INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Georgia Tech men’s tennis earned an at-large bid among the field of 64 to the 2021 NCAA Tournament on Monday night. This is the first time since 2017 that the Yellow Jackets have qualified for the NCAA Tournament and the 17th overall appearance in program history. It is the 13th time Byers Men’s Tennis Head Coach Kenny Thorne has led the Jackets to the Big Dance.
Tech will take on the University of Memphis (9–8, 0-5 AAC) at regional host No. 3 Tennessee’s (24-3, 10-2 SEC) home court, Barksdale Stadium, in Knoxville on Saturday, May 8th with first serve coming at 10 a.m. (EST).
A complete list of teams competing in the 2021 Tournament can be found here.
Due to the health and safety protocols surrounding the pandemic, first- and second-round sites were selected from a group of 20 predetermined sites rather than awarded to strictly the top seeded teams. Seed was factored into the final determination of the sites, and matchups between conference opponents were avoided in the first two rounds of the championship.
The Jackets currently hold a 13-9 record, having reached the quarterfinals of the ACC Men’s Tennis Championships after posting a 6-6 conference record. Saturday’s match will be the first time Tech has faced the Tigers. Tech went 89-54 (.622) in singles in 2021, while also earning a 44-29 (.603) record in doubles play. In dual match singles Georgia Tech amassed a 79-44 (.642), as well as capturing a 34-27 (.557) dual match doubles record.
The matches shall be regulation dual matches. Three doubles matches consisting of six-game sets will be played for one team point, followed by six singles matches, each valued at one team point; played the best of three sets. No-ad scoring will be used and a seven-point tiebreaker (first to seven points, must win by two points) will be played at six-games-all. The team winning four or more team points advances in the championship bracket.
Redshirt freshmen Marcus McDaniel & Andres Martin were both recently named to the ACC’s all-conference teams last week, with McDaniel making First Team, while Martin garnered a spot on Second Team. Martin is 17-4 in overall doubles matches this season. The rest of the Jackets lineup has been steadily improving this year. True freshman Chen Dong finished the regular season and ACC Tournament play with a five match singles winning streak, owning a 12-6 dual match singles record. Redshirt freshman Keshav Chopra also went 8-3 at position four during the 2021 campaign. Seven of Tech’s student-athletes have won at least six or more singles matches over the last 10 competitions.
Joining Tech, Memphis and Tennessee in Knoxville will be Alabama A&M (6-6, 4-1 SWAC), who is slated to take on the Volunteers following the Jackets & Tigers match-up on Saturday afternoon. The winners of both matches will lace it up on Sunday in the second round. Across the country first- and second-round competition takes place May 7-8 or 8-9 and features four teams playing in a single-elimination format in each regional site. The winner of each site advances to the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida, where the 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.
Alexander-Tharpe Fund
The Alexander-Tharpe Fund is the fundraising arm of Georgia Tech athletics, providing scholarship, operations and facilities support for Georgia Tech’s 400-plus student-athletes. Be a part of developing Georgia Tech’s Everyday Champions and helping the Yellow Jackets compete for championships at the highest levels of college athletics by supporting the A-T Fund’, which directly provides scholarships for Georgia Tech student-athletes, and the Support The Swarm Fund, created to give fans an opportunity to help Georgia Tech athletics maintain its recent momentum through the financial challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic! To learn more about supporting the Yellow Jackets, visit atfund.org.
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