Players Mentioned
Men's tennis is double the trouble at Mercer Invitational
10/10/2015 12:37:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Both doubles teams advanced to the third round after the first day at Macom
MACON, Ga. - Both of the doubles pairs for the Georgia Southern men's tennis team advanced to the third round of doubles play in the Mercer Gridiron Invitational. Junior Chris Kerrigan and freshman Andre Johnson led the team by taking down the No. 1 doubles pair from UNC Wilmington 6-1 to make it to the quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, Nico de Groof and Adam Brown coincidentally didn't have to play a match in order to make it to the quarterfinals, due to first-round bye and a withdrawal from CCG due to an injury.
In the singles brackets, de Groof and Kerrington both snatched first-round victories but couldn't keep the momentum going. Kerrington dropped to Nicolas Guillon of Mercer 6-4, 6-2 and de Groof was tripped up by Xander Veys of UNCW 6-2, 6-1.
Both freshmen received bye rounds in Friday's morning matches. Johnson went on to lose to Arnav Mohanty of Mercer in three sets, while Brown finished off Corrie Pickering of SCAD in two sets (6-2, 7-5).
WHAT HEAD COACH SANDER KONING HAD TO SAY
On the first day
"Overall it was a pretty good day. We definitely had some positives and definitely have some things we need to improve upon, but I was pleased with the fact that the guys all played how we did in practice. They're committed to what we're doing in practice, and they tried to translate that into their matches. It might take them a little more time to really solidify that, but hopefully we can do a little bit better tomorrow."
On Chris Kerrington and Nico de Groof
"Chris and Nico won their first matches. They played very well, very consistent. Unfortunately they both lost their second-round match. Nico played a really good guy from UNCW. It just came down to him losing some deuce points. Those are the golden points in games, and if he can win a couple of those, he can make it a lot closer.
"Chris had the right game plan but didn't really execute it well enough, so he has to do better than that. But we see some good things that we've been working on in practice, and now he just needs to execute a little bit better."
On Andre Johnson and Adam Brown
"Andre played a guy from Mercer, who played No. 1 mostly last year. It was a pretty good match. Andre had a good amount of chances, but whenever he had momentum, he didn't quite keep it going. As soon as he got momentum, he kind of played tentative and gave his opponent a little bit of breathing room to work his game. That's really what it came down to, and I think it's more of a freshmen mistake that he has to learn from, and he has to get better from it.
"Adam won his second round. He played very well. He had to overcome some adversity himself, but he did a good job, and he's in the third round now of his singles' draw."
On the doubles matches
"Andre and Chris played in the Doubles A draw, and they played against the No. 1 team last semester at UNCW. Honestly, UNCW came out kind of flat, and our guys just took advantage of that, and they didn't let up. They stayed consisted throughout the doubles and were able to get the win. It was pretty big. I'm very pleased with how they played especially going up quick and solidifying their games.
"Nico and Adam didn't have to play, because their opponents game them a walkover so they're in the third round without even playing. It's kind of funny, but I guess sometimes that's the way it goes."
RESULTS
SINGLES
No. 1 Singles- Andre Johnson
Johnson bye
Mohanty (Mercer) def. Johnson (GS) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
No. 2 Singles- Chris Kerrigan
Kerrigan (GS) def. Pejic (NSU) 6-4, 6-4
Guillon (Mercer) def. Kerrigan (GS) 6-4, 6-2
No. 3 Singles- Nico de Groof
de Groof (GS) def. Soderlund (FSC) 6-2, 6-3
Veys (UNCW) def. de Groof (GS) 6-2, 6-1
No. 4 Singles- Adam Brown
Brown bye
Brown (GS) def. Pickering (SCAD) 6-2, 7-5
DOUBLES
No. 1 Doubles- Johnson/Kerrigan
Johnson/Kerrigan bye
Johnson/Kerrigan def. Leskinen/Van der Burgh (UNCW) 6-1
No. 2 Doubles- de Groof/Brown
de Groof/Brown bye
de Groof/Brown def. Dunn/Law (CCG)- withdrawal due to injury
WHO PLAYS WHO
-Johnson goes head-to-head against Ben Dolan of CCG in the No.1 Singles consolation bracket.
