University of Georgia Athletics
Bulldogs Making Most Of Depth
May 18, 2016 | Men's Tennis
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
Don't call them specialists, because they're not. Well, Nick Wood may admit to being one.
Some tennis teams go six deep, with the top six players making up the singles and doubles lineups. Some teams utilize a seventh player, who only plays singles or doubles.
Others, more than you might think, do what seventh-ranked Georgia does, which is regularly use eight players in a dual match. Top-ranked Virginia did in the second round of the NCAA tournament, as did No. 2 UCLA. The seventh-ranked Bulldogs have two players that primarily only play doubles, senior Ben Wagland and freshman Emil Reinberg, while Wood, another senior, and freshman Walker Duncan play only singles.
That's the lineup the Bulldogs (22-4) have used for most of the dual-match season, including Sunday afternoon at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex, in their 4-1 win over Baylor in the second round of the NCAA men's tennis tournament.
It worked Sunday, as it has worked throughout the spring. Georgia went undefeated in the SEC during the regular season, had a 16-match win streak and has won 18 of its past 19 matches.
Georgia's longtime coach, Manuel Diaz, said he couldn't recall another of his teams going eight players deep in nearly every match. But again, Wagland and Reinberg aren't doubles specialists. Wagland played No. 1 singles for the Dogs at times during his freshman and sophomore seasons, and played No. 4 last season. Reinberg has played singles in half of Georgia's 26 matches, when other players were out of the lineup, and is 10-3.
"It's not that they're specialists, it's that we have that much depth," Diaz said of Wagland and Reinberg. "Ben is a three-time All-American in doubles, and he could be a four-time, ... and Emil's as good at singles as he is at doubles. This is the way it worked out."
At the beginning of the spring, Wood and Duncan missed some time due to injuries. When they returned, it was singles only for them as Georgia's doubles lineups were set: Wagland and Smith at No. 1, sophomore Paul Oosterbaan and freshman Jan Zielinski at No. 2 and Reinberg and sophomore Wayne Montgomery at No. 3. Neither Duncan nor Wood has played doubles in a dual match, while Wood is 14-2 in singles, mostly at No. 6, and Duncan is 14-4, including eight wins at No. 4.
Wagland and Smith will play in the NCAA doubles tournament next week, while Smith and Montgomery are in the singles draw. Oosterbaan is an alternate in the singles draw.
Wood is fine with only playing singles, admitting that he's "not a natural doubles player," whereas many of his teammates are. Duncan said he'd like to be out there, but only if he's a better option than one of the Dogs' starting six.
"I like doubles and hopefully we can find a good teammate for me next year," Duncan said. "If not, if everybody else plays better than me, then that's completely cool, too."
Wagland has played No. 1 doubles throughout his four seasons at Georgia, first with Hernus Pieters for two seasons and the past two mostly with Austin Smith. Both tandems have been very productive and among the top doubles teams in the country.
"In the juniors in Australia I played a lot of doubles and a lot of our coaches there are great doubles players," said Wagland, from Sydney, Australia. "I really love playing doubles; just my game complements it, serving and volleying and just coming in and knocking off volleys."
As doubles has gotten shorter in the past few seasons, with no-ad scoring introduced and the eight-game pro-set reduced to a regular set, being sharp from the first point has gotten increasingly critical. And if you're Wagland and you're not in the singles lineup, then that doubles set is your only chance to contribute to a Georgia win.
"You've got to come out there focused and with a lot of energy. It think it's definitely a little bit of an adjustment for me and probably put a little bit more pressure on myself, because I know I'm not going to be out there in singles and I want to do well for my team," he said. "It's my last year and it's a little bit disappointing not playing singles, but there's more to look forward to — and to do well at the NCAAs would mean more to me than getting out there and playing singles this year."
Georgia takes on No. 10 seed USC (17-6) in the NCAA round of 16 at 5 p.m. Friday in Tulsa, Okla. The Trojans, in their second-round win over Georgia Tech, also went eight deep.
The bottom line, Diaz said, is that you put the guys out there that give you the best chance to win, whether it's six or eight. One thing he likes about playing his top eight on a deep Georgia squad is that everyone stays match sharp.
"The benefit is that we're able to keep guys in the lineup and they're playing," he said. "Even if they're not playing singles, they're playing doubles and they're getting some action."
Friday's match, in essence, may be the Dogs' top eight in action versus Southern Cal's top eight. That's some action for you — with a spot in the NCAA quarterfinals on the line.
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
Players Mentioned
