University of Georgia Athletics
Monday, February 24
Athens, Ga.
1:00 p.m.
University of Georgia
vs
Tennessee
Senior Miguel Perez Peña during a match against North Carolina in the Lindsey Hopkins Indoor Facility on Sunday, February 9, 2025.
Photo by: Sofia Yaker/UGAAA
Georgia Set for SEC Opener on Monday
February 23, 2025 | Men's Tennis
ATHENS, Ga. – The University of Georgia men's tennis team opens its conference slate against No. 16 Tennessee before taking on the Citadel at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex on Monday afternoon.
Match Ten – No. 16 Tennessee
Monday, Feb. 24, 2025
Dan Magill Tennis Complex
Live Streaming/Live Stats: https://gado.gs/9kh
Instagram: @UGATennis | X: @UGATennis | Facebook: UGAMensTennis
Match Eleven – The Citadel
Monday, Feb. 24, 2025
Dan Magill Tennis Complex
Live Streaming/Live Stats: https://gado.gs/9kh
Instagram: @UGATennis | X: @UGATennis | Facebook: UGAMensTennis
BULLDOG BULLETIN
The First Serve: Through the indoor portion of the 2025 season, the Bulldogs stand at 5-4 with wins over Mercer, Presbyterian, Georgia Tech, North Carolina and Alabama State with losses to – at the time – No. 23 Harvard, No. 21 UCLA, No. 4 Wake Forest and No. 5 Virginia. Interestingly, the Bulldogs narrowly missed out on a top five win against the Demon Deacons falling 4-3 in Winston-Salem to the eventual ITA Indoor National Champion and marking the first time this season that Wake Forest surrendered three singles courts in dual-match play.
The Bulldogs hold a 65-30 all-time record against the Volunteers. Last season, at the Goodfriend Tennis Center in Knoxville, Tennessee came out on top 6-1. So far this year, the Volunteers have put together a 9-3 record with wins over Tennessee Tech, Belmont, Middle Tennessee State, Illinois, No. 16 Michigan State, Elon, Penn and a double over Tennessee State while falling to No. 4 Wake Forest and No. 25 Michigan. The Volunteers fell in their SEC opener against No. 26 Mississippi State, 4-3. Tennessee, led by head coach Chris Woodruff, have five freshmen (Garcia, Kobierski, McMillin, Nisbet and Saar), one sophomore (Newton), one junior (Moreno), three seniors (Cruz, Jesudason and Mitsui) and one graduate (Kotzen) on the roster.
Georgia and The Citadel have met on three previous occasions with the Bulldogs holding a 2-0-1 edge. In 2024, Georgia swept the, namely, Bulldogs 7-0 in Athens following a 4-0 conference win over No. 48 Arkansas. This season, The Citadel sits at 1-6 with a lone victory over South Carolina-Sumter while falling to Clemson, South Carolina, Lee-Mcrae, Furman, and North Carolina in a double header (record does not include Sunday's doubleheader against GGC). On head coach Chuck Kriese's roster, the Hornets are led by seven freshmen (Beckendorf, Csipkay, Hardin, Hyjek, Kinlaw, Osipov and Stroumpis), one sophomore (Ladino) and five juniors (Bagwell, Combs, Hendrix, Rajagopalan and Van Dyke) and one senior (Minnich).
Prior to the dual match season, the Bulldogs put together several strong performances through the fall. Headlined by Thomas Paulsell's round of 16 run in the NCAA Singles Championships, three Bulldogs (Paulsell, Perez Peña and Pinto Sansano) qualified for the NCAA individual tournament. Paulsell qualified for the championships by way of finishing as a semi-finalist at the ITA Conference Masters Championships in Rome, Ga. Perez Peña qualified after being crowned co-champion of the ITA Southeast Regional, and Pinto Sansano after winning the 5-8 playoff at the ITA South Sectional. Interestingly, by reaching the round of 16 in the singles tournament, Paulsell was recognized as the program's 55th All-American.
