Georgia to Host ITA Kickoff Weekend

Sunday, January 29

Athens, Ga.

2:30 p.m.

University of Georgia

LSU

January 27, 2023 | Men's Tennis

Tournament Central Cracked Racquets Cast Day One Cracked Racquets Cast Day Two Live Video and Stats Season Stats

ATHENS, Ga. – The 15^th-ranked University of Georgia men's tennis team will host a region of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Kickoff Weekend event on Jan. 29 and 30 at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex, where Louisville, Miami and LSU will join the Bulldogs to compete for a spot at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Chicago on Feb. 17-20.

MEDIA INFORMATION
Season Stats: https://gado.gs/9yn
Live Streaming & Stats: https://gado.gs/9kh
Cracked Racquets Cast Day One: https://gado.gs/9yo
Cracked Racquets Cast Day Two: https://gado.gs/9yp
Tournament Central: https://gado.gs/9y0

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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.

SCHEDULE
Sunday, Jan. 29:
Match 1: 11 a.m. – Louisville vs. Miami
Match 2: 2:30 p.m. – Georgia vs. LSU

Monday, Jan. 30:
Match 3: 11 a.m. – Loser Match 1 vs. Loser Match 2
Match 4: 2:30 p.m. – Winner Match 1 vs. Winner Match 2

QUICK HITS
Kickoff Weekend
The top-seeded Bulldogs will play its first match of Kickoff Weekend on Sunday, Jan. 29 at 2:30 p.m. ET against conference foe four-seed LSU. Despite going up against a Southeastern Conference opponent, the match result will not count toward either teams' conference record. The day will begin with two-seed Louisville and three-seed Miami playing at 11 a.m. ET.

The championship match will be played the following day on Monday, Jan. 30 at 2:30 p.m., with the consolation match coming beforehand at 11 a.m. The first 100 fans at each of Georgia's matches will receive free coffee and donuts.

The Dan Magill Tennis Complex has become a frequent spot as a regional site for the ITA Kickoff Weekend. This will be the eighth time Georgia has been selected as a host site in the last 10 years and the 12^th since 2009. This year, teams who ranked in the top-16 of the final ranking of the 2022 season were selected as a regional host for the event.

Should Georgia advance to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Chicago, it would mark the second year in a row doing so, the first time the program has done it since going in consecutive years in 2017 and 2018.

Diaz's Details
"It certainly it a great reward for us to be hosting a portion of this even again," said head coach Manny Diaz. "Our team last year really put us in the position where we get to stay home and play. Our guys are looking forward to competing in front of our fans and being at home after two weekends on the road. We are excited to battle against some great teams, starting with a great match against LSU on Sunday. We're expecting to be pushed and challenged, but we certainly are planning on being ready for this test."

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. The player rankings will update next on Feb. 8.

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 Tigers
LSU will play its first match of the dual match season against Georgia at the ITA Kickoff Weekend. The four seed, the Tigers have one representative in both singles in doubles. No. 18 Ronnie Hohmann is the lone athlete ranked in singles for LSU after finishing the fall with a 7-3 record, while No. 20 Stefan Latinovic and Nick Watson ended the fall season with a 9-2 record after not starting the year ranked.

Scouting the Hurricanes
Miami is the three seed in the field and the only team in the field Georgia has played against in the fall season, as the Hurricanes hosted the Bulldogs for the Miami Spring Invite from Jan. 6 to 8. Georgia went 8-5 against Miami in singles and 3-2 in doubles throughout the course of the weekend.

Graduate student Dan Martin is the lone athlete appearing in the ITA player rankings, slotting at No. 73 in the singles poll. Martin is 10-4 in singles competition through the fall season and two dual matches. The Hurricanes have swept both of their opponents, beating both Troy and Binghamton by a 4-0 result at home thus far.

Scouting the Cardinals
The two-seed in the field, Louisville is the only other team featured in the most recent ITA team rankings, listed as one of seven teams unranked programs receiving votes in the poll. The Cardinals are 4-0 after sweeping UIC, No. 24 Northwestern and Eastern Kentucky and beating Bellarmine by a 6-1 score, all at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center.

Louisville has four athletes ranked in singles with three in the top 50, led by No. 25 Natan Rodrigues. A sophomore, Rodrigues is 10-3 on the year and 2-0 at the top court in dual matches. No. 36 Fabien Salle, No. 42 Etienne Donnet and No. 61 Matthew Fang round out the rest of the Cardinals in the singles poll. The team also has a pair of doubles teams ranked in No. 9 Rodrigues and Salle as well as Will Mayew and David Mizrahi.

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 55^th 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 ITA 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.