University of Georgia Athletics
Tuesday, February 6
Athens, Ga.
2 p.m.
University of Georgia
vs
Georgia Tech
Photo by: Tony Walsh/UGAAA
No. 20 Georgia to Host Georgia Tech for Rivalry Match
February 05, 2024 | Men's Tennis
ATHENS, Ga. — The No. 20 Georgia men's tennis team will host Georgia Tech for its annual rivalry match on Tuesday, Feb. 6 at 2 p.m. ET at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
No. 20 GEORGIA VS. GEORGIA TECH
Date: Feb. 6, 2024
Time: 2 p.m. ET
Location: Athens, Ga.
Venue: Dan Magill Tennis Complex
Promotion: The first 150 fans receive a Georgia beanie
MEDIA INFORMATION
Live Stats + Video: https://gado.gs/8mk
Georgia Season Stats: https://gado.gs/b9y
Georgia Tech Season Stats: https://gado.gs/bbx
BULLDOGS BULLETIN
Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate: Tuesday's match between in-state rivals No. 20 Georgia and Georgia Tech will mark the 91st meeting in the series history, with Georgia owning a 72-18 record against its in-state rival. The Bulldogs have won 12 straight matches against Georgia Tech dating back to 2011, including a 36-1 mark in the last 37 meetings since 1989. Nine of Georgia Tech's 18 wins came before the 1963 season. Since then, Georgia has dominated the series 66-9. Further, 22 of Georgia's 72 wins have come by sweeping Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets have swept the Bulldogs just once - on May 2, 1956.
The First Serve: The Bulldogs are led on court one in singles by No. 41 Thomas Paulsell, who has played in just five dual matches before the start of the 2024 season. The junior, who has started the year 2-1 in the top spot, currently holds a career-best singles ranking after earning his best win on Nov. 3, 2023, at the Georgia Tech Invitational against Mississippi St.'s No. 46 Nemanja Malesevic.
Ryan Colby is currently the highest-ranked singles player on the team with a personal-best No. 36 ranking. The Southern California transfer is 12-6 on the year with an impressive 5-1 mark against ranked opponents.
In doubles, freshmen Freddy Blaydes and Niels Ratiu have been Georgia's choice on court one, where they are 2-0 and earned the point-clinching win in the team's opening match ITA Kickoff Weekend, where they beat Louisiana's Vasil Dimitrov and Mason Landreth by a 6-4 score.
New Year, New Niels: Freshman Ratiu began 2024 in impressive fashion, going undefeated in all 10 of his completed singles and doubles matches in January. The freshman began his win streak at the Gamecock Kickoff, where he won three singles matches and three doubles matches, all with different partners, across the event's three days. Ratiu continued his winning ways by picking up two victories in both competitions since the start of the dual match season. The Liège, Belgium native won both singles matches in the doubleheader against Eastern Kentucky on Jan. 22 and two doubles matches on court one, including a point-clinching win with Blaydes against Louisiana.
Last Time Out: The Georgia men's tennis team split its matches during the ITA Kickoff Weekend Athens regional, sweeping Louisiana in its first match before falling to No. 18 Texas A&M in the final, 4-2.
The Bulldogs won their match against the Ragin' Cajuns 4-0 on Jan. 28, with the contest being played at the Duckworth Family Indoor Tennis Facility in Clemson, S.C. due to weather in the Athens area. No. 41 Paulsell earned his second match-clinching win of the season and third of his career in a thrilling straight-set victory, falling behind two breaks early in the first set before rallying to win 12 of the final 16 games, taking the victory.
Despite winning the doubles point against the Aggies, Georgia was unable to earn the three wins it needed in singles to take the championship match. No. 36 Colby picked up his fifth-ranked singles win of the season on court two, with four of the remaining five matches going into third sets.
Dawgs in the Rankings: Georgia enters the week ranked No. 20 nationally by the ITA. The Bulldogs are one of seven teams in the Southeastern Conference ranked in the top 25 to begin the season, joined by No. 2 South Carolina, No. 6 Tennessee, No. 14 Texas A&M, No. 16 Kentucky, No. 21 Alabama and No. 22 Mississippi St.
Georgia's successes in the fall put four athletes in the ITA singles rankings and a pair in the doubles poll. After a trio of ranked wins in Austin, Texas, junior Colby leads the team with a No. 36 ranking. He is closely followed by No. 41 Paulsell, who picked up his highest-ranked win against No. 46 Nemanja Malesevic (Miss. St.) at the Georgia Tech Invitational, and No. 43 Perez Peña. Freshman No. 112 Mahjoob, a semifinalist at the ITA Southeast Regional, closed out the ranked Bulldogs in singles. In doubles, No. 42 Colby and Ratiu, the lone ranked tandem at the ITA Kickoff Athens regional, are currently 8-3 together.