The Bulldogs culled together 77 singles wins in the fall, 13 of which were over ranked opponents. In doubles, Georgia had 24 total wins - eight ranked. The Bulldogs individual records from the fall (spring dual-match records in parentheses) are compiled below:
Singles:
Freddy Blaydes: 5-3 (0-2)
Ryan Colby: 11-7 (4-3)
Filipe Costa: 2-5 (2-0)
Parker Jacques: 5-3 (N/A)
Cyrus Mahjoob: 6-4 (1-0)
Parker Mariencheck: 2-5 (N/A)
Thomas Paulsell: 13-6 (2-4)
Miguel Perez Peña: 9-6 (6-0)
Oscar Pinto Sansano: 9-6 (7-2)
Niels Ratiu: 6-5 (5-2)
Gabriele Vulpitta: N/A (2-3)
Doubles:
Blaydes/Ratiu: 10-5 (2-0)
Paulsell/Colby: 7-4 (4-4)
Perez Peña/Pinto Sansano: 5-5 (NA)
Costa/Mahjoob: 2-3 (N/A)
Jacques/Mariencheck: 0-4 (N/A)
Ratiu/Vulpitta: N/A (2-0)
Blaydes/Pinto Sansano: N/A (3-1)
Perez Peña/Ratiu: N/A (2-3)
*Arda Azkara, Cooper Johnson and Gabriele Vulpitta are entering their first semester with Georgia.
** Davis Taylor did not feature in ITA-sanctioned matches during the fall.
SEC Kickoff: Since 2010, the Bulldogs are 10-4 in SEC openers, a .714-win rate. That figure improves to a .750-win rate since 2000 where Georgia is 18-6 in conference kickoffs.
Interestingly, Monday's match against the Volunteers mirrors a milestone from the shortened 2020 season due to COVID. On Friday, Feb. 28, 2020, Manny Diaz's side defeated No. 10 Tennessee 4-2 to secure his 706th career win as head coach and matching legendary coach Dan Magill's all-time win record.
In SEC home openers since 2010, Georgia is 5-1 with the one loss coming to – you may have guessed it – Tennessee in 2021.
Last Time Out: On Super Bowl Sunday, the Bulldogs boosted their spring season record to 5-4 with two keys wins over North Carolina and Alabama State.
First, against North Carolina, Georgia rolled out three doubles pairings familiar to individual play from the fall. Blaydes/Ratiu defeated Melnic/Xu on court one, 6-3 before Paulsell/Colby clinched the doubles points 7-5 on court three. In singles, Pinto Sansano led off win with a 6-1, 6-0 win over the Tar Heel's Mangiapane before Ratiu dispatched Wright 6-4, 6-2 on court four and Colby took court one over Djakouris 6-2, 6-0 to seal the 4-0 sweep.
Later that afternoon, the same two doubles pairings the clinched against North Carolina did the same against Alabama State in reverse order. Paulsell/Colby handled business against the Hornets' Grandinot/Lataste 6-0 before Blaydes/Ratiu put the Bulldogs up 1-0 with a 6-2 win over Verlaguet/Amier. Redshirt junior Filipe Costa earned his second win of the spring to give Georgia its first singles win in the match 6-1, 6-4 over Mileusni on court six before Pinto Sansano took court two 6-2, 7-5 over Verlaguet. Ratiu grabbed his match-clinching victory on court three over Alabama State's Obrul, battling back from a first set loss to win 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Strong Starts from the Spaniards: Senior Miguel Perez Peña is off to his best start in dual match play of his career at 6-0. Prior to this season, the Spaniards held a career-best start to the spring of 5-0 in 2023.
More, Perez Peña's 6-0 start includes starts at courts one, two and three including a ranked win on court three against Wake Forest's No. 115 Ioannis Xilas – who has since improved to No. 56 in the nation – 6-4, 5-7, 6-4. Three of the senior's six wins this spring came in straight set fashion.
Senior Oscar Pinto Sansano leads the team in singles wins this spring with seven. Sitting at 7-2 and mainly occupying court five, every match that Pinto Sansano has won has come in straight sets. The senior's 7-2 starts this spring matches his start to the 2024 season at VCU.
Top Five Wins: Since 2010, Georgia has amassed 17 top five wins in regular season and post-season play. A list of each top five victory is compiled below.
