Sunday, January 15
Tallahassee, FL
1 p.m.
University of Georgia
at
Florida State
Photo by: Kayla Renie/UGAAA
Seventh-Ranked Georgia Begins 2023 Campaign at Florida State
January 13, 2023 | Men's Tennis
ATHENS, Ga. – The seventh-ranked University of Georgia men's tennis team will begin its 2023 dual match season this Sunday at 1 p.m. ET as they travel to Tallahassee to take on the No. T-16 Florida State Seminoles at the Scott Speicher Memorial Tennis Center.
MEDIA INFORMATION
Season Stats: https://gado.gs/9xb
Live Stats: https://gado.gs/9x9
Live Streaming: https://gado.gs/9xa
Social Media
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Bulldogs by following UGA Men's Tennis on social media on Twitter and Instagram @UGATennis, on Facebook @UGAMensTennis, and on web at GeorgiaDogs.com.
QUICK HITS
Returners and Newcomers
The Bulldogs return seven players off last year's roster, including last year's regular choices in singles for court two (Philp Henning), court four (Trent Bryde) and court five (Blake Croyder). Rounding out the returnees are Ethan Quinn, who redshirted last season, sophomores Thomas Paulsell and Miguel Perez Peña and senior Britton Johnston.
Graduate student Teodor Giusca will make his debut for the Red and Black on Sunday as well. Giusca, a Bucharest, Romania native, transferred from Clemson after a successful four years with the Tigers. He frequently played the top court in both singles and doubles, peaking at No. 22 in doubles with partner Ryuhei Azuma, finishing with a 27-8 record in singles and 19 wins in doubles on the year.
"The tradition of Georgia men's tennis stood out to me when I was looking at schools," said Giusca. "How respected Coach Diaz is across the country and how many championships he's won meant a lot to me. On top of that, with how many players he's coached that have made it big on tour, it made me think this is the place I'll grow the most as both a tennis player and a person."
Redshirt freshman Filipe Costa also joins the Bulldogs' roster. The São Paulo, Brazil native came to Athens after starting his collegiate career at Arizona State. Costa attended high school at Milton High School and grew up in Roswell. He enters the dual match season with a 2-2 record during the fall this year.
"Being at Georgia is a dream come true," said Costa. "I wake up and look forward to each practice with all the guys every day. Coach Diaz and Coach Hunt have been such a fantastic and positive influence on me in just the first few months, and I can't wait to see what the next few years have in store."
Fantastic Fall
Georgia enjoyed a successful fall that saw multiple athletes win tournament titles.
The season began with the 55th annual Southern Intercollegiate Championships, where redshirt freshman Ethan Quinn won the singles title and seniors Croyder and Johnston earned the doubles title.
Quinn found continued success at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-America Championships, where he made a run to the Finals to meet teammate Philip Henning, marking the first time since 1996 that teammates played each other for the championship. Quinn earned the crown, giving Georgia its sixth winner in the event, tying Stanford for the most all-time. Quinn and Bryde advanced to the quarterfinals in doubles as well.
Croyder gave Georgia its fourth and final tournament winner of the fall season, winning the singles draw at the ITA Southeast Regional. The senior defeated Florida State's Antione Cornut-Chauvnic, the field's seven seed, and former teammate Erik Grevelius to earn the title. Top-seeded Bryde and Henning finished as the runners-up of the doubles field as well.
The Winningest Coach in SEC History
With 744 wins, 28 Southeastern Conference championships, four NCAA titles and two Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Team Indoors titles, Georgia's Manny Diaz is the most decorated coach in the SEC's history. Coach Diaz enters his 35th season at the helm of the program and has earned the conference's Coach of the Year award six times, most recently in 2017. Under Diaz's direction, Georgia has advanced to the NCAA Tournament Finals 11 times and is only one of two active head coaches with multiple national championships.
Diaz's Details
"We've had some great practices this week," said Coach Diaz. "Our focus has been impeccable the last couple of days, but it's going to take our best to win. This is a huge challenge for us. We're playing the team that eliminated us from the NCAA Tournament last year, at their place. They have improved their lineup from last year and they are going to be a formidable opponent on Sunday. Our kids are excited and I believe we'll be ready to play a very good match."
