Six Bulldogs Set for the ITA South Sectional in Athens

Thursday, November 6

Athens, Ga.

University of Georgia

ITA Sectional Championships

Graduate Arda Azkara during a practice at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Georgia on Monday, Nov. 3, 2025.

Photo by: Tony Walsh/UGAAA

Six Bulldogs Set for the ITA South Sectional in Athens

November 05, 2025 | Men's Tennis

ATHENS, Ga. – Six Georgia men's tennis athletes have been selected to compete in the ITA South Sectional at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex from Thursday, November 6 through Sunday, November 9.

ITA SOUTH SECTIONAL
Thursday, Nov. 6 – Sunday, Nov. 9
Dan Magill Tennis Complex
Draw/Results: https://gado.gs/dpi
Live Streaming (Henry Feild Courts 1-6): https://gado.gs/9kh
Live Streaming (Courts 1-6): TBA
Instagram: @UGATennis | X: @UGATennis | Facebook: UGAMensTennis

Schedule of Events:
Thursday: Singles R32, Singles Consolation R16, Doubles R16
Friday: Singles R16, Singles Consolation QF, Doubles QF and Doubles Consolation QF
Saturday: Singles QF, Singles Consolation SF, Doubles SF and Doubles Consolation SF
Sunday: Singles QF Playoff, Doubles Third Place, Doubles Consolation Final and Singles Consolation Final

BULLDOG BULLETIN
Tournament Information
• The ITA South Sectional is one of four sites that make up the ITA Division 1 Sectional Championships. The draw in Athens this year features athletes from the following schools: Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Florida Atlantic, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisville, Miami, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Purdue, South Alabama, Troy and UT-Chattanooga.
• Acting as a qualifier for the NCAA Singles and Doubles tournament later this month, the four singles semifinalists and two doubles finalists will qualify for the event. More, two singles quarterfinalist playoff winners and the third-place doubles pairing will also gain entry.
• Graduates Arda Azkara and Derrick Chen, seniors Santiago Giamichelle and Will Jansen, sophomore Gabriele Vulpitta and redshirt freshman Cooper Johnson will all compete in both the singles and doubles draw in this year's sectional championships.
• Last year, former Bulldog Oscar Pinto Sansano gained entry to the NCAA Singles tournament by winning the quarterfinal playoff against Alabama's No. 62 Andrii Zimnokh, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.
• The ITA South Sectional has a singles draw size of 32 and a doubles draw size of 16 pairings. There will be no qualifying stages.

Last Time Out
• At the ITA Southeast Regional, all seven Bulldogs featured in the event. Azkara and Giamichelle advanced to the round of 16 of the singles draw, and Chen/Giamichelle reached the quarterfinals of the doubles draw.
• Since regionals, Azkara has featured in the Jonathan Fried Pro Challenger in Charlottesville, Virginia but fell in the second round of qualifying.
• Also since regionals, Johnson, Johnston and Vulpitta featured in the Rome Tennis Center Collegiate Invite. The trio accounted for 10 singles and doubles wins across the three-day event.

New Faces, New Places:
• Georgia welcomed four new members to the Bulldog men's tennis family this fall including three transfers – Derrick Chen, Santi Giamichelle and Will Jansen – as well as one new freshman, Noah Johnston. This year's transfer class was ranked No. 4 nationally and No. 1 in the SEC by College Tennis Nation.
• Graduate Derrick Chen arrives from California-Berkeley. Over the course of four seasons with the Bears, Chen was a two-time ITA Scholar-Athlete and recorded over 70 combined singles and doubles wins.
• Senior Santi Giamichelle made two stops before arriving in Athens after spending his freshman year at UT-Arlington and then two years at the University of Central Florida. The Argentine international has over 50 career singles and doubles wins, respectively.
• Senior Will Jansen also featured for two programs before landing with the Bulldogs featuring for the North Carolina Tar Heels during his freshman and sophomore seasons and then last year with Ohio State. The 2025 ITA Doubles All-American begins his career as a Bulldog with a career-high singles ranking of No. 35 and 13 combined singles and doubles ranked wins.

Rank the Dawgs:
• Four Bulldogs received preseason nods in the ITA singles and doubles rankings.
• In singles, graduate Arda Azkara came in at No. 80 and Jansen came in at No. 103. Azkara's ranking is his highest singles rankings as a Bulldog and just two spots behind his career-high singles ranking of No. 78.
• For doubles, Azkara/Jansen lead off Georgia in the rankings at No. 30. Transfers Chen and Giamichelle feature, as well, at No. 84.

Dawgs Around the Globe:
• In September, graduate Arda Azkara represented his nation, Turkey, in a Davis Cup World Group 1 tie against Serbia. Azkara took his singles match over - at the time - ATP No. 461 Branko Djuric in the tie. More, over the summer, Azkara took home two 15K titles.
• This past summer, several former Dawgs including Ethan Quinn, Jan Zielinski, Sadio Doumbia and Hamish Stewart took part in the three summer grand slams. At Roland Garros, Quinn reached the round of 32 – his deepest run as a professional in a grand slam event. Zielinski reached the round of 16 at the U.S. Open in doubles, and Doumbia reached the doubles quarterfinals in the same competition.
• Freshman Noah Johnston had a successful summer reaching two junior grand slam doubles finals at Roland Garros and the U.S. Open.

Hosts with the Most:
• Next spring, NCAA Tennis returns to Athens as the University of Georgia was selected to host the NCAA Division 1 Men's and Women's Tennis Tournaments.
• The Bulldogs last hosted the NCAA tennis tournament in 2017. More, the Dan Magill Tennis Complex has hosted the event on 29 occasions – the most frequented site location.
• On top of hosting the team tournament in 2026, Georgia will also host the 2026 NCAA Singles and Doubles Tournament and the 2027 NCAA Tournament.
• Last year, three Dawgs featured in the NCAA Singles Tournament. Former Bulldogs Miguel Perez Peña and Oscar Pinto Sansano fell in the first round of the event, and Thomas Paulsell reached the round of 16 becoming the program's 55^thAll-American.

Head Coach Jamie Hunt
• Jamie Hunt, now in his second year as the head coach, 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.
• 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.