TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The Georgia Tech men’s tennis team concluded its run in the ITA South Sectional Championships on Thursday.
Gianluca Carlini was tasked with Kentucky’s Eli Stephenson in the first round of singles. Stephenson opened the fall season as the No. 13 player in the nation with 26 singles wins last year as UK’s primary Court 1 player.
Stephenson dealt a strong first set at 6-1 before Carlini responded. Carlini was trading games back and forth in the second frame and found his rhythm. Stephenson found a crucial break and held on to win the match after a 6-4 second set.
Richard Biagiotti partnered with Carlini for their first round doubles match against Auburn’s duo of Jake Kennedy and Joseph Phillips. The Tech duo were off to a great start after pulling out a 7-5 first set before facing another tight set. Kennedy and Phillips won the second-set tiebreaker 8-6 to send the match to a 10-point tiebreaker.
Auburn built an early lead at 6-2 before Carlini and Biagiotti answered right back and evened the score at 6-6. The teams traded points back-and-forth and were level at 9-9. Kennedy and Phillips won two consecutive points to seal their match victory.
The Jackets will close out the fall campaign with a full weekend at the Alabama Four-in-the-Fall event beginning tomorrow afternoon.
ITA South Sectional Championships - Singles Main Draw Round 1
#13 Eli Stephenson (UK) def. Gianluca Carlini (GT) 6-1, 6-4
ITA South Sectional Championships - Doubles Main Draw Round 1
Jake Kennedy/Joseph Phillips (AU) def. Gianluca Carlini/Richard Biagiotti (GT) 5-7, 7-6 (6), 1-0 (9)
Full Steam Ahead
Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.
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