University of Georgia Athletics
Bulldogs Take on Winthrop in NCAA First Round Action Saturday
May 12, 2005 | Men's Tennis
May 12, 2005
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Championship Chase...
The sixth-seeded Bulldogs begin their pursuit of a fifth national championship on Friday as they host Winthrop in the first round of the NCAA tournament at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex at 1:00 p.m. The second round of the tournament will also be held in Athens. Should Georgia advance, the team would face the winner of the other first round tilt between Clemson and Northwestern. The winner of the second round match will move on to College Station, Texas, for the remainder of the tournament, beginning with the round of 16.
Bulldog Duo Earns No. 1 Seed...
The Georgia doubles team of sophomore John Isner and junior Antonio Ruiz are now ranked No. 1 in the country, according to the latest ITA National Singles and Doubles Rankings, released May 2. The pair has also earned the No. 1 seed in the NCAA doubles championship tournament.
The duo has posted a 25-6 record on the year, going 17-4 in dual matches. After winning the SEC Indoor tournament championship in January, the pair went 8-3 in regular-season conference play and 2-0 in the end of season conference tournament, including a win over No. 10 Hamid Mirzadeh and Greg Ouellette of Florida. On the year, Isner and Ruiz posted a 13-3 record against ranked opponents, including a 4-0 mark against Top-10 teams. Their No. 1 ranking marks the first time that a Bulldog doubles team has been ranked No. 1 since the 2001 season when Matias Boeker and Travis Parrott won the NCAA Doubles Championship.
Isner Selected To Championship Tourney...
In addition to his tournament selection as a doubles player, Isner will be Georgia's lone representative in the singles championship. He was one of four automatic qualifiers to come out of the Southeast Region, joining Jesse Witten of Kentucky, Catalin Gard of Mississippi and Franticek Babej of South Alabama.
Isner Joins Century Club...
John Isner's two singles victories in the SEC tournament brought him above the 30-win mark for the season. For his career, Isner has already racked up 51 singles wins in just two years, posting an overall record of 51-18 for a .740 winning percentage. With a career doubles total of 66-13 (.835), he has reached well beyond the 100-win plateau and is on pace to break 200 about midway through his senior year. His 100th career win came on March 11, 2005, as he put down Mark Growcott of LSU, 7-6, 6-3.
Complimenting Isner's 30-win effort, the other five `starters' on the team all eclipsed the 20-win pinnacle, marking the first time that all six `starters' for Georgia posted 20-plus singles wins in the same season since 2002, when Georgia finished as the national runner-up. The other Dogs with 20-plus wins are Colin Purcell (27-10), Matic Omerzel (26-15), Ricardo Gonzalez (23-9), Antonio Ruiz (21-13) and Strahinja Bobusic (21-16).
Doubles Makes A Difference...
As a team, the Bulldogs swept all three doubles matches 10 times on the year and held a 9-1 record when doing so. Georgia has won the doubles point a total of 17 times, recording an 15-2 mark in those matches. The doubles point has proven to play a crucial role in several matches this year. In both of Georgia's 4-3 losses, one to Mississippi State and the other to South Carolina, the Bulldogs won three singles matches but dropped the doubles point. The doubles point also proved to be the difference in their win over Kentucky.
Strahinja Bobusic and Colin Purcell have fallen out of the rankings despite a in the second spot with a 22-9 record. Ricardo Gonzalez and Matic Omerzel hold down the third doubles spot with a mark of 20-11.
Georgia In The Rankings...
The latest ITA Collegiate Rankings, released Monday, May 2, list the Bulldogs at No. 7 as a team, down one spot from the week before. Despite a 2-0 record at the SEC Tournament, John Isner slipped to No. 21. Antonio Ruiz moved up one notch to No. 71, while Matic Omerzel slid to No. 100. On the doubles chart, Isner and Ruiz now stand at No. 1 in the nation.
Dogs Remain Dominant At Home...
Georgia's home record over the last two seasons is a stellar 26-3. That span also included a 22-game home win streak.
The Bulldogs hope to take advantage of their success at home when they host first two rounds of the NCAA tournament, as they did last year. In 2004, Georgia easily dispatched both Tennessee Tech and No. 43 Texas, by respective scores of 4-0 and 4-2, in Athens.
NCAA Tournament Preview...
Georgia enters the 2005 NCAA Tournament as the No. 6 seed. As a first and second round host site, Athens will see teams from Clemson, Northwestern and Winthrop join the Bulldogs on the courts. Georgia's first round match will be with the Winthrop Eagles at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Winthrop posted a 20-4 record on the year, notching its second straight Big South Conference championship to receive an automatic bid. The 75th-ranked Eagles are led by senior Clayton Almeida, a four-time Big South Conference Player of the Year. The contest will mark the first-ever meeting between the Bulldogs and the Eagles.
The winner of the Georgia/Winthrop match will advance to the second round to take on the victor of the Clemson/Northwestern match at 2 p.m. on Sunday.
Clemson enters the tournament with a record of 24-10 and is currently ranked No. 27. Northwestern carries a record of 12-12 and a national ranking of No. 46.
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