The Georgia men’s tennis team will square off against No. 4 seed Southern California in the NCAA Championships Round of 16 this afternoon at 4:00 p.m. ET at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, GA.
The Bulldogs (20-7, 11-1 SEC) and Trojans (27-5, 5-2 Pac-12) each hosted first- and second-round matches May 12-13 before advancing to the Round of 16. Georgia defeated Florida A&M, 4-0, before taking down No. 22 South Florida, 4-1. The Trojans earned a sweep in each of the first two rounds with 4-0 wins over Denver and No. 30 Wisconsin.
This will be the second-consecutive season in which the two schools met in the Round of 16, following last year’s thrilling 4-3, come-from-behind victory for the Bulldogs. Then-senior Austin Smith trailed 5-3 in the third set with the match tied at 3-3, before coming back and clinching what Georgia head coach Manuel Diaz at the time called “without a doubt… one of the best college tennis matches” he had ever been a part of.
The two teams also met earlier this season as part of the SEC/Pac-12 Showdown. USC got the better of the Bulldogs with a 4-0 win.
RANKINGS
Georgia is currently ranked 12th in the Oracle/ITA team rankings and sits at No. 8 in the USTA Top 25. In singles rankings, Wayne Montgomery leads the Bulldogs at No. 33, followed by Nathan Ponwith at No. 56. Emil Reinberg is ranked 59th.
In doubles, Jan Zielinski and Robert Loeb hold the top spot in the national rankings and will be the No. 1 seed in the individual doubles tournament. Ponwith and Reinberg are ranked 67th.
For the 2017 NCAA Men’s Tennis Championship Brackets, CLICK HERE.
CLICK HERE for the 2017 NCAA Round of 16 Tournament Central page.