-Brown continues through the main draw of the D Singles flight by taking on Derek Bell of FSC at 10 a.m.on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Nico de Groof and Adam Brown coincidentally didn't have to play a match in order to make it to the quarterfinals, due to first-round bye and a withdrawal from CCG due to an injury.
In the singles brackets, de Groof and Kerrington both snatched first-round victories but couldn't keep the momentum going. Kerrington dropped to Nicolas Guillon of Mercer 6-4, 6-2 and de Groof was tripped up by Xander Veys of UNCW 6-2, 6-1.
Both freshmen received bye rounds in Friday's morning matches. Johnson went on to lose to Arnav Mohanty of Mercer in three sets, while Brown finished off Corrie Pickering of SCAD in two sets (6-2, 7-5).
WHAT HEAD COACH SANDER KONING HAD TO SAY
On the first day
"Overall it was a pretty good day. We definitely had some positives and definitely have some things we need to improve upon, but I was pleased with the fact that the guys all played how we did in practice. They're committed to what we're doing in practice, and they tried to translate that into their matches. It might take them a little more time to really solidify that, but hopefully we can do a little bit better tomorrow."
On Chris Kerrington and Nico de Groof
"Chris and Nico won their first matches. They played very well, very consistent. Unfortunately they both lost their second-round match. Nico played a really good guy from UNCW. It just came down to him losing some deuce points. Those are the golden points in games, and if he can win a couple of those, he can make it a lot closer.
"Chris had the right game plan but didn't really execute it well enough, so he has to do better than that. But we see some good things that we've been working on in practice, and now he just needs to execute a little bit better."
On Andre Johnson and Adam Brown
"Andre played a guy from Mercer, who played No. 1 mostly last year. It was a pretty good match. Andre had a good amount of chances, but whenever he had momentum, he didn't quite keep it going. As soon as he got momentum, he kind of played tentative and gave his opponent a little bit of breathing room to work his game. That's really what it came down to, and I think it's more of a freshmen mistake that he has to learn from, and he has to get better from it.
"Adam won his second round. He played very well. He had to overcome some adversity himself, but he did a good job, and he's in the third round now of his singles' draw."
On the doubles matches
"Andre and Chris played in the Doubles A draw, and they played against the No. 1 team last semester at UNCW. Honestly, UNCW came out kind of flat, and our guys just took advantage of that, and they didn't let up. They stayed consisted throughout the doubles and were able to get the win. It was pretty big. I'm very pleased with how they played especially going up quick and solidifying their games.
"Nico and Adam didn't have to play, because their opponents game them a walkover so they're in the third round without even playing. It's kind of funny, but I guess sometimes that's the way it goes."
RESULTS
SINGLES
No. 1 Singles- Andre Johnson
Johnson bye
Mohanty (Mercer) def. Johnson (GS) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
No. 2 Singles- Chris Kerrigan
Kerrigan (GS) def. Pejic (NSU) 6-4, 6-4
Guillon (Mercer) def. Kerrigan (GS) 6-4, 6-2
No. 3 Singles- Nico de Groof
de Groof (GS) def. Soderlund (FSC) 6-2, 6-3
Veys (UNCW) def. de Groof (GS) 6-2, 6-1
No. 4 Singles- Adam Brown
Brown bye
Brown (GS) def. Pickering (SCAD) 6-2, 7-5
DOUBLES
No. 1 Doubles- Johnson/Kerrigan
Johnson/Kerrigan bye
Johnson/Kerrigan def. Leskinen/Van der Burgh (UNCW) 6-1
No. 2 Doubles- de Groof/Brown
de Groof/Brown bye
de Groof/Brown def. Dunn/Law (CCG)- withdrawal due to injury
WHO PLAYS WHO
-Johnson goes head-to-head against Ben Dolan of CCG in the No.1 Singles consolation bracket.
-Brown continues through the main draw of the D Singles flight by taking on Derek Bell of FSC at 10 a.m.on Saturday.
- Johnson/Kerrigan face Dunn and Seller of CCG at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday in the Doubles A bracket.
- de Groof/Brown play their first doubles match of the tournament on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
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