In men’s tennis, the fifth-ranked Georgia Bulldogs (2-0) defeated the Purdue Boilermakers (3-1) 4-1 on Friday afternoon at the Lindsey Hopkins Indoor Facility during the ITA Kick-off Weekend.
In the first-ever meeting between the two schools, Georgia handed Purdue its first loss of the season, improving the Bulldogs’ all-time record to 56-11 against teams in the Big Ten Conference.
“I’m awfully proud of our guys,” head coach Manuel Diaz said. “Our entire team has had the flu this week. Our guys have certainly been through a rough week to say the least. For them to be back in 48 hours says a lot about them. We know Purdue is a very good team. I was very impressed with them as the match on today, but our guys kept fighting.”
Georgia overtook Purdue in doubles, led by the 6-4 win from junior Wayne Montgomery and freshman Nathan Ponwith on the No. 2 court.
The 54th-ranked tandem of Robert Loeb and Jan Zielinski on court No. 1 followed, forcing the match into a tiebreaker. They clinched the doubles point with a 7-6 (3) final, halting the tiebreaker on the No. 3 court of Paul Oosterbaan and Walker Duncan.
Purdue evened the match at 1-1 in singles play as Stephan Koenigsfest downed Oosterbaan 6-2, 6-4, until No. 22-ranked Montgomery put Georgia back on top 2-1 with a 6-3, 6-2 advantage over No. 49 Gergely Madarasz.
No. 124th-ranked Nathan Ponwith extended the match margin to 3-1. The SEC Freshman of the Week won a tiebreaker in the first set, 7-1, and sealed the second set at 6-3. At the No. 5 position, Jan Zielinski clinched the match, 6-2, 6-1.
Georgia’s next match is slated on Sunday afternoon for 1 p.m. ET against Washington.
Singles Results
1. #22 Wayne Montgomery (UGA) def. #49 Gergely Madarasz (Purdue) 6-3, 6-2
2. #31 Emil Reinberg (UGA) vs. Ricy Medinilla (Purdue) 6-3, 3-6, 4-3, unfinished
3. #124 Nathan Ponwith (UGA) def. #70 Benjamin Ugarte (Purdue) 7-6 (1), 6-3
4. Stephan Koenigsfest (Purdue) def. Paul Oosterbaan (UGA) 6-2, 6-4
5. #56 Jan Zielinski (UGA) def. Athell Bennett (Purdue) 6-2, 6-1
6. #79 Walker Duncan (UGA) vs. Renan Hanayama (Purdue) 4-5, unfinished
Doubles Results
1. #54 Robert Loeb/Jan Zielinski (UGA) def. Ricky Medinilla/Dominik Sochurek (Purdue) 7-6 (3)
2. Paul Osterbaan/Walker Duncan (UGA) vs. Gergely Madarasz/Athell Bennett (Purdue) 6-6, unfinished
3. Wayne Montgomery/Nathan Ponwith (UGA) def. Benjamin Ugarte/Stephan Koenigsfest (Purdue) 6-4
CLICK HERE for the full results of the match between Georgia and Purdue.