2010: 4-2 vs. No. 3 Ohio State
2011: 4-3 vs. No. 3 Tennessee
2012: 4-2 vs. No. 5 Florida; 4-3 vs. No. 2 Ohio State
2013: 4-2 vs. No. 4 Kentucky
2014: 4-3 vs. No. 1 Ohio State
2015: 4-2 vs. No. 4 UCLA; 4-2 vs. No. 5 Illinois
2016: 4-2 vs. No. 4 Ohio State; 4-0 vs. No. 2 North Carolina
2017: 4-3 vs. No. 4 USC; 4-2 vs. No. 5 UCLA
2018: 4-0 vs. No. 2 Ohio State
2020: 4-0 vs. No. 3 Ohio State
2022: 4-2 vs. No. 4 Tennessee
2023: 5-2 vs. No. 4 Kentucky; 4-0 vs. No. 4 South Carolina
Award-Winning: Following the first week of action, sophomore Niels Ratiu was announced as the first SEC men's tennis player of the week for the 2025 season.
Ratiu was efficient in the home openers for the Bulldogs. In singles play, Ratiu dispatched Mercer's Fouilhoux on court four in straight sets 6-0, 6-4 earning Georgia it's second singles point of the match. In the second match, Ratiu moved up to court two for the Bulldogs, blanking his opponent, Presbyterian's Pedro Cardoso, in straight sets, 6-0, 6-0 – the Bulldogs' first singles point of the match. Ratiu's appearance on court two against Presbyterian is his fourth career appearance in the position for Georgia. In doubles play, Ratiu maintained his court one presence from his freshman season playing alongside freshman Gabriele Vulpitta. The duo earned their first two wins over Mercer's No. 55 Stefanovic/Fouilhoux and Presbyterian's Mamalat/Vasilakis winning both matches 6-0. With the win over No. 55 Stefanovic/Fouilhoux, Ratiu now has 13 career ranked doubles wins and his first with Vulpitta.
Rank the Dawgs: Three Bulldogs are settled in the latest ITA rankings that released this Thursday, Feb. 20.
Leading off, Thomas Paulsell shifts up to No. 20 with Miguel Perez Peña jumping up to No. 38 – a career-high – Ryan Colby slotting in at No. 46.
In doubles, Freddy Blaydes/Niels Ratiu, after making their first appearance of the spring together against North Carolina, maintain the No. 16 ranking. Paulsell/Colby feature at No. 18 and Perez Peña/Oscar Pinto Sansano at No. 39 while Ratiu/Perez Peña make their first appearance as a duo at No. 81.
New Faces, New Places: The Bulldogs welcomed three new faces to Athens for the 2025 season, with a key signing for the fall 2025 class.
VCU transfer Oscar Pinto Sansano joined the ranks for the fall campaign. 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.
In January, Grand Slam champion Gabriele Vulpitta arrived in Athens for the 2025 season and beyond. Vulpitta, a native of Rome, Italy, boasts an impressive resume with a junior doubles title at Wimbledon, as well as finishing as a 2023 junior doubles Roland Garros finalist. He also held career-high ATP rankings of No. 747 in doubles and No. 1168 in singles with a Universal Tennis Rating of 13.23. More, New Mexico transfer Arda Azkara now dons the red and black. Azkara compiled 50 singles wins with the Lobos and was named the Mountain West Co-Freshman of the Year in 2022. After his sophomore and junior seasons, Azkara became the first Mountain West player to earn back-to-back Player of the Year honors since Oliver Maiberger of San Diego State University from 2001-2003. The Turkish native recorded an 11-0 record at No. 1 singles for the Lobos last season and holds a 13.15 Universal Tennis Rating. Georgia native Cooper Johnson will join the Bulldogs in January. Johnson holds career-high recruiting rankings of No. 1 in the state of Georgia and No. 21 nationally. He holds a Universal Tennis Rating of 11.9 with a 3-2 record against other five-star recruits. Johnson also holds an ITF junior ranking of 3,157 and an ITF World Tennis Number of 16.5
Blue-chip recruit and Anderson, S.C. native Noah Johnston signed with Georgia for the fall of 2025, head coach Jamie Hunt announced last fall. The former No. 1 overall recruit in the nation holds a 5-5 record against fellow blue-chip prospects and a career-high ITF junior ranking of 50. Johnston has recent singles and doubles wins at the J200 Tampico, a doubles championship at the J300 Barranquilla, and a doubles championship at the J300 San Jose while also featuring in the junior doubles draw of the 144th edition of the U.S. Open.