New Beginnings
For their first match of the year, the Bulldogs will take on the Seminoles, who were their final opponent of the 2021-22 season. Florida State defeated 11-seeded Georgia in a tightly contested 4-3 result in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. The Bulldogs finished the year with a No. 10 ranking in the final 2022 ITA team poll.
Dawgs in the Rankings
In the final player rankings of the fall season, redshirt freshman Quinn earned the top spot in the singles poll after a strong start to his collegiate career, going 9-0 in the fall and winning the ITA All-American Championships. Quinn was joined by No. 10 Philip Henning in the top 10, making Georgia just one of two schools to have multiple players represented in the top 10.
The Bulldogs put five players in the singles rankings in total, rounded out by No. 21 Blake Croyder, No. 70 Teodor Giusca and No. 106 Trent Bryde. The Red and Black had a pair of tandems in the doubles rankings as well, led by 19th-ranked Bryde and Quinn and followed by No. 55 Croyder and Britton Johnston.
Georgia was named the seventh-best team in the country on the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings after a dominant fall season. The team accumulated 67 wins in singles competition, 18 of which came against ranked opponents, and 20 in doubles. The Bulldogs are one of four teams in the Southeastern Conference ranked in the top 10, joining No. 4 Kentucky, No. 6 Tennessee and No. 10 South Carolina. The SEC had the most schools ranked of any conference, with seven (No. 12 Florida, No. 23 Auburn and No. 24 Texas A&M).
Georgia was also picked to finish at the top of the Southeastern Conference by the league's coaches. The Bulldogs received 155 points, edging just past Tennessee, who finished second. Rounding out the top five are Kentucky, South Carolina and Florida, respectively.
Georgia holds the most regular-season championships of any school in the SEC with 31 titles, 19 more than Florida, who holds the second most, with 12. Should the Red and Black win the conference crown this year, it would be the first time doing so since 2017. It would also be the program's 42nd overall conference title with 11 tournament crowns.
Scouting the Seminoles
Florida State returns eight of its players from the previous season's roster and brings in two newcomers. While the 2021 ITA Newcomer of the Year, Cornut-Chauvnic, did not play last year, he has been anchoring court one in the Seminoles' two wins over Hawaii and California. He and Loris Pourroy (court two) are the only players to play the same position in their first two matches.
FSU has three players who were ranked in the final ITA Fall rankings, all of which were in singles. No. 12 Cornut-Chauvnic is their highest-ranked player with a 15-3 record, followed by No. 24 Youcef Rihane and No. 53 Jamie Connel. The Seminoles have no teams ranked in doubles.
MEDIA INFORMATION
Season Stats: https://gado.gs/9xb
Live Stats: https://gado.gs/9x9
Live Streaming: https://gado.gs/9xa
Social Media
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Bulldogs by following UGA Men's Tennis on social media on Twitter and Instagram @UGATennis, on Facebook @UGAMensTennis, and on web at GeorgiaDogs.com.
QUICK HITS
Returners and Newcomers
The Bulldogs return seven players off last year's roster, including last year's regular choices in singles for court two (Philp Henning), court four (Trent Bryde) and court five (Blake Croyder). Rounding out the returnees are Ethan Quinn, who redshirted last season, sophomores Thomas Paulsell and Miguel Perez Peña and senior Britton Johnston.
Graduate student Teodor Giusca will make his debut for the Red and Black on Sunday as well. Giusca, a Bucharest, Romania native, transferred from Clemson after a successful four years with the Tigers. He frequently played the top court in both singles and doubles, peaking at No. 22 in doubles with partner Ryuhei Azuma, finishing with a 27-8 record in singles and 19 wins in doubles on the year.
"The tradition of Georgia men's tennis stood out to me when I was looking at schools," said Giusca. "How respected Coach Diaz is across the country and how many championships he's won meant a lot to me. On top of that, with how many players he's coached that have made it big on tour, it made me think this is the place I'll grow the most as both a tennis player and a person."
Redshirt freshman Filipe Costa also joins the Bulldogs' roster. The São Paulo, Brazil native came to Athens after starting his collegiate career at Arizona State. Costa attended high school at Milton High School and grew up in Roswell. He enters the dual match season with a 2-2 record during the fall this year.
"Being at Georgia is a dream come true," said Costa. "I wake up and look forward to each practice with all the guys every day. Coach Diaz and Coach Hunt have been such a fantastic and positive influence on me in just the first few months, and I can't wait to see what the next few years have in store."
