University of Georgia Athletics
Georgia Men's Tennis 2011 Season In Review
June 14, 2011 | Men's Tennis
June 14, 2011
ATHENS, Ga. --- Entering the 2011 season, the Georgia men's tennis team had more questions than it did answers.
Besides senior captains and long-time lineup staples Javier Garrapiz and Drake Bernstein, who would make up the Bulldogs' top six? Who would play doubles together? Could a roster including four freshmen and three transfers keep Georgia positioned as a national championship contender?
Only time would tell.
"It was a great challenge to all of us, not knowing a whole lot about these guys," said 23rd year head coach Manuel Diaz. "I think all of our players really did a tremendous job in the way they set their goals and went to work trying to improve each day. For that, this was one of the most rewarding seasons and teams I've ever been a part of. They really came to believe in themselves and in each other, and I think not only did they achieve a lot, they put themselves and the program's future in a great place and are going to help our program for years to come."
New-look Georgia posted a strong fall campaign, started off when freshman and native South African Hernus Pieters won the singles title and teamed with Garrapiz for the doubles title at the season-opening Southern Intercollegiates in Athens in September. Garrapiz and junior transfer Sadio Doumbia then took their talents to Tulsa, Okla., in October for the ITA All-America Championships, where Doumbia played his way into the main draw and Garrapiz reached the finals of the consolation draw against some of the nation's top tennis players.
At the USTA/ITA Southeast Regional in Florida, it was junior Wil Spencer's turn to shine, as he became the 10th Bulldog to capture the singles title to earn a bid to the ITA National Indoor Championships in Flushing, N.Y.
The Bulldogs continued to showcase their potential at the 2011 SEC Coaches Indoor Championships in January, with the Dogs sweeping the singles and doubles crowns on the Tennessee campus in Knoxville, Tenn., with Spencer claiming the singles title by way of defeating each of the top three seeds. Meanwhile, Garrapiz and Pieters took the doubles with their first of two wins this season over the eventual ITA Doubles Team of the Year, UT's JP Smith and Boris Conkic.
After punching its ticket to the ITA National Indoors in Seattle with two wins in the Athens Kick-off, Georgia avenged a first round loss to the Volunteers by claiming two wins over top-15 opponents on the West Coast including over No. 8 Stanford.
After a pair of early setbacks in the dual match slate at the hands of Ohio State and Georgia Tech, the Bulldogs would eventually rattle off 14 straight victories between the National Indoors and the South Carolina match on April 10 in Athens, which clinched Georgia at least a share of the Southeastern Conference title - Georgia's league-leading 33rd overall and 26th regular-season championship.
That set up a rematch with Tennessee in the final match of the regular season on Senior Day with Georgia looking to win the championship outright.
The April 16 meeting with the Vols didn't go as the Bulldogs had planned, with UT winning 4-3 in a tightly-contested match in front of a record crowd of 2,060 at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. The attendance was the highest of the season in the nation as well as the highest since the ITA began keeping records in 2008. It broke Georgia's previous season- and nation-best of 1,146 the week before vs. Florida. The teams therefore split the regular season title with matching SEC records of 10-1 heading into the conference tournament in Gainesville, Fla.
There, Georgia suffered an early exit at the hand of Kentucky in the semifinals, but the Bulldogs - as usual - were primed to play their best tennis when it mattered most.
Seeded sixth overall for the NCAA Championships and hosting a regional, Georgia punched its ticket to the round of 16 at Stanford with first and second round wins over Samford and Auburn, respectively. In Palo Alto, the Bulldogs looked stronger than they had any point during the season, taking down Duke in one of the toughest round of 16 matches on the board to set up a third meeting between Georgia and Tennessee in the quarterfinals.
In the most exciting match of the Bulldogs' season, Georgia avenged the early-season losses to the Vols with a 4-3 win even after losing the doubles point - sending UGA to the semifinals for the fifth time in six seasons. The clincher vs. Tennessee came as Spencer defeated four-time All-American and SEC Player of the Year JP Smith in three sets. Behind Spencer's effort that day, Georgia got wins from fellow transfers Doumbia and Ignacio Taboada in addition to the rookie Pieters, firmly answering the question of whether the new players would make an impact on Georgia Tennis.
Georgia fell in the semifinals to the eventual national champs Southern Cal - who have now won back-to-back-to-back titles, doing so in their home state in front of hundreds of loyal Trojan fans who made the trip up the coast.
In 2012, Bulldog fans won't have to travel quite that far to see their team make a run at its seventh national championship, as the NCAA Championships come home to Athens for a record 27th time next season. When that time gets here, returning four of six members of the lineup, Georgia won't have quite as many questions.
"We have a lot to look forward to," Diaz said. "We gain a lot of confidence from this season. The young guys learned so much from the leadership of our captains - their dedication and competitive spirit - and now they know a whole lot more about what to expect near year. Each and every one of them, whether a freshman or junior or senior, really knows now what it means to be a Georgia Bulldog."
2010-11 HIGHLIGHTS:
*NCAA semifinals for fifth time in six seasons
*SEC champions (26th regular-season, 33rd overall)
*14-match winning streak
*Final ranking of No. 5
*Javier Garrapiz and Drake Bernstein win 100th career singles matches, only the 13th and 14th Georgia players to do so
*Garrapiz wins 200th combined match (202)
*Garrapiz and Pieters earn All-America status as No. 4 seed in NCAA doubles tournament
*Wil Spencer earns All-America honors after finishing ranked in the top 20 of the final singles poll
*Five players win 30+ matches
*Garrapiz and Pieters end No. 6 in ITA doubles rankings, Spencer No. 14 in singles
AWARDS AND HONORS:
*All-America: Javier Garrapiz (doubles), Hernus Pieters (doubles), Wil Spencer (singles)
*ITA Southeast Freshman of the Year: Hernus Pieters
*ITA Southeast Region Arthur Ashe Award: Wil Spencer
*All-SEC: Javier Garrapiz (1st), Wil Spencer (1st), Drake Bernstein (2nd), Sadio Doumbia (2nd), Hernus Pieters (Freshman)
*SEC All-Tournament Team: Ignacio Taboada
*SEC Player of the Week: Javier Garrapiz (April 5), Wil Spencer (Jan. 26)
*SEC Freshman of the Week: Hernus Pieters (Feb. 23)
*SEC Community Service Team: Drake Bernstein
