University of Georgia Athletics
Top-Ranked Bulldogs Starting Fresh In ’25
January 16, 2025 | Women's Tennis, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
There is a long list of reasons why the Georgia women's team was ranked No. 1 in the country in the ITA's preseason poll — and each one is valid. But Bulldogs head coach Drake Bernstein contends that most of those reasons are tied to the team's outstanding play and results last spring.
"We're over last year around here. We're not really looking for any more trophies that say 2024," he said Tuesday, ahead of the Bulldogs' season opener Friday against Georgia Tech in the Lindsey Hopkins Indoor Tennis Facility.
That's a really good line, for sure, and Georgia had a really good lineup last season. That lineup produced quite a few trophies in 2024, as well.
Last spring, the Bulldogs shared the SEC regular-season championship with Texas A&M, and then they beat the Aggies in the finals of the SEC tournament, played in the new-and-improved indoor building. At the NCAAs, Bulldogs were in action to the end of the team event and the individual tournaments.
Georgia reached the finals of the team tournament, falling to A&M in their fourth meeting since February. The Bulldogs won three of those four matches against the Aggies, but A&M won the biggest one, capturing the national championship. In the NCAA singles and doubles tournaments, the team of Dasha Vidmanova and Aysegul Mert won Georgia's first doubles championship, while teammate Anastasiia Lopata, who made the tourney field as an alternate, advanced all the way to the singles final.
In November, the NCAA for the first time held the singles and doubles championships in the fall, separate from the team event. Vidmanova, the No. 2 seed, had won a lower-level pro tournament in her previous event before the NCAAs, and she continued that good form, beating Auburn's DJ Bennett in straight sets in the final. Vidmanova became the program's fourth all-time NCAA singles champion and the first to ever win singles and doubles titles in her career. In fact, she's just the sixth player since the NCAA women's championships began in 1979 to win both in her career.
"They've been playing women's tennis for a long time, and that's a short list," Vidmanova said. "It's very cool to be part of history like that, so we just need to win the team (title)."
Vidmanova is the top-ranked singles player in the country heading into the dual-match season, with Lopata ranked No. 29 and Guillermina Grant at No. 60. Teammates Alexandra Vecic and Mell Reasco finished last season ranked Nos. 22 and 25, respectively, but are unranked entering the spring after missing all or most of the fall with injuries.
Bernstein's team has every significant contributor back from last season, including the Bulldogs' top six singles players. Yet another reason why Georgia was the preseason No. 1. Four of those six are seniors — Vidmanova, Reasco, Grant and Mai Nirundorn — and this is their last season together and last chance to do the one thing they haven't done, win a team national championship.
"It's not how you start, it's how you finish," Grant said. "I think the idea this year is to try to keep doing the things we did last year, keep taking care of every match, keep working hard at every practice, and just put the work in.
"There are a lot of us that are seniors, and we have been here four years, so it's just fun to get one last ride all together."
For Grant, it's the team aspect of college tennis that she loves the most.
"Since coming here, my mentality for tennis has completely changed," she said. "The team thing is just way more fun."
Like his players, Bernstein is ready to get the 2025 season started.
"This is the most exciting part of the year. You know that there's a season ahead and it's all still a blank canvas, and you get to decide, you get to have some authority on how you want to paint it. I'm definitely itching for Friday to roll around."
Staff Writer
There is a long list of reasons why the Georgia women's team was ranked No. 1 in the country in the ITA's preseason poll — and each one is valid. But Bulldogs head coach Drake Bernstein contends that most of those reasons are tied to the team's outstanding play and results last spring.
"We're over last year around here. We're not really looking for any more trophies that say 2024," he said Tuesday, ahead of the Bulldogs' season opener Friday against Georgia Tech in the Lindsey Hopkins Indoor Tennis Facility.
That's a really good line, for sure, and Georgia had a really good lineup last season. That lineup produced quite a few trophies in 2024, as well.
Last spring, the Bulldogs shared the SEC regular-season championship with Texas A&M, and then they beat the Aggies in the finals of the SEC tournament, played in the new-and-improved indoor building. At the NCAAs, Bulldogs were in action to the end of the team event and the individual tournaments.
Georgia reached the finals of the team tournament, falling to A&M in their fourth meeting since February. The Bulldogs won three of those four matches against the Aggies, but A&M won the biggest one, capturing the national championship. In the NCAA singles and doubles tournaments, the team of Dasha Vidmanova and Aysegul Mert won Georgia's first doubles championship, while teammate Anastasiia Lopata, who made the tourney field as an alternate, advanced all the way to the singles final.
In November, the NCAA for the first time held the singles and doubles championships in the fall, separate from the team event. Vidmanova, the No. 2 seed, had won a lower-level pro tournament in her previous event before the NCAAs, and she continued that good form, beating Auburn's DJ Bennett in straight sets in the final. Vidmanova became the program's fourth all-time NCAA singles champion and the first to ever win singles and doubles titles in her career. In fact, she's just the sixth player since the NCAA women's championships began in 1979 to win both in her career.
"They've been playing women's tennis for a long time, and that's a short list," Vidmanova said. "It's very cool to be part of history like that, so we just need to win the team (title)."
Vidmanova is the top-ranked singles player in the country heading into the dual-match season, with Lopata ranked No. 29 and Guillermina Grant at No. 60. Teammates Alexandra Vecic and Mell Reasco finished last season ranked Nos. 22 and 25, respectively, but are unranked entering the spring after missing all or most of the fall with injuries.
Bernstein's team has every significant contributor back from last season, including the Bulldogs' top six singles players. Yet another reason why Georgia was the preseason No. 1. Four of those six are seniors — Vidmanova, Reasco, Grant and Mai Nirundorn — and this is their last season together and last chance to do the one thing they haven't done, win a team national championship.
"It's not how you start, it's how you finish," Grant said. "I think the idea this year is to try to keep doing the things we did last year, keep taking care of every match, keep working hard at every practice, and just put the work in.
"There are a lot of us that are seniors, and we have been here four years, so it's just fun to get one last ride all together."
For Grant, it's the team aspect of college tennis that she loves the most.
"Since coming here, my mentality for tennis has completely changed," she said. "The team thing is just way more fun."
Like his players, Bernstein is ready to get the 2025 season started.
"This is the most exciting part of the year. You know that there's a season ahead and it's all still a blank canvas, and you get to decide, you get to have some authority on how you want to paint it. I'm definitely itching for Friday to roll around."
Assistant Sports Communications Director 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.
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