(Photo by John Paul Van Wert / Georgia Sports Communications)
The Georgia men’s tennis team flexed their No.5 ranking and dominated Washington on Sunday, shutting out the Huskies in the ITA Kick-off Weekend championship match.
Georgia handed Washington its first loss of the season in the Bulldogs’ first shutout since May of 2016 against then-No. 3 North Carolina.
“We don’t see [Washington] very often, so a lot of the players that they had out there were new to us,” head coach Manny Diaz said. “But we knew that they were well-coached, and they were going to provide a big challenge to us. Every single doubles match and every single singles match was tough, and I’m really proud of the way our guys came through.”
The 54th-ranked team of Robert Loeb and Jan Zielinski picked up the first match win of the championship over Piers Foley and Wendell Watanabe on Court 1, 6-2, to improve to 2-0 on the season. The team of Paul Oosterbaan and Walker Duncan on Court 2 followed, clinching the doubles point for Georgia with a 6-4 win against Kawika Lam and Enzo Summer.
With the first team point in tow for Georgia, No. 22 Montgomery improved his spring record to 2-1 with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over No. 60 Mitch Stewart in the first set of singles.
Zielinski tacked on another Georgia point in the fourth set, coming back from behind in both sets to dispatch Jake Douglas 7-5, 7-5. The 56th-ranked sophomore is 2-1 on the spring.
After falling to Gal Halak in the first set 4-6, Ponwith tied up the second set at five and forced the match into a third round. To seal Georgia’s shutout, however, No. 31 Emil Reinberg clinched his second match of the season against Summer 6-4, 5-7, 6-2.
Up next for the Bulldogs will be the SEC/Pac-12 Challenge on Feb. 4-5 in Gainesville, Fla.
RESULTS
Doubles:
No. 1 #54 Robert Loeb/Jan Zielinski (UGA) def. Piers Foley/Wendell Watanabe (UW) 6-2
No. 2 Paul Oosterbaan/Walker Duncan (UGA) def. Kawika Lam/Enzo Summer (UW) 6-4
No. 3 Wayne Montgomery/Nathan Ponwith (UGA) vs. Amit Batta/Jake Douglas (UW), unfinished
Singles:
No. 1 #22 Wayne Montgomery (UGA) def. #60 Mitch Stewart (UW) 6-4, 6-4
No. 2: #31 Emil Reinberg (UGA) vs. Enzo Summer (UW) 6-4, 5-7, 6-2
No. 3 #124 Nathan Ponwith vs. Gal Halak 4-6, 7-6 (6), unfinished
No. 4 #56 Jan Zielinski (UGA) def. Jake Douglas (UW) 7-5, 7-5
No. 5 #79 Walker Duncan (UGA) vs. Joao Barra (UW), unfinished
No. 6 Robert Loeb (UGA) vs. Amit Batta (UW), unfinished
Order of finish: doubles (1,2); singles (1, 4, 2)