The Tech men’s tennis team began the 2022 spring season on MLK weekend, hosting the MLK Invitational at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex. Tech competed each afternoon of the three-day invitational, competing against Columbia, Illinois and North Carolina.
Tech’s Marcus McDaniel and Andres Martin, ranked the No. 3 doubles pairing in the nation, won their match 6-3 against Columbia’s Alex Kotzen and Hugo Hashimoto. Tech’s Keshav Chopra and Pablo Schelcher also won their doubles match against Alex Finkelstein and Max Westphal of Columbia.
Tech had three singles wins against Columbia, with Chen Dong, Keshav Chopra and Marcus McDaniel winning their respective matches on the first day. Chopra won against his opponent, Hugo Hashimoto, who is ranked No. 87 nationally.
Tech saw a doubles win and four singles wins on the second day of the invitational. Schelcher and Chopra were Tech’s doubles winners of the day, defeating their Illinois opponents 6-2.
Chopra earned a victory over a ranked player once again, winning against Kweisi Kenyatte of Illinois, who is ranked No. 116 nationally. Andres Martin, who is the highest ranked singles player in the ACC and the No. 9 ranked singles player nationally, won against Illinois’s Alex Brown, ranked No. 113.
Dong defeated Hunter Heck, and McDaniel defeated Gabrielius Guzauskas, giving each of them their second singles win for the weekend.
Tech ended the invitational on a high note, winning all of their matches on Monday. Chopra won his singles match against Ben Gollin of North Carolina, giving him the singles title. Andres Martin also won his singles match against Jayden Templeman of Columbia.
In doubles action, Martin and Dong won against Mac Kiger and Peter Murphy of North Carolina 6-3. Chopra and Schelcher won their third doubles match of the weekend 6-3 against Ben Gollin and Hugo Hashimoto of Columbia, giving them the doubles title.
The ACC named Chopra the ACC Men’s Tennis Player of the week following his undefeated performance at the invitational.
Tech men’s tennis will host Georgia State at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex on Jan. 21.
Tech women’s tennis began their spring schedule at the Carolina Kickoff, hosted by South Carolina, with Auburn and Wake Forest attending as well. Going into this tournament, the ITA National Ranking Committee released the Preseason Coaches Poll, in which Tech’s women’s team was ranked at No. 12 and Auburn at No. 25.
The round robin-style tournament was originally slated to have one round of singles and doubles on Jan. 14, two rounds of doubles and one round of singles on Jan. 15 and a final round of singles action on Jan. 16. Inclement weather changed the schedule so that the tournament would end on Saturday, Jan. 15, with teams playing one round of singles and one round of doubles.
On the first day of the tournament, Tech won five singles matches. Gia Cohen, Monika Dedaj, Rosie Garcia Gross, Mahak Jain and Kate Sharabura all secured wins against South Carolina. In the doubles, Sharabura and Carol Lee won 6-3 against Ariana Arsenault and Selin Ovunc of Auburn.
The tournament concluded on Saturday with Tech earning five singles wins and one doubles win. Carol Lee, ranked No. 85, won against Anna Campana of Wake Forest, who is ranked No. 75. Jain, Cohen, Marsh and Sharabura also secured singles victories against Wake Forest. Lee and Sharabura won their doubles match 6-3 against Anna Brylin and Brooke Killingsworth of Wake Forest, who comprise the country’s No. 2 ranked doubles team.
Following the tournament, Sharabura was named the ACC Freshman of the Week, winning four of her five matches at the tournament. Tech women’s tennis will host Georgia Southern at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex on Jan. 22.