University of Georgia Athletics
Friday, February 28
Tuscaloosa, Ala.
7:00 p.m.
University of Georgia
at
Alabama
Senior Ryan Colby during a singles match against No. 16 Tennessee at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex on Monday, February. 24, 2025.
Photo by: Tony Walsh/UGAAA
Bulldogs Embark on First SEC Road Trip, Take On Alabama and Auburn
February 27, 2025 | Men's Tennis
ATHENS, Ga. – The University of Georgia men's tennis team is set to travel to Alabama and Auburn this weekend for its first SEC road tests of 2025.
Full PDF of Match Notes Available Here
Match 12 – at No. 25 Alabama
Friday, Feb. 28, 2025
University of Alabama Tennis Center
Live Streaming/Live Stats: https://gado.gs/coz
Instagram: @UGATennis | X: @UGATennis | Facebook: UGAMensTennis
Match 13 – at No. 45 Auburn
Sunday, Mar. 2, 2025
Yarbrough Tennis Center
Live Streaming/Live Stats: statb.us/b/560956
Instagram: @UGATennis | X: @UGATennis | Facebook: UGAMensTennis
MEDIA RESOURCES:
Georgia Season Statistics: https://gado.gs/cox
Alabama Season Statistics: https://gado.gs/cov
Auburn Season Statistics: https://gado.gs/cou
SEC Season Statistics: https://gado.gs/cow
BULLDOG BULLETIN
The First Serve: Now into SEC action, the Bulldogs hold a 7-4 record with a 1-0 start to conference play. Georgia boasts wins over Georgia Tech, North Carolina and No. 16 Tennessee with all four losses coming to top 25 ranked opponents (No. 23 Harvard, No. 21 UCLA, No. 4 Wake Forest and No. 5 Virginia). Interestingly, Georgia matched up against Wake Forest - current No. 1 team and the ITA National Team Indoors champions - extremely well. The Demon Deacons have three 4-3 victories this season (Georgia, No. 3 Ohio State and No. 3 Texas).
The Bulldogs hold a 61-8 all-time record against Alabama with the last win coming in the 2024 season at home. This season, the Tide are off to an 8-3 start with wins over Georgia Tech, Alabama State, VCU, Tulsa, Middle Tennessee State, Alabama A&M, No. 15 Florida State and Presbyterian while dropping matches to No. 5 Virginia and the first two conference contests against South Carolina and No. 49 Florida. On the roster, Alabama has two freshman (Kriznik and Loh), one sophomore (Zimnokh), three juniors (Perez, Jones and Ponce De Leon) and four seniors (Aguiard, Foster, Nezar and Planinsek).
Against the Tigers, the Bulldogs are 63-6 all-time with the last win coming in 2023 in Auburn. This year, Auburn sits at 7-4 with wins over Mercer, North Alabama, Middle Tennessee State, Tulsa, Alabama State and a double over Florida Gulf Coast. The Tigers have fallen to No. 25 Michigan, Illinois, No. 49 Florida and South Carolina. Auburn has five freshman (Bredschneijder, Frusina, Nasridinov, Pettingell and Phillips), one redshirt freshman (J. Kennedy), one redshirt sophomore (Heng), two juniors (Blaydes and T. Kennedy) and one senior (Nolan) on the roster.
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: Overall:
Freddy Blaydes: 5-3 (1-2) 6-5
Ryan Colby: 11-7 (5-3) 16-10
Filipe Costa: 2-5 (3-0) 5-5
Parker Jacques: 5-3 (N/A) 5-3
Cyrus Mahjoob: 6-4 (2-0) 8-4
Parker Mariencheck: 2-5 (1-0) 3-5
Thomas Paulsell: 13-6 (3-4) 16-10
Miguel Perez Peña: 9-6 (7-0) 16-6
Oscar Pinto Sansano: 9-6 (9-2) 18-8
Niels Ratiu: 6-5 (6-3) 12-8
Gabriele Vulpitta: N/A (2-3) 2-3
Doubles: Overall:
Blaydes/Ratiu: 10-5 (3-0) 13-5
Paulsell/Colby: 7-4 (4-5) 11-9
Perez Peña/Pinto Sansano: 5-5 (NA) 5-5
Costa/Mahjoob: 2-3 (N/A) 2-3
Jacques/Mariencheck: 0-4 (N/A) 0-4
Ratiu/Vulpitta: N/A (2-0) 2-0
Blaydes/Pinto Sansano: N/A (3-1) 3-1
Perez Peña/Ratiu: N/A (2-4) 2-4
Perez Peña/Jacques: N/A (1-0) 1-0
*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.
