April 14, 2002
ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech men’s tennis team was unable to overcome a loss in the doubles portion of the match and fell by a 4-3 score to Miami (Fla.) in its regular-season finale on Sunday afternoon at the Bill Moore Tennis Center. The loss snapped the Yellow Jackets’ four-match win streak and was the first loss for Tech at home in 2002.
The Yellow Jackets (13-9) fell behind early as a change in doubles teams was unable to get past the Hurricanes (10-8) to open the match. Tech’s lone doubles victory came at the No. 1 spot, as West Nott and Scott Schnugg cruised past Miami’s Tomas Smid and Todd Widom by an 8-4 score. At the No. 2 spot, the Jackets’ tandem of Joao Menano and David Wright fell to Joel Berman and Tarik El Bassiouni by and 8-6 count. In the afternoon’s final doubles match, Tech’s Roger Anderson and Fabio Campos lost an 8-4 decision to Jose Lieberman and Andrew Golub.
In singles action, Tech jumped in front in the match for the first time, as Joao Menano and Scott Schnugg picked up easy win at No. 3 and 4 singles. Schnugg was the first to finish as he had no trouble with Miami’s Andrew Golub, winning in straight sets, by a 6-0, 6-1 score. Menano was equally as effective against Joel Berman, winning in straight sets by an impressive 6-1, 6-2 score.
Miami then came back to once again take the lead with a pair of straight-set wins at Nos. 5 and 6. Jose Lieberman downed the Jackets West Nott at No. 5, winning in straight sets by a count of 6-3, 6-4. The Hurricanes’ Tarik El Bassiouni defeated Tech’s Stephen Moros at No. 6 by scores of 6-1 and 6-4.
A pair of three-set matches decided the final outcome as both the No. 1 and 2 singles matches went the distance. Miami wrapped up the match at No. 2, as Tomas Smid defeated the Jackets’ David Wright after Wright won the first set by a 6-4 score. Smid then rallied to win the next two sets by scores of 6-1 and 6-4.
The match of the day came at the No. 1 position as Tech’s 35th-ranked Roger Anderson and Miami’s 16th-ranked Todd Widom put on outstanding display with Anderson winning in an epic third-set tiebreaker. Anderson won the first set by a score of 6-3, winning four-straight games after trailing 2-1. In the second, Widom found his groove and won by a 6-2 count. After Anderson forced a tiebreaker in the third, the two players battled in a tight affair before Anderson rallied from facing match point at 11-10 to win the next three points and claim the tiebreaker and the match by a 13-11 score.
The Yellow Jackets will now travel to Raleigh to compete in the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships. The conference office will announce pairings for the event on Monday following the conclusion of league play this weekend.
#43 MIAMI 4, #46 GEORGIA TECH 3DOUBLES1. Nott/Schnugg (GT) d. Smit/Widom (M), 8-42. Berman/El Bassiouni (M) d. Menano/Wright (GT), 8-63. Lieberman/Golub (M) d. Anderson/Campos (GT), 8-4
SINGLES 1. #36 Roger Anderson (GT) d. #16 Todd Widom (M), 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (11) 2. Tomas Smid (M) d. David Wright (GT), 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 3. Joao Menano (GT) d. Joel Berman (M), 6-1, 6-2 4. Scott Schnugg (GT) d. Andrew Golub (M), 6-0, 6-1 5. Jose Lieberman (M) d. West Nott (GT), 6-3, 6-4 6. Tarik El Bassiouni (M) d. Stephen Moros (GT), 6-1, 6-4
