Jan. 16, 2014
THE FLATS – Georgia Tech’s men’s tennis team, off to a 2-0 start, returns to action this weekend when it hosts three top-25 teams in the MLK Invitational, Saturday through Monday at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex.
The three-day, round-robin tournament begins Saturday and runs through Monday, when campus is closed in observance of the MLK holiday. The event features each team facing another in singles and doubles play throughout the weekend, and each team will submit a lineup of six or seven players for singles and three to four doubles teams. No team scores will be kept or team winners declared, but singles and doubles champions will be crowned at the conclusion of play Monday.
Georgia Tech will play each of its “matches” at 1 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and Monday, first meeting 11th-ranked Mississippi Saturday, then No. 21 Memphis Sunday and No. 3 Georgia Monday, facing its strongest competition of the year, including fall tournaments. The early 9 a.m. sessions feature Georgia vs. Memphis Saturday, Ole Miss vs. Georgia Sunday and Memphis vs. Ole Miss Monday.
Eleven of the nation’s top 125 individual singles players will be on the courts, as well as four of the top 60 doubles teams.
Admission is free all three days. Parking for Saturday’s sessions is restricted to pay areas on campus due to the men’s basketball game vs. Miami, but the McCamish Pavilion lot, Fowler Street and 8th Street are available to fans attending sessions Sunday and Monday.
Tech began the spring season Saturday by capturing dual-match victories over Georgia Southern (6-1) and Stetson (4-0) at home. Junior Eduardo Segura (Madrid, Spain) and freshmen Carlos Benito (Madrid, Spain) and Cole Fiegel (Alachua, Fla.) each got off to good starts by winning both of their singles matches, while Segura and Benito also swept a pair of doubles matches together at the No. 2 position in the double-header.
Sophomore Nathan Rakitt (Marietta, Ga.), played at the top of Tech’s order, winning one match and leaving another unfinished after Tech had clinched its win over Stetson. He also teamed with sophomore Casey Kay (Atlanta, Ga.) to win both of their doubles matched at the No. 1 position.
Segura played No. 2 and 3 singles in the twinbil switching off with Benito. Fiegel won his two matches playing at No. 5, while Kay held down the No. 4 position, winning once and leaving the other unfinished. Sophomore Anish Sharma (Alpharetta, Ga.) rounds out the Tech order playing No. 6.
2014 MLK INVITATIONAL HOSTED BY GEORGIA TECH
Ken Byers Tennis Complex, Bill Moore Indoor Courts
Weekend Schedule
Saturday, January 18
9 a.m. – Georgia vs. Memphis
1 p.m. – Georgia Tech vs. Ole Miss
Sunday, January 19
9 a.m. – Ole Miss vs. Georgia
1 p.m. – Georgia Tech vs. Memphis
Monday, January 20
9 a.m. – Memphis vs. Ole Miss
1 p.m. – Georgia Tech vs. Georgia
Note – each session is structured similar to a dual match, with doubles matches followed by singles matches, but no team scores will be kept and no team winners declared. After the conclusion of play Monday, champions in singles and doubles will be recognized based on their individual records.