Scouting the Yellow Jackets: Georgia Tech will come to Athens holding a 6-1 record, with its lone loss coming against Pepperdine in the opening round of its ITA Kickoff Weekend regional. Most recently, the Yellow Jackets beat Georgia St. by a 6-1 score on Friday, Feb. 2.
Georgia Tech has two players ranked in singles – No. 67 Gabrielle Brancatelli and No. 85 Richard Biagiotti. No. 67 Brancatelli is 8-5 this year with two wins on court three, while No. 85 Biagiotti owns a pair of wins on court four. While not ranked due to not playing in the fall, Andres Martin and Keshav Chopra have started the spring season on a seven-match win streak, playing on courts one and two, respectively.
New-Look Bulldogs: Georgia's 2023-24 roster includes six freshmen and a transfer. The team has enrolled five-stars Mahjoob and Davis Taylor, four stars Parker Jacques and Parker Mariencheck as well as Belgium-native Raitu. The Bulldogs also signed USC transfer Colby, a former blue-chip prospect and All-Pac 12 honoree. Blaydes, who has a career-high International Tennis Federation World Juniors ranking of No. 117 and signed with the program in September, joined the team ahead of the Gamecock Kickoff.
Juniors Paulsell, Perez Peña and redshirt sophomore Filipe Costa are the only three players from the 2023 SEC regular season championship team still on the roster. Five of the remaining six used their final year of eligibility last season while Ethan Quinn opted to begin his professional career after winning the NCAA singles national championship in May.
Diaz Enters 36th Season: Manuel Diaz – the SEC's all-time wins leader with 769 career victories – begins his 36th season as the Georgia men's tennis coach. Diaz led the Bulldogs to another conference championship and a deep run in the NCAA tournament in 2023.
The United States Tennis Association Southern Tennis Hall of Fame coach has guided Georgia to 29 SEC championships, four NCAA national titles (1999, 2001, 2007 and 2008) and two Intercollegiate Tennis Association Team Indoor National Championships in 36 years. He has been named SEC Coach of the Year on seven occasions and the ITA National Coach of the Year three times.
Most recently, the Bulldogs captured the SEC crown with a perfect 12-0 conference record on their way to the NCAA quarterfinals. Under Diaz's guidance, redshirt freshman Quinn became just the fourth rookie since 1977 to win the NCAA singles championship and the third Georgia player to accomplish the feat, joining the elite company of Mikael Pernfors and Matias Boeker.
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Bulldogs by following UGA Men's tennis on Facebook, Instagram and X @UGATennis or check out information online at georgiadogs.com.
No. 20 GEORGIA VS. GEORGIA TECH
Date: Feb. 6, 2024
Time: 2 p.m. ET
Location: Athens, Ga.
Venue: Dan Magill Tennis Complex
Promotion: The first 150 fans receive a Georgia beanie
MEDIA INFORMATION
Live Stats + Video: https://gado.gs/8mk
Georgia Season Stats: https://gado.gs/b9y
Georgia Tech Season Stats: https://gado.gs/bbx
BULLDOGS BULLETIN
Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate: Tuesday's match between in-state rivals No. 20 Georgia and Georgia Tech will mark the 91st meeting in the series history, with Georgia owning a 72-18 record against its in-state rival. The Bulldogs have won 12 straight matches against Georgia Tech dating back to 2011, including a 36-1 mark in the last 37 meetings since 1989. Nine of Georgia Tech's 18 wins came before the 1963 season. Since then, Georgia has dominated the series 66-9. Further, 22 of Georgia's 72 wins have come by sweeping Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets have swept the Bulldogs just once - on May 2, 1956.
The First Serve: The Bulldogs are led on court one in singles by No. 41 Thomas Paulsell, who has played in just five dual matches before the start of the 2024 season. The junior, who has started the year 2-1 in the top spot, currently holds a career-best singles ranking after earning his best win on Nov. 3, 2023, at the Georgia Tech Invitational against Mississippi St.'s No. 46 Nemanja Malesevic.
Ryan Colby is currently the highest-ranked singles player on the team with a personal-best No. 36 ranking. The Southern California transfer is 12-6 on the year with an impressive 5-1 mark against ranked opponents.
In doubles, freshmen Freddy Blaydes and Niels Ratiu have been Georgia's choice on court one, where they are 2-0 and earned the point-clinching win in the team's opening match ITA Kickoff Weekend, where they beat Louisiana's Vasil Dimitrov and Mason Landreth by a 6-4 score.
