Daily Dawg Thread: February 04, 2025

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Daily Dawg Thread: February 04, 2025

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MTEN: Tech Visits Athens Today

Thomas Paulsell

The University of Georgia men’s tennis team begins a three-match home stand at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex with an in-state rivalry match against Georgia Tech on Tuesday.

 

 

 

 

Match Six – Georgia Tech
Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025
Lindsey Hopkins Indoor Facility
Live Streaming/Live Stats: https://gado.gs/91i
Promotion: First 100 UGA Student Receive ‘Wreck Tech’ T-Shirt
Instagram: @UGATennis | X: @UGATennis | Facebook: UGAMensTennis

BULLDOG BULLETIN
The First Serve: Coming off a heart-breaking loss to No. 4 Wake Forest, Georgia prepares for a three-match home stand at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex against Georgia Tech on Tuesday, No. 5 Virginia on Friday and North Carolina on Sunday.

 

 

 

 

Prior to the dual match season, the Bulldogs put together several strong performances through the fall. Headlined by Thomas Paulsell’s round of 16 run in the NCAA Singles Championships, three Bulldogs (Paulsell, Perez Peña and Pinto Sansano) qualified for the NCAA individual tournament. Paulsell qualified for the championships by way of finishing as a semi-finalist at the ITA Conference Masters Championships in Rome, Ga. Perez Peña qualified after being crowned co-champion of the ITA Southeast Regional, and Pinto Sansano after winning the 5-8 playoff at the ITA South Sectional. Interestingly, by reaching the round of 16 in the singles tournament, Paulsell was recognized as the program’s 55th All-American.

The Bulldogs culled together 77 singles wins in the fall, 13 of which were over ranked opponents. In doubles, Georgia had 24 total wins – eight ranked. The Bulldogs individual records from the fall (spring records in parentheses) are compiled below:

Singles:
Freddy Blaydes: 5-3 (0-2)
Ryan Colby: 11-7 (3-1)
Filipe Costa: 2-5 (1-0)
Parker Jacques: 5-3 (N/A)
Cyrus Mahjoob: 6-4 (1-0)
Parker Mariencheck: 2-5 (N/A)
Thomas Paulsell: 13-6 (1-3)
Miguel Perez Peña: 9-6 (4-0)
Oscar Pinto Sansano: 9-6 (2-1)
Niels Ratiu: 6-5 (2-2)
Gabriele Vulpitta: N/A (2-1)

Doubles: 
Blaydes/Ratiu: 10-5 (N/A)
Paulsell/Colby: 7-4 (2-2)
Perez Peña/Pinto Sansano: 5-5 (NA)
Costa/Mahjoob: 2-3 (N/A)
Jacques/Mariencheck: 0-4 (N/A)
Ratiu/Vulpitta: N/A (2-0)
Blaydes/Pinto Sansano: N/A (2-1)
Perez Peña/Ratiu: N/A (1-2)

*Arda Azkara, Cooper Johnson and Gabriele Vulpitta are entering their first semester with Georgia.
** Davis Taylor did not feature in ITA-sanctioned matches during the fall.

Fresh From the Start: Since 2000, Georgia is 23-3 in season openers. The figure becomes in more dominant when looking at non-power four conferences. Against such, the Bulldogs are 11-0 when playing a non-power four conference in a season opener.

Interestingly, Georgia also opened the 2021 and 2025 campaign at home with 7-0 victories over in-state rival, Mercer. More, the Bulldogs have now defeated Presbyterian 7-0 in their previous two meetings in Athens.

This year’s season opener also marked the first official match of first year head coach Jamie Hunt‘s tenure as the head coach of Georgia. Although it is a small sample size, new head coaches are 3-0 in season openers (Magill, Diaz and Hunt). 

Last Time Out: Last weekend, the Bulldogs traveled to face No. 4 Wake Forest at the Wake Forest Tennis Center.

After No. 14 Paulsell/Colby earned their highest ranked doubles win individually and as a pairing 6-3 over No. 4 Tacchi/Pow, the  Demon Deacons grabbed the doubles point after taking wins on courts one and three over Perez Peña/Ratiu and Blaydes/Pinto Sansano, respectively, each by a 6-4 score.

Going into singles play, Wake Forest’s Luciano Tacchi and Stefan Dostanic earned quick straight sets wins on courts six and one, in order, over Blaydes and No. 16 Paulsell. Down 3-0 in the match, the Bulldogs needed a spark to turn the match on its head. No. 53 Colby, No. 44 Perez Peña and Ratiu each grabbed first set wins on courts two, three and four. Meanwhile, No. 125 Pinto Sansano dispatched Luca Pow on court five going 6-1, 6-1 to put Georgia on the board. The Demon Deacons, needing just one more win, were able to send courts two, three and four to a third set before Colby and Perez Peña earned wins on their respective courts to level the dual match score at 3-all. Interestingly, Colby’s win on court two over No. 7 DK Suresh is his highest ranked win in singles. However, Wake Forest’s Charlie Robertson was able to flip the script in the third set of his match against Ratiu earned a nail-biting 4-3 win for the home side.

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Greg is closing in on 15 years writing about and photographing UGA sports. While often wrong and/or out of focus, it has been a long, strange trip full of fun and new friends.