University of Georgia Athletics
Wednesday, October 16
Athens, Ga.
University of Georgia
vs
ITA Regionals
Sophomore Cyrus Mahjoob in a singles match during the 56th annual Southern Intercollegiate Championships at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga. on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024.
Georgia Set to Begin Play in ITA Regionals
October 15, 2024 | Men's Tennis
ATHENS, Ga. – Several athletes from the University of Georgia men's tennis team are set to begin play in the ITA Southeast Regional Championships on Wednesday at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
Wednesday, Oct. 16 – Sunday, Oct, 20
Daily Match Start Time: 8:00 a.m. ET
ITA Regional Championships Tournament Page: https://gado.gs/c7i
Southeast Regional Tournament Central Page: https://gado.gs/c6r
Instagram: @UGATennis | X: @UGATennis | Facebook: UGAMensTennis
BULLDOG BULLETIN
The First Serve: The ITA Southeast Regional Championships will be the third tournament of the fall for the Bulldogs. Originally set to be hosted last week in Lake Nona, Fla., conditions from Hurricane Milton prompted the tournament's postponement and eventual relocation to Athens.
Since 2009, eight Bulldogs have been crowned the singles champion and one pairing as the doubles champion at the ITA Southeast Regional. A list of Georgia's individual and doubles champions are compiled below:
2010: Wil Spencer – Singles
2013: Nathan Pasha – Singles
2014: Austin Smith – Singles
2017: Walker Duncan – Singles
2017: Robert Loeb/Jan Zielinski – Doubles
2018: Jan Zielinski – Singles
2022: Blake Croyder – Singles
2023: Miguel Perez Peña – Singles
*In 2019, Erik Grevelius won the singles consolation draw
Interestingly, in 2023, Miguel Perez Peña outlasted teammate Cyrus Mahjoob in the semifinals of the singles draw to eventually crown a Bulldog in the tournament for the second consecutive year.
Qualifying Queries: Two more singles qualification bids, along with one doubles qualification bid, are up for grabs in the regional. The two singles finalists of the main draw, as well as the doubles champions, will earn their spots in the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships later this November.
In singles, No. 14 Thomas Paulsell enters the tournament as the No. 1 overall seed in the main draw. Fellow Bulldog No. 28 Ryan Colby is the No. 3 overall seed, and No. 64 Miguel Perez Peña and No. 84 Oscar Pinto Sansano are the No. 6 and No. 8 overall seeds, respectively. Niels Ratiu slots in the draw as the No. 12 overall seed. Freddy Blaydes, Filipe Costa and Cyrus Mahjoob also feature in the main draw. Parker Jacques and Parker Mariencheck will begin singles play in the qualifying draw.
In doubles, Georgia pairings make up the top three seeds of the tournament. No. 2 Blaydes/Ratiu are the No. 1 overall seed, No. 33 Paulsell/Colby are the No. 2 overall seed, and No. 44 Perez Peña/Pinto Sansano are the No. 3 overall seed. Costa/Mahjoob continue in doubles play together, and Jacques/Mariencheck maintain their pairing.
Last Time Out: The Bulldogs had a two-week break from action since play in the ITA Men's All-American Championships concluded.
No. 14 Paulsell headlined the weekend for Georgia picking up four singles wins and reaching the semi-finals of the main draw consolation stage. No. 28 Colby went 2-2 in singles action, and No. 64 Perez Peña boasted a 3-2 record in singles play.
In doubles action, No. 2 Blaydes/Ratiu grabbed impressive wins over the No. 32 (Godsick/Banerjee – Stanford) and the No. 47-ranked (Schiessl/Dous Karpenschif – Florida State) pairings in the country, reaching the semifinals of the doubles main draw consolation stage. No. 33 Paulsell/Colby earned their highest ranked doubles wins of their career with a victory over No. 54 Forbes/Sheldon (Michigan State).
Rank the Dawgs: Four Bulldogs were ranked in the top 100 of the preseason ITA singles rankings to begin the fall season. Thomas Paulsell leads the group with a career-best and team-high No. 14 position in the first edition. Ryan Colby settles in at No. 28 with Miguel Perez Peña and Oscar Pinto Sansano following just behind at No. 64 and No. 86, respectively.
