No. 14. After a lengthy winning streak, the tandem got back on track with a win against Virginia Tech to move to 15-6 overall and 11-4 in dual matches.
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