CARY, N.C. – The Georgia Tech men’s tennis team fell to the No 10-seed California, 4-0, in the first round of the 2026 ACC Men’s Tennis Championships.
The match began with a back-and-forth doubles round as all three courts saw 5-4 scorelines. California took the match on Court 1 as Richard Biagiotti and Jonathan Irwanto evened the score after a 6-4 win on Court 2. The Jackets won a crucial break to go up 4-3 and rode out the remainder of the frame.
The Golden Bears stormed back on Court 3 to even the score at 5-5 before winning the final two games to secure the win and the doubles point.
Christophe Clement was in superb form as he took a resounding first set win over California’s ranked Court 1 player, 6-2, while Gianluca Carlini earned a first set victory of his own at 6-3 on Court 3.
California won the remainder of the first sets to extend their advantage before winning in straight sets on Courts 4 and 6. Clement and Carlini’s opposition forced third sets in each of their singles battles. Timofey Stepanov clinched the match after two hard-fought sets on Court 2.
Clement led 4-2 in the final frame as Carlini held the 3-2 advantage. Elias Shokry stomached the early 6-2 set loss and fired back a 6-4 second frame and was left unfinished at 3-3 in the third.
Georgia Tech completed a 12-win season for the fourth consecutive year and was amongst the nation’s best in the ITA Team rankings with a season-high of 43rd. The team racked up 109 singles wins, 64 during the spring season, and 39 doubles wins.
Biagiotti and Irwanto led the squad with 19 singles wins each while Hidde Schoenmakers and Carlini both earned 5 ACC singles wins. The Court 2 and 3 pairings finished the year with six wins each while Clement and Schoenmakers earned four Court 1 victories.
#47 California 4, #57 Georgia Tech 0
Singles:
- Christophe Clement (GT) vs. #64 Fryderyk Lechno-Wasiutynski (CAL) 6-2, 4-6, 4-2, unfinished
- Timofey Stepanov (CAL) def. Hidde Schoenmakers (GT) 7-5, 7-5
- Gianluca Carlini (GT) vs. Tiago Silva (CAL) 6-3, 7-5, 3-2, unfinished
- Bernardo Munk Mesa (CAL) def. Jonathan Irwanto (GT) 6-2, 7-6 (2)
- Elias Shokry (GT) vs. Paris Pouatcha (CAL) 2-6, 6-4, 3-3, unfinished
- Lenn Luemkemann (CAL) def. Richard Biagiotti (GT) 6-3, 6-3
Doubles:
- #33 Alex Aney/Timofey Stepanov (CAL) def. Christophe Clement/Hidde Schoenmakers (GT) 6-4
- Richard Biagiotti/Jonathan Irwanto (GT) def. Fryderyk Lechno-Wasiutynski/Andrea Meduri (CAL) 6-4
- Bernardo Munk Mesa/Paris Pouatcha (CAL) def. Gianluca Carlini/Elias Shokry (GT) 7-5
Georgia Tech (12-13, 3-10 ACC) | California (15-12, 6-7 ACC)
Order of Finish: Doubles (1, 2, 3); Singles (6, 4, 2)
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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