March 30, 2018
THE FLATS – Georgia Tech men’s tennis was unable to hang on in a back-and-forth affair on Thursday night, falling 4-3 to Virginia Tech at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex.
The Yellow Jackets (5-11, 1-5 ACC) jumped out to a fast start, grabbing a hard-fought doubles point as Phillip Gresk and Andrew Li were able to easily take the No. 3 spot, 6-1, against Freddy Mesmer and Jason Kros. Tech’s 11th-ranked tandem of Carlos Divar and Michael Kay were also able to defeat the Hokies’ (11-6, 2-5 ACC) team of Henrik Korsgaard and Alexandre Ribeiro, 6-4, to go up 1-0 as a team.
In singles, the Jackets were able to push the lead out to 3-0 as Kay made quick work of the No. 3 position, downing Ribeiro, 6-4, 6-1, before Chris Yun finished off Mesmer in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3.
The rest of the way would be a battle for Tech as Korsgaard was able to down Elijah Melendez at court 4, 6-4, 7-5 and 54th-ranked Mitch Harper upended 53rd-ranked Divar in a see-saw match, 7-6(6), 2-6, 6-3. Andrew Li was then unable to complete the comeback at the No. 5 position as he fell to Carlo Donato, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
The clincher would come at the No. 2 court as the two teams were knotted up at 3-3.
Gresk battled in the grueling match against Kros as the two traded shots and both forced 6-all tiebreakers. Kros was able to take the first set, 7-6 (9), before Gresk fought back in the second through another tiebreak to win 7-6(5). Once in the third, the two battled closely before Harper finally went up a late break point to seal the win 6-4 and clinch for Virginia Tech.
Georgia Tech now heads out on its North Carolina tour of NC State, Wake Forest, North Carolina and Duke in four-straight matches on the road. The Yellow Jackets kick that series off at the Wolfpack on April 6. First serve is set for 2 p.m.
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