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THE FLATS – Georgia Tech men’s tennis returns to the NCAA Tournament this Saturday as the Jackets are slotted to take on the University of Memphis at Barksdale Stadium at host team No. 3 Tennessee’s Knoxville region with first serve coming at 10 a.m. (EST). The match will be streamed live on playsite.com. A complete list of teams competing in the 2021 Tournament can be found here.
The Yellow Jackets own a 13-9 record heading into NCAA’s, having reached the quarterfinals of the 2021 ACC Men’s Tennis Championship after posting a 6-6 record in conference play.
Saturday’s action will serve as the Jackets first appearance in the Tournament since 2017. This is the 13th time that Byers Men’s Tennis Head Coach Kenny Thorne has guided the Jackets to the NCAA Tournament. Earlier this week it was also announced that redshirt freshmen Marcus McDaniel & Andres Martin were selected to compete in the NCAA Singles & Doubles Championships as well with at-large bids, marking the first time in program history two freshmen individuals have reached NCAA’s in the same year.
Heading into the weekend seven Jackets have won at least six or more singles matches over the last 10 outings.
Across the board Tech’s lineup has steadily improved throughout the year. The Yellow Jackets have a .500 win-percentage at all six singles positions. McDaniel played the majority of the season at position one going 10-6, going 7-4 against ranked singles opponents. Martin went 11-5 at position two, a court that saw Tech go 17-5 during the 2021 campaign. Redshirt sophomore Pablo Schelcher has collected an 8-5 record at position three. Redshirt freshman Keshav Chopra played his best matches at position four towards the end of the year, winning seven in a row, making him 8-2 over the last 10 matches. Fellow redshirt freshman Brandon McKinney is 12-11 overall in singles play this season, with the majority of his matches being played on court four. True freshman Chen Dong has established himself as a strong anchor at position six, having won five consecutive singles matches while also owning an impressive 11-4 record on court six.
Tech went 89-54 (.622) in overall singles play in 2021. In overall doubles matches the Jackets are 44-29 (.603). Martin is 17-4 in doubles action this year, with a 3-0 record against ranked opponents. Chopra/Martin are 7-2 overall when playing together. McDaniel/Martin are in the midst of a four match win streak and are 3-0 against ranked competition.
The latest ITA Team Rankings released on Tuesday, May 5th, has the Jackets at No. 30 among NCAA Division I programs across the country. Memphis sits in the No. 38 spot. No. 28 McDaniel & No. 46 Martin round out the Jackets representation in the most recent ITA Singles Rankings. Three pairs of Tech doubles teams were ranked in the final ITA Doubles Rankings before the start of tournament play, with No. 19 McDaniel/Martin, No. 46 McDaniel/Schelcher and No. 57 Chopra/Martin making the cut.
The Tigers (9-8, 0-5 AAC) have lost three straight matches. Memphis has won just over half of its singles matchups, owning a 45-41 (.523) record in overall singles. They will be a formidable foe in doubles play, as they have a 31-12 (.721) overall in 2021. The pairing of Jan Pallares/Patrick Sydow are 12-3 this year, while James Story/Jeremy Taylor are 10-3. Memphis has one ranked doubles duo in No. 18 David Stevenson/Oscar Cutting. No. 58 Story & No. 102 Stevenson make up the Tigers ranked singles players.
Saturday’s winner will face the winner of host No. 3 Tennessee match against Alabama A&M on Sunday, May 9th. The winner of the Knoxville regional will advance to the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida, where the last 16 teams will compete for the national championship May 17-28. The event will be hosted by the University of Central Florida and the Greater Orlando Sports Commission.
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