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.
Match Ten – No. 16 Tennessee
Monday, Feb. 24, 2025
Dan Magill Tennis Complex
Live Streaming/Live Stats: https://gado.gs/9kh
Instagram: @UGATennis | X: @UGATennis | Facebook: UGAMensTennis
Match Eleven – The Citadel
Monday, Feb. 24, 2025
Dan Magill Tennis Complex
Live Streaming/Live Stats: https://gado.gs/9kh
Instagram: @UGATennis | X: @UGATennis | Facebook: UGAMensTennis
BULLDOG BULLETIN
The First Serve: Through the indoor portion of the 2025 season, the Bulldogs stand at 5-4 with wins over Mercer, Presbyterian, Georgia Tech, North Carolina and Alabama State with losses to – at the time – No. 23 Harvard, No. 21 UCLA, No. 4 Wake Forest and No. 5 Virginia. Interestingly, the Bulldogs narrowly missed out on a top five win against the Demon Deacons falling 4-3 in Winston-Salem to the eventual ITA Indoor National Champion and marking the first time this season that Wake Forest surrendered three singles courts in dual-match play.
The Bulldogs hold a 65-30 all-time record against the Volunteers. Last season, at the Goodfriend Tennis Center in Knoxville, Tennessee came out on top 6-1. So far this year, the Volunteers have put together a 9-3 record with wins over Tennessee Tech, Belmont, Middle Tennessee State, Illinois, No. 16 Michigan State, Elon, Penn and a double over Tennessee State while falling to No. 4 Wake Forest and No. 25 Michigan. The Volunteers fell in their SEC opener against No. 26 Mississippi State, 4-3. Tennessee, led by head coach Chris Woodruff, have five freshmen (Garcia, Kobierski, McMillin, Nisbet and Saar), one sophomore (Newton), one junior (Moreno), three seniors (Cruz, Jesudason and Mitsui) and one graduate (Kotzen) on the roster.
Georgia and The Citadel have met on three previous occasions with the Bulldogs holding a 2-0-1 edge. In 2024, Georgia swept the, namely, Bulldogs 7-0 in Athens following a 4-0 conference win over No. 48 Arkansas. This season, The Citadel sits at 1-6 with a lone victory over South Carolina-Sumter while falling to Clemson, South Carolina, Lee-Mcrae, Furman, and North Carolina in a double header (record does not include Sunday's doubleheader against GGC). On head coach Chuck Kriese's roster, the Hornets are led by seven freshmen (Beckendorf, Csipkay, Hardin, Hyjek, Kinlaw, Osipov and Stroumpis), one sophomore (Ladino) and five juniors (Bagwell, Combs, Hendrix, Rajagopalan and Van Dyke) and one senior (Minnich).
Prior to the dual match season, the Bulldogs put together several strong performances through the fall. Headlined by Thomas Paulsell's round of 16 run in the NCAA Singles Championships, three Bulldogs (Paulsell, Perez Peña and Pinto Sansano) qualified for the NCAA individual tournament. Paulsell qualified for the championships by way of finishing as a semi-finalist at the ITA Conference Masters Championships in Rome, Ga. Perez Peña qualified after being crowned co-champion of the ITA Southeast Regional, and Pinto Sansano after winning the 5-8 playoff at the ITA South Sectional. Interestingly, by reaching the round of 16 in the singles tournament, Paulsell was recognized as the program's 55th All-American.