Fantastic Fall
Georgia enjoyed a successful fall that saw multiple athletes win tournament titles.
The season began with the 55th annual Southern Intercollegiate Championships, where redshirt freshman Ethan Quinn won the singles title and seniors Croyder and Johnston earned the doubles title.
Quinn found continued success at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-America Championships, where he made a run to the Finals to meet teammate Philip Henning, marking the first time since 1996 that teammates played each other for the championship. Quinn earned the crown, giving Georgia its sixth winner in the event, tying Stanford for the most all-time. Quinn and Bryde advanced to the quarterfinals in doubles as well.
Croyder gave Georgia its fourth and final tournament winner of the fall season, winning the singles draw at the ITA Southeast Regional. The senior defeated Florida State's Antione Cornut-Chauvnic, the field's seven seed, and former teammate Erik Grevelius to earn the title. Top-seeded Bryde and Henning finished as the runners-up of the doubles field as well.
The Winningest Coach in SEC History
With 744 wins, 28 Southeastern Conference championships, four NCAA titles and two Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Team Indoors titles, Georgia's Manny Diaz is the most decorated coach in the SEC's history. Coach Diaz enters his 35th season at the helm of the program and has earned the conference's Coach of the Year award six times, most recently in 2017. Under Diaz's direction, Georgia has advanced to the NCAA Tournament Finals 11 times and is only one of two active head coaches with multiple national championships.
Diaz's Details
"We've had some great practices this week," said Coach Diaz. "Our focus has been impeccable the last couple of days, but it's going to take our best to win. This is a huge challenge for us. We're playing the team that eliminated us from the NCAA Tournament last year, at their place. They have improved their lineup from last year and they are going to be a formidable opponent on Sunday. Our kids are excited and I believe we'll be ready to play a very good match."
New Beginnings
For their first match of the year, the Bulldogs will take on the Seminoles, who were their final opponent of the 2021-22 season. Florida State defeated 11-seeded Georgia in a tightly contested 4-3 result in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. The Bulldogs finished the year with a No. 10 ranking in the final 2022 ITA team poll.
Dawgs in the Rankings
In the final player rankings of the fall season, redshirt freshman Quinn earned the top spot in the singles poll after a strong start to his collegiate career, going 9-0 in the fall and winning the ITA All-American Championships. Quinn was joined by No. 10 Philip Henning in the top 10, making Georgia just one of two schools to have multiple players represented in the top 10.
The Bulldogs put five players in the singles rankings in total, rounded out by No. 21 Blake Croyder, No. 70 Teodor Giusca and No. 106 Trent Bryde. The Red and Black had a pair of tandems in the doubles rankings as well, led by 19th-ranked Bryde and Quinn and followed by No. 55 Croyder and Britton Johnston.
Georgia was named the seventh-best team in the country on the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings after a dominant fall season. The team accumulated 67 wins in singles competition, 18 of which came against ranked opponents, and 20 in doubles. The Bulldogs are one of four teams in the Southeastern Conference ranked in the top 10, joining No. 4 Kentucky, No. 6 Tennessee and No. 10 South Carolina. The SEC had the most schools ranked of any conference, with seven (No. 12 Florida, No. 23 Auburn and No. 24 Texas A&M).
Georgia was also picked to finish at the top of the Southeastern Conference by the league's coaches. The Bulldogs received 155 points, edging just past Tennessee, who finished second. Rounding out the top five are Kentucky, South Carolina and Florida, respectively.
Georgia holds the most regular-season championships of any school in the SEC with 31 titles, 19 more than Florida, who holds the second most, with 12. Should the Red and Black win the conference crown this year, it would be the first time doing so since 2017. It would also be the program's 42nd overall conference title with 11 tournament crowns.
Scouting the Seminoles
Florida State returns eight of its players from the previous season's roster and brings in two newcomers. While the 2021 ITA Newcomer of the Year, Cornut-Chauvnic, did not play last year, he has been anchoring court one in the Seminoles' two wins over Hawaii and California. He and Loris Pourroy (court two) are the only players to play the same position in their first two matches.
FSU has three players who were ranked in the final ITA Fall rankings, all of which were in singles. No. 12 Cornut-Chauvnic is their highest-ranked player with a 15-3 record, followed by No. 24 Youcef Rihane and No. 53 Jamie Connel. The Seminoles have no teams ranked in doubles.
Players Mentioned
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