March 4, 2016
Winston-Salem, N.C. – Christopher Eubanks and Daniel Yun captured wins in singles for 34th-ranked Georgia Tech, but No. 7 Wake Forest used winning a closely contested doubles point to catapult the Demon Deacons to a 5-2 victory over the Yellow Jackets Friday in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams.
Tech (7-4, 0-1) lost for the first time since Feb. 6 and heads to Durham to face No. 57 Duke (6-6) at noon Sunday. Wake Forest (13-3, 1-0) won its fourth straight match and improved to 9-1 at home.
The Yellow Jackets, who had won the doubles point in nine of their first 10 matches this spring, were poised to win again after splitting matches at the No. 2 and 3 positions, and Tech’s top team of Casey and Michael Kay leading 5-4. But the Deacons tandem of Romain Bogaerts and Dennis Uspensky rallied to win three straight games and take the match, 7-5, and get the doubles point for Wake.
Nathan Rakitt and Andrew Li won at the No. 3 position, defeating Keivon Tabrizi and Maksin Kam, 6-4.
“We played well at No. 3 doubles. We played one very bad game at No. 2 doubles and their team served well from there,” said Tech coach Kenny Thorne. “And at No. 1 we played returned much better than in past matches but didn’t serve quite as well. Credit to Wake for playing a good doubles point.”
In singles, Christian Seraphim defeated Cole Fiegel, 6-1, 6-2, on court 3, and Maksim Kan downed Michael Kay, 6-3, 6-3, on court 5 to give the Demon Deacons a 3-0 lead.
Tech’s top player, 12th-ranked Christopher Eubanks (Atlanta, Ga.), got the Jackets on the board at No. 1 singles with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Jon Ho, but the Deacons got the clinching point soon after when Bogaerts, ranked No. 113, got by Tech junior Carlos Benito, 6-3, 7-5.
Sophomore Daniel Yun (Marietta, Ga.) got Tech’s second point with a 7-6, 6-2 win over Keivon Tabrizi on court 6, and Yellow Jacket freshman Andrew Li battled Uspensky to a third set on court 3 but lost the 10-point tiebreaker.
“In singles, we went down early and fought back but couldn’t fully recover,” said Thorne. “One big positive was Daniel Yun playing strong at number 6. He has been playing well, and he showed he can win at a high level.”
#7 Wake Forest 5, #34 Georgia Tech 2
March 4, 2016 at Wake Forest Tennis Complex (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
Singles competition
1. #12 Christopher Eubanks (GT) def. Jon Ho (WF) 7-5, 6-4
2. #113 Romain Bogaerts (WF) def. Carlos Benito (GT) 6-3, 7-5
3. Dennis Uspensky (WF) def. Andrew Li (GT) 7-6 (7-2), 4-6, 1-0 (10-8)
4. Christian Seraphim (WF) def. Cole Fiegel (GT) 6-1, 6-2
5. Maksim Kan (WF) def. Michael Kay (GT) 6-3, 6-3
6. Daniel Yun (GT) def. Keivon Tabrizi (WF) 7-6 (11-9), 6-2
Doubles competition
1. Romain Bogaerts/Dennis Uspensky (WF) def. #41 Casey Kay/Michael Kay (GT) 7-5
2. Jon Ho/Christian Seraphim (WF) def. Carlos Benito/Christopher Eubanks (GT) 6-3
3. Andrew Li/Nathan Rakitt (GT) def. Keivon Tabrizi/Maksim Kan (WF) 6-4
Match Notes
Georgia Tech 7-4 (0-1 ACC); National ranking #34
Wake Forest 13-3 (1-0 ACC); National ranking #7
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (4,5,1,2,6,3) T-2:40 A-198
