ATLANTA. – Georgia State men's tennis fell 4-2 to Charlotte (3-1) in the season opener Saturday afternoon at the Atlanta Athletic Club.
GSU opened the contest by clinching the doubles point with victories on courts one and three. No. 30 Andrei Duarte/Roberts Grinvalds secured their first ranked doubles win of the season with a 6-2 result over No. 39 Benjamin Wayand/Henry Lieberman at the No. 1 position. Freshman Mihai Marinescu paired with senior Kevin Huynh on the third court. The rookie and veteran pairing earned a 6-3 win in their first outing to help clinch the one-point advantage.
Vazha Shubladze picked up a quick 6-1, 6-0 victory in singles play to extend the Panthers lead to 2-0. Duarte and Harvey Maughan fell on courts two and four as Charlotte evened the score. Marinescu, who jumped out to a hard fought lead on court three, ultimately was outlasted in three sets to give the 49ers their first advantage of the day.
Charlotte was able to clinch the victory behind a straight set win on court five while court six action went unfinished.
"Tough one out there today, but the team competed hard in our first match back in what seemed like forever," said head coach Jonathan Wolff. "Credit to Charlotte for picking up their level to fight back in singles and take the match. We will continue to get more reps in and get stronger everyday this season. It is a quick turn around with two tough matches on the road next week so we need to rebound quick and hit the ground running in practice."
Georgia State is back in action Feb. 5 against Liberty in Lynchburg, Va. First serve is set for 2:00 p.m.
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CLT 4, GSU 2
Doubles
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No. 30 A. Duarte/R. Grinvalds (GSU) def. No. 39 H. Lieberman/B. Wayand (CLT) 6-2
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H. Maughan/V. Shubladze (GSU) vs. I. de Rueda/O. Wallin (CLT) 5-3 (unfinished)
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K. Huynh/M. Marinescu (GSU) def. L. Menezes/C.Thomson (CLT) 6-3
Singles
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V. Shubladze (GSU) def. H. Lieberman (CLT) 6-1, 6-0
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B. Wayand (CLT) def. A. Duarte (GSU) 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
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O. Wallin (CLT) def. M. Marinescu (GSU) 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-3
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I. de Rueda (CLT) def. H. Maughan (GSU) 7-5, 7-6(3)
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S. Savva (CLT) def. R. Grinvalds (GSU) 7-6(2), 7-6(4)
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L. Menezes (CLT) vs. D. Padilha (GSU) 6-3, 2-2 (unfinished)