In the doubles rankings, Freddy Blaydes and Niels Ratiu both earned a career-high ranking of No. 2. Paulsell and Colby featured at No. 33, and the Spanish duo of Perez Peña and Pinto Sansano come in at No. 44.
New Faces, New Places: The Bulldogs welcomed several new faces to Athens for the 2024-25 season.
Freshman Aidan Atwood and VCU transfer Oscar Pinto Sansano will join the ranks for the fall campaign. Atwood, a five-star recruit from Suwanee, Ga., held a career-best ITF Junior world ranking of 2,588 and was named the Forsyth County News Boys Tennis Player of the Year in 2022. Pinto Sansano began his collegiate career at Arkansas and compiled a 7-14 singles dual match record before spending transferring to VCU for two seasons. With VCU, Pinto Sansano held a 20-5 overall singles dual match record and was ranked as high as No. 31 in ITA doubles ranking. Prior to his collegiate career, he was regarded as the No. 53 junior in UTR world rankings.
Head Coach Jamie Hunt: Jamie Hunt, who was part of Georgia's 2007 and 2008 NCAA National Championship teams as a player and served seven years on the Georgia men's tennis staff as an associate head coach, was tabbed to lead the Bulldogs' men's tennis program on Feb. 27, 2024.
Since returning to Athens in 2017, Hunt has twice been named the ITA Southeast Region Coach of the Year and helped the Bulldogs capture the 2023 SEC Championship with a perfect league record.
Hunt played for Coach Diaz from 2007-2010 and helped lead Georgia to a pair of national championships. Following his playing career, Hunt made his way to Nashville to become an assistant coach at Vanderbilt.
Hunt was a star tennis player and leader for the Bulldogs' tennis program from 2007 through 2010. His 116 singles wins rank 12th all-time in school history for the four-time All-SEC selection, while his combined singles and doubles record of 238-80 ranks third in the Georgia record book.
Hunt and his wife Kyndal Edwards Hunt met as seniors at the University of Georgia and have five children: Daughter Blakely, son Hayes, twins -- daughter Macy and son Hudson -- and son Ford.
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Bulldogs by following UGA men's tennis on social media on X and Instagram @UGATennis, on Facebook @UGAMensTennis and on the web at GeorgiaDogs.com.
Wednesday, Oct. 16 – Sunday, Oct, 20
Daily Match Start Time: 8:00 a.m. ET
ITA Regional Championships Tournament Page: https://gado.gs/c7i
Southeast Regional Tournament Central Page: https://gado.gs/c6r
Instagram: @UGATennis | X: @UGATennis | Facebook: UGAMensTennis
BULLDOG BULLETIN
The First Serve: The ITA Southeast Regional Championships will be the third tournament of the fall for the Bulldogs. Originally set to be hosted last week in Lake Nona, Fla., conditions from Hurricane Milton prompted the tournament's postponement and eventual relocation to Athens.
Since 2009, eight Bulldogs have been crowned the singles champion and one pairing as the doubles champion at the ITA Southeast Regional. A list of Georgia's individual and doubles champions are compiled below:
2010: Wil Spencer – Singles
2013: Nathan Pasha – Singles
2014: Austin Smith – Singles
2017: Walker Duncan – Singles
2017: Robert Loeb/Jan Zielinski – Doubles
2018: Jan Zielinski – Singles
2022: Blake Croyder – Singles
2023: Miguel Perez Peña – Singles
*In 2019, Erik Grevelius won the singles consolation draw
Interestingly, in 2023, Miguel Perez Peña outlasted teammate Cyrus Mahjoob in the semifinals of the singles draw to eventually crown a Bulldog in the tournament for the second consecutive year.
Qualifying Queries: Two more singles qualification bids, along with one doubles qualification bid, are up for grabs in the regional. The two singles finalists of the main draw, as well as the doubles champions, will earn their spots in the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships later this November.
