Jan. 29, 2012
ATLANTA – All-American Kevin King won both singles and doubles Sunday, but No. 20 Auburn handed No. 19 Georgia Tech a 4-1 defeat at the Bill Moore Tennis Center in the opening round of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend.
The Tigers advance to face No. 18 North Carolina Monday in the championship match at 1 p.m., while the Yellow Jackets battle No. 15 Illinois in the consolation at 10 a.m. UNC took down Illinois, 4-2, in Sunday’s opener.
The nation’s No. 2-ranked doubles tandem of King and Juan Spir gave Tech an early edge for the doubles point with an 8-3 win over Auburn’s Alex Stamchev and Daniel Cochran. But the Tigers rallied with victories by Andreas Mies and Lukas Ollert over Tech’s Juan Melian Puigventos and Vikram Hundal, 8-6, and Dennis Lengsfeld and Lucas Lopasso over Dusan Miljevic and Eduardo Segura Mandarino, 8-5.
“I thought in doubles we came out a lot better than our last match (at Tennessee), said head coach Kenny Thorne. “We came ready to play. We used our strengths a lot better in doubles, which is something we’ve been focusing on in practice. Kevin and Juan continue to play well. That was a tough team they played today and they continue to do a good job. The other two matches we fought hard and did some good things but it came down to execution at the end.”
King then put Tech on the board first in singles, as the nation’s second-ranked singles player dispatched No. 18 Andreas Mies in straight-sets, 6-3, 6-3.
“Mies is a very good player, but Kevin played a complete match,” said Thorne. “That’s what we’ve been talking about. He can do that. He’s done very with that and I was proud of him for getting us on the board.”
But again, Auburn answered. Ollert took care of Tech’s Hundal in fifth singles (6-3, 6-1) and Stamchev recorded a straight-sets win over Tech’s Spir in second singles (6-2, 6-4). The clincher came in the fourth spot as Lengsfled survived a tight match with Miljevic, 6-4 and 7-5.
“Overall I thought our fight was good, but our trust in some shots needs to be better for tomorrow. We need a little more commitment to our shots and the execution will come. Melian came out strong and did some good things. It was a tough loss in the second set, but he was really fighting in that third set. Eduardo showed some great fight in his match. We got down 3-1 and it could have been over much quicker, but we stayed alive and kept pushing but didn’t quite execute to get the win.”
The other two matches were deadlocked in the third sets when Auburn sealed the win. Melian was at 1-1 in third set versus Cochrane (6-1, 3-1, 1-1), while Segura was tied with Lopasso (6-3, 1-6, 3-3).
Monday’s match versus the Fightin Illini will mark the Yellow Jackets’ third-consecutive Top 25 foe.
“Illinois had a tough today with UNC. But all the teams are very tough here and we said that going in. They’re tough at certain spots and Kevin will get a chance to play Nevolo, who he lost to at the National Indoors, which was a great match. That match tomorrow is an opportunity for us. We have some young guys and they’re going to have to step up in some tough positions.”
–RamblinWreck.com–
Tennis Match ResultsAuburn vs Georgia TechJan 29, 2012 at Atlanta, Ga.#20 Auburn 4, #19 Georgia Tech 1Singles competition:1. #9 Kevin King (GT) def. #18 Andreas Mies (AU) 6-3, 6-32. Alex Stamchev (AU) def. Juan Spir (GT) 6-2, 6-43. Daniel Cochrane (AU) vs. Juan Melian Puigventos (GT) no result4. Dennis Lengsfeld (AU) def. Dusan Miljevic (GT) 6-4, 7-55. Lukas Ollert (AU) def. Vikram Hundal (GT) 6-3, 6-16. Lucas Lopasso (AU) vs. Eduardo Segura Mandarino (GT) no result
Doubles competition: 1. #2 Kevin King/Juan Spir (GT) def. Alex Stamchev/Daniel Cochrane (AU) 8-3 2. Andreas Mies/Lukas Ollert (AU) def. Juan Melian Puigventos/Vikram Hundal (GT) 8-6 3. Dennis Lengsfeld/Lucas Lopasso (AU) def. Dusan Miljevic/Eduardo Segura Mandarino (GT) 8-5
Match Notes: Auburn 3-0; National ranking #20 Georgia Tech 1-2; National ranking #19 Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (1,5,2,4)