The Bulldogs culled together 77 singles wins in the fall, 13 of which were over ranked opponents. In doubles, Georgia had 24 total wins - eight ranked. The Bulldogs individual records from the fall (spring dual-match records in parentheses) are compiled below:
Singles:
Freddy Blaydes: 5-3 (0-2)
Ryan Colby: 11-7 (4-3)
Filipe Costa: 2-5 (2-0)
Parker Jacques: 5-3 (N/A)
Cyrus Mahjoob: 6-4 (1-0)
Parker Mariencheck: 2-5 (N/A)
Thomas Paulsell: 13-6 (2-4)
Miguel Perez Peña: 9-6 (6-0)
Oscar Pinto Sansano: 9-6 (7-2)
Niels Ratiu: 6-5 (5-2)
Gabriele Vulpitta: N/A (2-3)
Doubles:
Blaydes/Ratiu: 10-5 (2-0)
Paulsell/Colby: 7-4 (4-4)
Perez Peña/Pinto Sansano: 5-5 (NA)
Costa/Mahjoob: 2-3 (N/A)
Jacques/Mariencheck: 0-4 (N/A)
Ratiu/Vulpitta: N/A (2-0)
Blaydes/Pinto Sansano: N/A (3-1)
Perez Peña/Ratiu: N/A (2-3)
*Arda Azkara, Cooper Johnson and Gabriele Vulpitta are entering their first semester with Georgia.
** Davis Taylor did not feature in ITA-sanctioned matches during the fall.
SEC Kickoff: Since 2010, the Bulldogs are 10-4 in SEC openers, a .714-win rate. That figure improves to a .750-win rate since 2000 where Georgia is 18-6 in conference kickoffs.
Interestingly, Monday's match against the Volunteers mirrors a milestone from the shortened 2020 season due to COVID. On Friday, Feb. 28, 2020, Manny Diaz's side defeated No. 10 Tennessee 4-2 to secure his 706th career win as head coach and matching legendary coach Dan Magill's all-time win record.
In SEC home openers since 2010, Georgia is 5-1 with the one loss coming to – you may have guessed it – Tennessee in 2021.
Last Time Out: On Super Bowl Sunday, the Bulldogs boosted their spring season record to 5-4 with two keys wins over North Carolina and Alabama State.
First, against North Carolina, Georgia rolled out three doubles pairings familiar to individual play from the fall. Blaydes/Ratiu defeated Melnic/Xu on court one, 6-3 before Paulsell/Colby clinched the doubles points 7-5 on court three. In singles, Pinto Sansano led off win with a 6-1, 6-0 win over the Tar Heel's Mangiapane before Ratiu dispatched Wright 6-4, 6-2 on court four and Colby took court one over Djakouris 6-2, 6-0 to seal the 4-0 sweep.
Later that afternoon, the same two doubles pairings the clinched against North Carolina did the same against Alabama State in reverse order. Paulsell/Colby handled business against the Hornets' Grandinot/Lataste 6-0 before Blaydes/Ratiu put the Bulldogs up 1-0 with a 6-2 win over Verlaguet/Amier. Redshirt junior Filipe Costa earned his second win of the spring to give Georgia its first singles win in the match 6-1, 6-4 over Mileusni on court six before Pinto Sansano took court two 6-2, 7-5 over Verlaguet. Ratiu grabbed his match-clinching victory on court three over Alabama State's Obrul, battling back from a first set loss to win 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Strong Starts from the Spaniards: Senior Miguel Perez Peña is off to his best start in dual match play of his career at 6-0. Prior to this season, the Spaniards held a career-best start to the spring of 5-0 in 2023.
More, Perez Peña's 6-0 start includes starts at courts one, two and three including a ranked win on court three against Wake Forest's No. 115 Ioannis Xilas – who has since improved to No. 56 in the nation – 6-4, 5-7, 6-4. Three of the senior's six wins this spring came in straight set fashion.
Senior Oscar Pinto Sansano leads the team in singles wins this spring with seven. Sitting at 7-2 and mainly occupying court five, every match that Pinto Sansano has won has come in straight sets. The senior's 7-2 starts this spring matches his start to the 2024 season at VCU.
Top Five Wins: Since 2010, Georgia has amassed 17 top five wins in regular season and post-season play. A list of each top five victory is compiled below.
