The Georgia men’s tennis team recorded six singles wins and had three doubles tandems advance to the semifinals to bring to an end the first day of the 2019 Southern Intercollegiate Championships late Friday evening. All in all, players from 12 schools battled hot temperatures and an 11-hour day on Friday at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. The action resumes at 8 a.m. on Saturday with a round of doubles followed by two rounds of singles. 

“It was a very long day, but I thought our team showed pretty good conditioning overall,” head coach Manuel Diaz said. “We saw really great play from several of our guys. Overall, there were really good things in doubles but some things we could do better. It was a tremendous first day for us. Playing at home was great, and it was a great atmosphere. I think all the teams here are really enjoying this tournament.”

Three Georgia doubles teams advanced to the semifinals of their respective compass draws. The freshman combo of Erik Grevelius and Mateo Reyes — the No. 3 seed in the year’s event — advanced with wins against Georgia Tech and Clemson. 

Philip Henning and Blake Croyder played together for a 7-6 (5) win against Georgia Tech counterparts Andres Martin and Keshav Chopra. Teammate Sam Dromsky — who won the double draw in last year’s Southern Intercollegiates — teamed with UCF’s Mikhail Sokolovsky for two victories on Friday. 

In singles, five of the six wins for Georgia came from underclassmen, including a straight-set win from freshman Mateo Reyes. Fellow rookie, Grevelius, took his opponent to a third set in a 6-7 (1), 6-4, 7-6 (4) heartbreaker.