New Year, New Niels: Freshman Ratiu began 2024 in impressive fashion, going undefeated in all 10 of his completed singles and doubles matches in January. The freshman began his win streak at the Gamecock Kickoff, where he won three singles matches and three doubles matches, all with different partners, across the event's three days. Ratiu continued his winning ways by picking up two victories in both competitions since the start of the dual match season. The Liège, Belgium native won both singles matches in the doubleheader against Eastern Kentucky on Jan. 22 and two doubles matches on court one, including a point-clinching win with Blaydes against Louisiana.
Last Time Out: The Georgia men's tennis team split its matches during the ITA Kickoff Weekend Athens regional, sweeping Louisiana in its first match before falling to No. 18 Texas A&M in the final, 4-2.
The Bulldogs won their match against the Ragin' Cajuns 4-0 on Jan. 28, with the contest being played at the Duckworth Family Indoor Tennis Facility in Clemson, S.C. due to weather in the Athens area. No. 41 Paulsell earned his second match-clinching win of the season and third of his career in a thrilling straight-set victory, falling behind two breaks early in the first set before rallying to win 12 of the final 16 games, taking the victory.
Despite winning the doubles point against the Aggies, Georgia was unable to earn the three wins it needed in singles to take the championship match. No. 36 Colby picked up his fifth-ranked singles win of the season on court two, with four of the remaining five matches going into third sets.
Dawgs in the Rankings: Georgia enters the week ranked No. 20 nationally by the ITA. The Bulldogs are one of seven teams in the Southeastern Conference ranked in the top 25 to begin the season, joined by No. 2 South Carolina, No. 6 Tennessee, No. 14 Texas A&M, No. 16 Kentucky, No. 21 Alabama and No. 22 Mississippi St.
Georgia's successes in the fall put four athletes in the ITA singles rankings and a pair in the doubles poll. After a trio of ranked wins in Austin, Texas, junior Colby leads the team with a No. 36 ranking. He is closely followed by No. 41 Paulsell, who picked up his highest-ranked win against No. 46 Nemanja Malesevic (Miss. St.) at the Georgia Tech Invitational, and No. 43 Perez Peña. Freshman No. 112 Mahjoob, a semifinalist at the ITA Southeast Regional, closed out the ranked Bulldogs in singles. In doubles, No. 42 Colby and Ratiu, the lone ranked tandem at the ITA Kickoff Athens regional, are currently 8-3 together.
Scouting the Yellow Jackets: Georgia Tech will come to Athens holding a 6-1 record, with its lone loss coming against Pepperdine in the opening round of its ITA Kickoff Weekend regional. Most recently, the Yellow Jackets beat Georgia St. by a 6-1 score on Friday, Feb. 2.
Georgia Tech has two players ranked in singles – No. 67 Gabrielle Brancatelli and No. 85 Richard Biagiotti. No. 67 Brancatelli is 8-5 this year with two wins on court three, while No. 85 Biagiotti owns a pair of wins on court four. While not ranked due to not playing in the fall, Andres Martin and Keshav Chopra have started the spring season on a seven-match win streak, playing on courts one and two, respectively.
New-Look Bulldogs: Georgia's 2023-24 roster includes six freshmen and a transfer. The team has enrolled five-stars Mahjoob and Davis Taylor, four stars Parker Jacques and Parker Mariencheck as well as Belgium-native Raitu. The Bulldogs also signed USC transfer Colby, a former blue-chip prospect and All-Pac 12 honoree. Blaydes, who has a career-high International Tennis Federation World Juniors ranking of No. 117 and signed with the program in September, joined the team ahead of the Gamecock Kickoff.
Juniors Paulsell, Perez Peña and redshirt sophomore Filipe Costa are the only three players from the 2023 SEC regular season championship team still on the roster. Five of the remaining six used their final year of eligibility last season while Ethan Quinn opted to begin his professional career after winning the NCAA singles national championship in May.
Diaz Enters 36th Season: Manuel Diaz – the SEC's all-time wins leader with 769 career victories – begins his 36th season as the Georgia men's tennis coach. Diaz led the Bulldogs to another conference championship and a deep run in the NCAA tournament in 2023.
The United States Tennis Association Southern Tennis Hall of Fame coach has guided Georgia to 29 SEC championships, four NCAA national titles (1999, 2001, 2007 and 2008) and two Intercollegiate Tennis Association Team Indoor National Championships in 36 years. He has been named SEC Coach of the Year on seven occasions and the ITA National Coach of the Year three times.
Most recently, the Bulldogs captured the SEC crown with a perfect 12-0 conference record on their way to the NCAA quarterfinals. Under Diaz's guidance, redshirt freshman Quinn became just the fourth rookie since 1977 to win the NCAA singles championship and the third Georgia player to accomplish the feat, joining the elite company of Mikael Pernfors and Matias Boeker.
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Bulldogs by following UGA Men's tennis on Facebook, Instagram and X @UGATennis or check out information online at georgiadogs.com.
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