2010: 4-2 vs. No. 3 Ohio State
2011: 4-3 vs. No. 3 Tennessee
2012: 4-2 vs. No. 5 Florida; 4-3 vs. No. 2 Ohio State
2013: 4-2 vs. No. 4 Kentucky
2014: 4-3 vs. No. 1 Ohio State
2015: 4-2 vs. No. 4 UCLA; 4-2 vs. No. 5 Illinois
2016: 4-2 vs. No. 4 Ohio State; 4-0 vs. No. 2 North Carolina
2017: 4-3 vs. No. 4 USC; 4-2 vs. No. 5 UCLA
2018: 4-0 vs. No. 2 Ohio State
2020: 4-0 vs. No. 3 Ohio State
2022: 4-2 vs. No. 4 Tennessee
2023: 5-2 vs. No. 4 Kentucky; 4-0 vs. No. 4 South Carolina
Award-Winning: Following the first week of action, sophomore Niels Ratiu was announced as the first SEC men's tennis player of the week for the 2025 season.
Ratiu was efficient in the home openers for the Bulldogs. In singles play, Ratiu dispatched Mercer's Fouilhoux on court four in straight sets 6-0, 6-4 earning Georgia it's second singles point of the match. In the second match, Ratiu moved up to court two for the Bulldogs, blanking his opponent, Presbyterian's Pedro Cardoso, in straight sets, 6-0, 6-0 – the Bulldogs' first singles point of the match. Ratiu's appearance on court two against Presbyterian is his fourth career appearance in the position for Georgia. In doubles play, Ratiu maintained his court one presence from his freshman season playing alongside freshman Gabriele Vulpitta. The duo earned their first two wins over Mercer's No. 55 Stefanovic/Fouilhoux and Presbyterian's Mamalat/Vasilakis winning both matches 6-0. With the win over No. 55 Stefanovic/Fouilhoux, Ratiu now has 13 career ranked doubles wins and his first with Vulpitta.
Rank the Dawgs: Three Bulldogs are settled in the latest ITA rankings that released this Thursday, Feb. 20.
Leading off, Thomas Paulsell shifts up to No. 20 with Miguel Perez Peña jumping up to No. 38 – a career-high – Ryan Colby slotting in at No. 46.
In doubles, Freddy Blaydes/Niels Ratiu, after making their first appearance of the spring together against North Carolina, maintain the No. 16 ranking. Paulsell/Colby feature at No. 18 and Perez Peña/Oscar Pinto Sansano at No. 39 while Ratiu/Perez Peña make their first appearance as a duo at No. 81.
New Faces, New Places: The Bulldogs welcomed three new faces to Athens for the 2025 season, with a key signing for the fall 2025 class.
VCU transfer Oscar Pinto Sansano joined the ranks for the fall campaign. 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.
In January, Grand Slam champion Gabriele Vulpitta arrived in Athens for the 2025 season and beyond. Vulpitta, a native of Rome, Italy, boasts an impressive resume with a junior doubles title at Wimbledon, as well as finishing as a 2023 junior doubles Roland Garros finalist. He also held career-high ATP rankings of No. 747 in doubles and No. 1168 in singles with a Universal Tennis Rating of 13.23. More, New Mexico transfer Arda Azkara now dons the red and black. Azkara compiled 50 singles wins with the Lobos and was named the Mountain West Co-Freshman of the Year in 2022. After his sophomore and junior seasons, Azkara became the first Mountain West player to earn back-to-back Player of the Year honors since Oliver Maiberger of San Diego State University from 2001-2003. The Turkish native recorded an 11-0 record at No. 1 singles for the Lobos last season and holds a 13.15 Universal Tennis Rating. Georgia native Cooper Johnson will join the Bulldogs in January. Johnson holds career-high recruiting rankings of No. 1 in the state of Georgia and No. 21 nationally. He holds a Universal Tennis Rating of 11.9 with a 3-2 record against other five-star recruits. Johnson also holds an ITF junior ranking of 3,157 and an ITF World Tennis Number of 16.5
Blue-chip recruit and Anderson, S.C. native Noah Johnston signed with Georgia for the fall of 2025, head coach Jamie Hunt announced last fall. The former No. 1 overall recruit in the nation holds a 5-5 record against fellow blue-chip prospects and a career-high ITF junior ranking of 50. Johnston has recent singles and doubles wins at the J200 Tampico, a doubles championship at the J300 Barranquilla, and a doubles championship at the J300 San Jose while also featuring in the junior doubles draw of the 144th edition of the U.S. Open.
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.
Players Mentioned
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