The 18th-ranked Georgia men’s tennis team defeated the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, 4-1, in thrilling fashion Sunday afternoon at the Byers Tennis Complex in Atlanta.
Crucial to the Bulldogs’ win was sophomore Blake Croyder, who grabbed Georgia’s first singles win of the day. Croyder’s win marked his 12th-straight dual singles win dating back to last season.
Georgia improves to 3-1 overall, while Georgia Tech falls to 3-2 on the season. Georgia head coach Manuel Diaz now has 703 career wins, trailing Bulldog great Dan Magill (706) by only three.
“I am really pleased with our energy and relentless initiative in singles and doubles,” Georgia head coach Manuel Diaz said. “It was a total team effort, and the guys fed off each other to make a big difference in the match. Tyler [Zink] showed a lot of resolve in coming back to clinch the match. Trent [Bryde] was a point away from winning at No. 1 singles, and Philip [Henning] did a great job in pulling out a long second set tiebreak. Blake [Croyder] has now won 12-straight singles dual matches dating to last year, and I’m very proud of him.”
Starting out in doubles, Georgia’s 17th-ranked duo of Philip Henning and Croyder battled to a 6-3 victory over Yellow Jackets Keshav Chopra and Andres Martin. The sophomore pair leads the Bulldogs with five wins over nationally-ranked opponents.
Clinching the doubles point for the Dogs were Tyler Zink and Trent Bryde. The freshman-sophomore tandem extended its win streak to four-straight with a 6-2 win against Georgia Tech’s team of Pablo Schelcher and Marcus McDaniel. Zink and Bryde improve to 4-0 when playing together this season.
With a 1-0 lead heading into singles, the Bulldogs’ No. 88 Croyder was able to push the lead to 2-0 over the Jackets. Croyder made quick work at court six with a 6-1, 6-2 win against Carlos Divar, but it would be Georgia’s only seemingly quick contest of the day.
Henning, the Bulldogs’ highest-ranked player at No. 12, won a hard-fought battle at the No. 2 court in a second-set tiebreak. Though he trailed for moments in the second set, Henning was relentless and managed to tie it at 6-all. Finally, the sophomore Bulldog overcame Yellow Jacket Cole Gromley to win 6-4, 7-6 (10-8).
Freshman Tyler Zink clinched the win for Georgia. One of three Bulldogs to force third sets after falling in the first, Zink took the last two sets to oust Pablo Schelcher (2-6, 6-2, 6-3) and seal the 4-1 victory.
The Bulldogs travel to Austin, Texas, next for their matchup against the Texas Longhorns on Saturday, Feb. 8, at 1 p.m. ET.
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