Oct. 17, 2014
Athens, Ga. – Freshman Christopher Eubanks and sophomore Carlos Benito advanced to the round of 32 in singles Friday in the USTA/ITA Southeast Regional at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga.
Eubanks, from Atlanta, knocked off Jordan Wardell of Florida, 6-4, 7-6 (4) in the opening round of the main draw Friday, while Benito, subbing for teammate Nathan Rakitt, easily beat Richard Meade of Florida Atlantic, 6-1, 6-3. Rakitt withdrew from singles due to illness Friday, and Benito was at the top of the “lucky loser” list from qualifying and took his place..
Benito will face Florida State’s Marco Nunez, while Eubanks takes on Georgia’s Ben Wagland, the fourth seed, at 11 a.m. Saturday in the round of 16. Senior Eduardo Segura and freshman Michael Kay, Tech’s other players in the main draw, lost their first-round matches Friday and will move into the singles consolation draw Saturday.
Meanwhile, only two of Tech’s four doubles teams entered won their first-round matches, and they lost close contests in the round of 16 to opponents ranked in the nation’s top 30. Benito and Segura, ranked 20th in the nation, continued to struggle with a first-round loss in a tiebreaker to South Florida’s Ignacio Gonzalez-Muniz and Vadym Kalyuzhnyy.
Eubanks and Rakitt downed the UCF duo of Chris Barrus and Inaki Espindola, 8-7 (7) in the opening round, then fell to the 10th-ranked Florida State team of Benjamin Lock and Marco Nunez, 8-6. Cole Fiegel and Michael Kay lost by the same score to Georgia’s 26th-ranked team of Paul Ooosterbaan and Ben Wagland in the round of 16 after eliminating Stetson’s Laurynas Antropikas and Simon Julin.
The Southeast regional gathers 64 of the top collegiate men’s players and 64 of the top doubles teams from Georgia and Florida for the five-day event that concludes with finals in both draws Monday morning. The tournament features participants from the following 15 schools: Florida, Florida Atlantic, Florida Gulf Coast, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Kennesaw State, Mercer, Miami, North Florida, South Florida, Stetson and UCF.
USTA/ITA SOUTHEAST REGIONAL
Dan Magill Tennis Complex, Athens, Ga.
Friday’s Results
Main Draw Doubles Round of 32
Christopher Eubanks/Nathan Rakitt (Georgia Tech) def. Chris Barrus/Inaki Espindola (UCF), 8-7(7)
Ignacio Gonzalez-Muniz/Vadym Kalyuzhnyy (South Florida) def. #20 [4] Carlos Benito/Eduardo Segura (Georgia Tech), 8-7(2)
#15 [3] Jack Findel-Hawkins/Norbert Nemcsek (North Florida) def. Elijah Melendez/Daniel Yun (Georgia Tech), 8-3
Cole Fiegel/Michael Kay (Georgia Tech) def. Laurynas Antropikas/Simon Julin (Stetson), 8-5
Main Draw Doubles Round of 16
#10 [1] Benjamin Lock/Marco Nunez (Florida State) def. Christopher Eubanks/Nathan Rakitt (Georgia Tech), 8-6
#26 [5-8] Paul Oosterbaan/Ben Wagland (Georgia) def. Cole Fiegel/Michael Kay (Georgia Tech), 8-6
Main Draw Singles Round of 64
#119 [9-16] Sasha Gozun (South Florida) def. Michael Kay (Georgia Tech), 6-3, 6-2
Christopher Eubanks (Georgia Tech) def. Joshua Wardell (Florida), 6-4, 7-6(4)
Carlos Benito (Georgia Tech) def. Richard Meade (Florida Atlantic), 6-1, 6-3
[9-16] Oliver Pramming (South Florida) def. Eduardo Segura (Georgia Tech), 6-7 (0), 6-4, 6-3
Misc. Match
Elijah Melendez (Georgia Tech) def. Nile Clark (Miami), 6-4, 6-2
ABOUT GEORGIA TECH MEN’S TENNIS
Georgia Tech’s men’s tennis team is in its 17th year under head coach Kenny Thorne. The Yellow Jackets have played in the NCAA Championship 14 times. Connect with Georgia Tech Men’s Tennis on social media by liking their Facebook page, or following on Twitter (@GT_MTEN). For more information on Tech men’s tennis, visit Ramblinwreck.com.