In singles, No. 14 Thomas Paulsell enters the tournament as the No. 1 overall seed in the main draw. Fellow Bulldog No. 28 Ryan Colby is the No. 3 overall seed, and No. 64 Miguel Perez Peña and No. 84 Oscar Pinto Sansano are the No. 6 and No. 8 overall seeds, respectively. Niels Ratiu slots in the draw as the No. 12 overall seed. Freddy Blaydes, Filipe Costa and Cyrus Mahjoob also feature in the main draw. Parker Jacques and Parker Mariencheck will begin singles play in the qualifying draw.
In doubles, Georgia pairings make up the top three seeds of the tournament. No. 2 Blaydes/Ratiu are the No. 1 overall seed, No. 33 Paulsell/Colby are the No. 2 overall seed, and No. 44 Perez Peña/Pinto Sansano are the No. 3 overall seed. Costa/Mahjoob continue in doubles play together, and Jacques/Mariencheck maintain their pairing.
Last Time Out: The Bulldogs had a two-week break from action since play in the ITA Men's All-American Championships concluded.
No. 14 Paulsell headlined the weekend for Georgia picking up four singles wins and reaching the semi-finals of the main draw consolation stage. No. 28 Colby went 2-2 in singles action, and No. 64 Perez Peña boasted a 3-2 record in singles play.
In doubles action, No. 2 Blaydes/Ratiu grabbed impressive wins over the No. 32 (Godsick/Banerjee – Stanford) and the No. 47-ranked (Schiessl/Dous Karpenschif – Florida State) pairings in the country, reaching the semifinals of the doubles main draw consolation stage. No. 33 Paulsell/Colby earned their highest ranked doubles wins of their career with a victory over No. 54 Forbes/Sheldon (Michigan State).
Rank the Dawgs: Four Bulldogs were ranked in the top 100 of the preseason ITA singles rankings to begin the fall season. Thomas Paulsell leads the group with a career-best and team-high No. 14 position in the first edition. Ryan Colby settles in at No. 28 with Miguel Perez Peña and Oscar Pinto Sansano following just behind at No. 64 and No. 86, respectively.
In the doubles rankings, Freddy Blaydes and Niels Ratiu both earned a career-high ranking of No. 2. Paulsell and Colby featured at No. 33, and the Spanish duo of Perez Peña and Pinto Sansano come in at No. 44.
New Faces, New Places: The Bulldogs welcomed several new faces to Athens for the 2024-25 season.
Freshman Aidan Atwood and VCU transfer Oscar Pinto Sansano will join the ranks for the fall campaign. Atwood, a five-star recruit from Suwanee, Ga., held a career-best ITF Junior world ranking of 2,588 and was named the Forsyth County News Boys Tennis Player of the Year in 2022. Pinto Sansano began his collegiate career at Arkansas and compiled a 7-14 singles dual match record before spending transferring to VCU for two seasons. With VCU, Pinto Sansano held a 20-5 overall singles dual match record and was ranked as high as No. 31 in ITA doubles ranking. Prior to his collegiate career, he was regarded as the No. 53 junior in UTR world rankings.
Head Coach Jamie Hunt: Jamie Hunt, who was part of Georgia's 2007 and 2008 NCAA National Championship teams as a player and served seven years on the Georgia men's tennis staff as an associate head coach, was tabbed to lead the Bulldogs' men's tennis program on Feb. 27, 2024.
Since returning to Athens in 2017, Hunt has twice been named the ITA Southeast Region Coach of the Year and helped the Bulldogs capture the 2023 SEC Championship with a perfect league record.
Hunt played for Coach Diaz from 2007-2010 and helped lead Georgia to a pair of national championships. Following his playing career, Hunt made his way to Nashville to become an assistant coach at Vanderbilt.
Hunt was a star tennis player and leader for the Bulldogs' tennis program from 2007 through 2010. His 116 singles wins rank 12th all-time in school history for the four-time All-SEC selection, while his combined singles and doubles record of 238-80 ranks third in the Georgia record book.
Hunt and his wife Kyndal Edwards Hunt met as seniors at the University of Georgia and have five children: Daughter Blakely, son Hayes, twins -- daughter Macy and son Hudson -- and son Ford.
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Bulldogs by following UGA men's tennis on social media on X and Instagram @UGATennis, on Facebook @UGAMensTennis and on the web at GeorgiaDogs.com.
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