January 11, 2014

Tech Claims 6-1 Win over Georgia Southern to Open Spring Tennis Season

Jan. 11, 2014

THE FLATS – Only one match kept the Georgia Tech men’s tennis squad from a sweep of the Georgia Southern Eagles, as the Yellow Jackets began the 2014 spring season Saturday afternoon with a 6-1 win. Junior Eduardo Segura, the sole upperclassman on a young team, scored the clinching point with a 6-2, 6-4 singles win at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex in Atlanta.

The Yellow Jackets (1-0) will face the Stetson Hatters at 5 p.m. in the back half of a doubleheader. Their victory in the first match of the day means that Georgia Tech has won back-to-back home openers in the Byers Complex, which opened at the beginning of 2013.

Tech started the dual match with a 2-0 sweep of the doubles point, as freshman Carlos Benito and Segura paced the Jackets with their 6-1 victory over the Eagles’ Kyle Hoffman and Rafael Racy at the No. 2 spot. At the No. 1, sophomores Nathan Rakitt and Casey Kay clinched with a 6-3 win over Oliver Webb and Nico DeGroof. The third doubles match was ended upon Tech’s wrapping up the point.

As singles play began, five out of six Yellow Jackets won their first set. Freshman Cole Fiegel was the first to finish off his opponent, winning 6-3, 6-2 at the No. 5 spot over Racy. Rakitt defeated Webb minutes later, 6-3, 6-1 on court No. 1. This left Segura with the chance to clinch the match for the Jackets at No. 3, and he followed through with a 6-2, 6-4 straight-set victory over Kyle Hoffman.

As the coaches agreed to play the dual match out after Georgia Tech had clinched the victory, freshman Carlos Benito took advantage of the opportunity by securing the first spring singles victory of his career at the No. 2 spot. Benito defeated Ga. Southern’s Albert Codina Sala by shutting him out in the second set for a final score of 6-4, 6-0.

Sophomore Anish Sharma was outlasted in the longest two-set match of the day, as he fell to Christian Kerrigan 6-5, 6-1 at the No. 6. But the hardest-fought match of the day was won in a third-set tiebreak by Casey Kay over Nico DeGroof. Kay won the first set 6-5, but lost the second 6-3. The third set, which was played after all the other matches save Sharma’s had finished, saw the two players battle their way to 5-5, and Kay triumphed in the tiebreak by a final score of 7-4.

Georgia Tech 6, Georgia Southern 1

Jan 11, 2014 at Atlanta, Ga. (Ken Byers Tennis Complex)

Singles competition

1. Nathan Rakitt (GT) def. Oliver Webb (GSO) 6-3, 6-1

2. Carlos Benito (GT) def. Albert Codina Sala (GSO) 6-4, 6-0

3. Eduardo Segura (GT) def. Kyle Hoffman (GSO) 6-2, 6-4

4. Casey Kay (GT) def. Nico DeGroof (GSO) 6-5, 3-6, 6-5 (7-4)

5. Cole Fiegel (GT) def. Rafael Racy (GSO) 6-3, 6-2

6. Christian Kerrigan (GSO) def. Anish Sharma (GT) 6-5, 6-1

Doubles competition

1. Nathan Rakitt/Casey Kay (GT) def. Oliver Webb/Nico DeGroof (GSO) 6-3

2. Carlos Benito/Eduardo Segura (GT) def. Kyle Hoffman/Rafael Racy (GSO) 6-1