Aggressive southpaw who made a big jump and became a starter for the Irish at No. 5 singles in 2004-05 ... again figures to be challenging for playing time in singles ... forehand and versatility are his main strengths ... former clay-courter who has worked on adapting to a faster surface ... has improved his backhand and serve ... has worked on coming to the net more frequently, which allows him to capitalize on opportunities created by his groundstrokes ... adept at using lots of spin and hitting the ball flat ... very organized and detail-oriented ... can hit wide serve effectively ... native of the former Soviet republic of Georgia who now resides in Austria ... earned monogram in 2004-05, becoming first Austrian product to do so for the Irish men's tennis team.
AS A JUNIOR: Saw limited action for the Irish ... went 3-3 overall in singles, including a 1-1 mark in dual action (all at No. 6) ... went 0-1 with Yuichi Uda in his only doubles action of the season ... went 1-2 indoors, 0-1 in tie breakers, 1-3 in close sets, 0-1 when winning the first set, 2-1 outdoors, 0-1 in close matches, 3-2 at home and 2-2 against the Midwest Region ... split four matches at the Tom Fallon Invitational ... defeated Andrew Mazlin of Michigan, 6-3, 6-4, and Jonathan Tishler of Drake, 6-2, 6-2 ... lost to Colin Foster of Purdue, 7-5, 6-2, and Patrick Thompson of Ball State, 7-5, 7-6 (7) ... filled the No. 6 spot in dual matches against Duke and Bradley ... dropped his match against Christopher Brown of the Blue Devils, 6-3, 6-2, but beat Michel Macarachvili of Bradley, 6-0, 6-0.
AS A SOPHOMORE: Earned spot as a starter in Irish singles lineup in 2004-05 ... finished 26-14 overall in singles, including 13-9 in dual action (2-2 at No. 4, 11-7 at No. 5) ... upset #36 Darrin Cohen 7-5, 7-6 in ND's 4-3 loss to #2 Virginia for his first career win over a ranked player ... also beat Pramod Dabir to give Notre Dame its lone point in loss to #3 Illinois ... prevailed against Rice in 4-3 Irish win ... other top victories came against Northwestern and Michigan ... had four clinching victories ... posted 13-5 record in fall ... won consolation title in B flight of Crimson Tide Fall Championships ... won three matches to qualify for main draw of ITA Midwest Championships and advanced to second round before losing to #56 Paul Rose from Purdue ... was 2-2 in doubles during the fall ... went 1-2 with Jimmy Bass and 1-0 with Andrew Roth.
AS A FRESHMAN: Was victorious in dual-match debut, defeating Antoni Aniello of Saint Joseph's 6-1, 6-3 at No. 6 ... posted 3-3 mark in fall action, finishing third in the C flight of the season-opening Rice Crowne Plaza Invitational, as well as winning one of three match tiebreakers in the Tom Fallon Invitational ... in only doubles action of the season, paired with Patrick Buchanan in the Crowne Plaza Invitational and split two matches, claiming the B flight's consolation championship.
HIGH SCHOOL AND PERSONAL DATA: One of the top juniors in Austria ... was ranked in national top 40 in men's division ... member of the Georgia Davis Cup team ... played for Vienna Athletic Club team that won Vienna men's team championship in '03 ... in 2001, won Casely's Junior Championship in 18s in Miami, Fla., and was a quarterfinalist in European Tennis Association 16s tournament in Krems, Austria ... had a number of other strong finishes in junior events ... his father is a senior officer of the United Nations ... born March 23, 1985, in Tbilisi, Georgia ... enrolled in the College of Arts and Letters as an economics major.
