Nov. 10, 2012
Flushing Meadow, N.Y. – Georgia Tech’s Juan Spir and Vikram Hundal have fought back from a first-round loss in the doubles draw to reach the consolation final of the USTA/ITA National Collegiate Indoor Championships at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
The Tech pair, which advanced to this national championship by winning the Southeast Regional two weeks ago, will face Virginia’s Alex Domijan and Harrison Richmond Sunday morning in the back draw final.
Ben and Riki McLachlan of California downed Spir and Hundal in the first round of the main draw, 8-6, on Thursday. But the Yellow Jackets rebounded to topple the Texas A&M team of Harrison Adams and Shane Vinsant, 9-8 (2) Friday, and rallied from a 7-4 deficit to eliminated Dan Regan and Georgi Rumenov, 9-7, Saturday.
“Both matches were very close and our opponents played very well, but we were able to raise our level a little bit more and get the win,” said Spir, a senior from Medellin, Colombia, who has Tech-record 84 career doubles victories. “It is hard to bounce back from an early loss in the first round of the main draw, so we’re really proud with the way we are competing and improving our game. We are treating tomorrow’s match as a final and we hope we can get another win.”
Before the Southeast Regional in Tallahassee, Spir and Hundal had not played as a team, but they won their first two matches in the regional at love, then knocked off the No. 4, 7 and 3 seeds to win the championship and qualify for the national championship. This event includes the winners of all 16 regional events.
“I’m proud of the fight Juan and Vikram showed today coming back from 7-4 down,” said Tech assistant coach Derek Schwandt. “They have been playing well as a team and competing hard all fall. Every team in this tournament is very solid and we are looking forward to playing the backdraw finals tomorrow.”
