Aug. 8, 2014
Bloomington, Ind. – Georgia Tech’s Nathan Rakitt and Christopher Eubanks are both entered in the singles draw for this weekend’s ITA/USTA National Summer Championships, which begins Saturday on the campus of Indiana University.
Rakitt, a junior from Marietta, Ga., who has won 41 singles matches for the Yellow Jackets over his first two seasons, is one of the top eight seeds in the draw and has a first-round bye Saturday before taking on the winner of another first-round match Jack Petersen of Lehigh and Jasper Koenen of Michigan State. Rakitt finished last spring ranked 115th in the nation in singles by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).
Eubanks, an incoming freshman from Atlanta ranked as high as 14th among the nation’s junior player in the past year, has a first-round match Saturday morning against Wofford’s Parks Thompson. Rated a 5-star player by the Tennis Recruiting Network, Eubanks has gone 13-3 in junior events in 2014, reaching the quarterfinals in all three events.
Second and third-round matches in the 128-player event will be contested Saturday, with the round of 16 scheduled for Sunday. The quarter-finals and semi-finals are set for Monday, and the championship match Tuesday. Both players also are entered in doubles draw, which begins Sunday.
Nearly 30,000 men and women have competed in ITA Summer Circuit events since it began in 1993. The circuit provides college (and junior and alumni) players the opportunity to compete in organized events virtually year round. Although the primary focus of the circuit is to provide incoming freshmen and collegiate players the chance to compete in the summer months, for NCAA compliance purposes, the events within the ITA Summer Circuit are categorized as “open”; therefore anyone is eligible to compete in these events as long as he/she is a current ITA member.
About Georgia Tech Men’s Tennis
Georgia Tech’s men’s tennis team is in its 17th year under head coach Kenny Thorne. The Yellow Jackets have played in the NCAA Championship 14 times. Connect with Georgia Tech Men’s Tennis on social media by liking their Facebook page, or following on Twitter (@GT_MTEN). For more information on Tech men’s tennis, visit Ramblinwreck.com.
