The Georgia men’s tennis team picked up its second shutout of the weekend on Sunday afternoon, defeating Florida State, 7-0, at the Lindsey Hopkins Indoor Courts. The Bulldogs opened dual-match play on Friday by blanking Mercer.
“I thought we played an extremely tough match everywhere,” Georgia head coach Manuel Diaz said, adding, “From top to bottom, we did a great job.”
Georgia (2-0) got off to a strong start in doubles and quickly took a 1-0 lead in the match. At the No. 2 spot, Bulldogs Blake Croyder and Billy Rowe defeated Marcus Walters and Loris Pourroy, 6-1, and then at No. 3, Philip Henning and Erik Grevelius beat Andreja Petrovich and Richard Thongoana, 6-4, to clinch the doubles point.
Once singles play began, Croyder made it 2-0 Bulldogs in rapid fashion, defeating Petrovich 6-2, 6-2 at No. 4. Not long after, Henning made it 3-0 with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Sebastian Arcila at No. 2. Including his 6-1, 6-0 win against Mercer on Friday, Henning lost just six total games in two singles matches over the weekend.
“Those two guys got off the court and with the doubles it kind of gave us a lot of momentum, but then we found ourselves in really tough spots and close matches at (Nos. 1 and 3),” Diaz said. “We don’t win those two matches, it gets a little hairy, right? That’s the exciting thing about dual matches, especially on four courts, momentum swings even more dramatically.”
Bryde and Pourroy played a neck-and-neck match at No. 1 singles, with two tight sets from start to finish. At 4-all in the first set, Bryde was able to take the final two games to win the set. The second set went all the way to a tiebreaker, which Bryde also narrowly won, for a 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) victory and a 4-0 Bulldog win.
Tyler Zink overcame an early deficit against Thongoana at No. 3 singles to push Georgia’s lead to 5-0. Thongoana took the first set and the two were tied 5-5 in the second when Zink won the next two games to force a third set. In the third, Zink earned a break of serve and pulled out a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 win.
“They were good, they were tough,” Bryde said of the Seminoles, “and it was definitely nice to get a sweep and not lose a match out there. Some of them were really tough. I had a tight second set, Tyler went three sets, but we’re happy with how we all played and how we played under pressure.”
At No. 5 singles, Georgia’s Baptiste Anselmo defeated Walters, 6-2, 6-4, and at No. 6, Rowe closed out the sweep with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Chase Wood.
The Bulldogs return to action on Jan. 31 at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex, when they host eighth-ranked N.C. State at 1 p.m. Bryde was ranked No. 9 in the ITA preseason rankings and N.C. State’s Alexis Galarneau was No. 7, which could make for a big early-season matchup at the No. 1 singles spot.
“He’s a really good player, he’s one of the top players in the country,” Bryde said of Galarneau, “and I’m really excited for the test. It’s going to be a lot of fun and I hope we have a good atmosphere, and hopefully we can get off to a good start in doubles and carry it on into singles. I’m really excited for that test.”
For more information on the Bulldogs, go to Georgiadogs.com. You can also get updates on the team via Twitter (@UGATennis) and Instagram (@ugatennis).
Results
Doubles
1. Trent Bryde/Tyler Zink (UGA) vs. Alex Knaff/Sebastian Arcila (FSU), 4-5 (unfinished)
2. Blake Croyder/Billy Rowe (UGA) def. Marcus Walters/Loris Pourroy (FSU), 6-1
3. Philip Henning/ Erik Grevelius (UGA) vs. Andreja Petrovich/Richard Thongoana (FSU), 6-4
Singles
1. Trent Bryde (UGA) def. Loris Pourroy (FSU), 6-4, 7-6 (7-5)
2. Philip Henning (UGA) def. Sebastian Arcila (FSU), 6-2, 6-3
3. Tyler Zink (UGA) def. Richard Thongoana (FSU), 4-6, 7-5, 6-4
4. Blake Croyder (UGA) def. Andreja Petrovich (FSU), 6-2, 6-2
5. Baptiste Anselmo (UGA) vs. Marcus Walters (FSU), 6-2, 6-4
6. Billy Rowe (UGA) vs. Chase Wood (FSU), 6-2, 6-3
Order of Finish
Doubles: 2, 3,
Singles: 4, 2, 1, 3, 5, 6