ORLANDO – The Yellowjacket men's tennis team dropped its second match in a row Wednesday, falling to Piedmont University of Demorest, Ga., 7-2 at the United States Tennis Association National Campus.
 
The loss was the second in a row, and fifth in the last six matches for the Yellowjackets (8-8).
 
There were a number of exciting matches Wednesday.
 
In doubles play, the Yellowjackets dropped matches at No. 2 and No. 3 before getting on the board with a big win a No. 1. Ren Kurachi (Yokohama, Japan/Yokosuka Gakuin), who retired from his singles match Tuesday afternoon, and Igor Guetten Chaves (Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil/Colégio Adventista) teamed up to defeat Piedmont's top duo of Simon Johnstone and Silan Saddles, 8-7. With the match deadlocked at 7-7, the Yellowjacket pair came through to take the tiebreaker, 7-4, winning the match.
 
The lone victory in singles play for the Yellowjackets was another thriller.
 
Sharan Kanugovi (Bangalore, Karnataka/New Baldwin International School), who had a good day Tuesday, came from behind to get the win at No. 2 singles over Mark Backeberg. Kanugovi dropped the opening set 7-6 (8-6 tiebreaker) before evening things up with a 6-2 win in the second set. In the tiebreaker, Kanugovi pulled away early and cruised to a 10-5 win, winning the third set 1-0 and the match.
 
Match Notes

• Piedmont pulled away in singles play, taking the first three matches to clinch the win for the day.
• Guetten Chaves found himself in a battle at No. 1 singles. After dropping the first set, he rallied to win the second set 6-4 before falling in the third set.
• Yash Chhabra (Jaipur, Rajasthan/Sanskar School) took the first set of his match at No. 4 singles, 6-3, before losing the second set by the same score. In a tight third-set tiebreaker, Chhabra fell 10-8.
• At No. 5 singles, Jacob Zacharias (Cambridge, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti) put up a fight after losing the opening set 6-1. Zacharias came back and pushed the second set all the way to a tiebreaker, one he ultimately lost 7-2.
• Kanugovi now has a 16-5 singles record on the year.
• The doubles win for Guetten Chaves and Kurachi snapped a four-match losing streak for the duo.

The Yellowjackets return to action Thursday when they take on Franciscan at the Oak Street Tennis Courts in Kissimmee, Fla. The first serve is set for 10 a.m.
  Read Full Article