Alabama Action: Once again, the Bulldogs embark on the road to face Alabama and Auburn in the first away conference action of the season. In 2023, Georgia defeated No. 58 Alabama and No. 14 Auburn each 6-1 to kick off SEC road action.
Georgia is on a five-match win streak against the Tide dating back to 2019. Since 2010, the Bulldogs are 13-1 against Alabama with the lone loss coming as a 2-4 decision in Tuscaloosa in 2018. Against the Tigers, Georgia also boasts a 12-4 record since 2010.
Last season, Georgia ended a five-game skid during the regular season with a 5-2 win over No. 21 Alabama in Athens. The Bulldogs took the doubles point with Ryan and Niels winning on court two before Blaydes/Paulsell won on court one to clinch the point. In singles, wins from Miguel and Cyrus on courts three and five, respectively, put Georgia in reach before Colby clinched on court two. Paulsell took court one to give the Bulldogs their fifth point.
Georgia fell to No. 35 Auburn 3-4 last season at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. Wins on courts three then two clinched doubles for the visitors. In singles action, Niels leveled the score with a win on court three before Tiger wins on courts six and four put Auburn in striking distance. The Bulldogs battled back with Mahjoob winning on court five, but the Tigers clinched the match on court one in three sets. Playing out, Colby grabbed court two.
Last Time Out: The Bulldogs kicked off SEC-play with an emphatic, come-from-behind victory against No. 16 Tennessee before rolling The Citadel 7-0 later in the afternoon.
Tennessee kicked off doubles play taking courts one and two to clinch the point. Into singles, and down a point, the Bulldogs needed four of the six courts to move to 1-0 in SEC play. On court five, Oscar Pinto Sansano was the first to grab a win for Georgia defeating Jan Kobierski 6-3, 6-0 and tying the match. The Volunteers responded as No. 95 Alejandro Moreno beat Niels Ratiu on court four to put the away side ahead once again. Down in the match again, the Bulldogs sparked to life. Making his first start on court one for conference play, No. 38 Miguel Perez Peña earned his career-high win in singles, 6-1, 6-3 over No. 16 Shunsuke Mitsui, to bring Georgia level once more. Immediately after, No. 46 Ryan Colby made swift work of No. 31 Alex Kotzen on court two winning 6-3, 6-3 to give the home side the lead. Needing one more for the clinch, No. 20 Thomas Paulsell, on court three, dispatched Jose Garcia 6-4, 6-4 to clinch Georgia's highest ranked regular season win since defeating No. 5 South Carolina on Apr. 7, 2023.
In the second match of the day, Georgia rotated the doubles pairings with one familiar pairing. Perez Peña/Parker Jacques, in their first match together, defeated The Citadel's Stroumpis/Hendrix 6-1 on court three. Then, on court one, No. 16 Blaydes/Ratiu defeated Noah Van Dyke/Reece Beckendorf 6-1 to clinch the doubles point.
The Bulldogs swept singles action with Ratiu winning first on court one 6-0, 6-2 over Van Dyke. The Belgian was followed by Filipe Costa's 6-0, 6-2 win on court four, Cyrus Mahjoob's 6-2, 6-1 win on court five, Pinto Sansano's 6-3, 6-1 win on court two and Blaydes' 6-3, 6-2 win on court three. Making his first appearance of the spring, Parker Mariencheck sealed the sweep with a 6-2, 6-2 decision on court six.
Strong Starts from the Spaniards: Senior Miguel Perez Peña made his best start in dual match play of his career at 6-0 following the match against No. 5 Virginia. Perez Peña is now 7-0 after a career-high win in singles during the Tennessee match. Prior to this season, the Spaniards held a career-best start to the spring of 5-0 in 2023.
More, Perez Peña's 7-0 start includes appearances at courts one, two and three including two ranked wins against Wake Forest's No. 115 Ioannis Xilas – who has since improved to No. 56 in the nation – 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 and No. 16 Shunsuke Mitsui, 6-1, 6-3. Four of the senior's seven wins this spring came in straight set fashion.
Senior Oscar Pinto Sansano leads the team in singles wins this spring with nine. Sitting at 9-2 and mainly occupying court five, every match that Pinto Sansano has won has come in straight sets. The senior's 9-2 start marks his career-best start to spring action for any team he has represented.
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 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.
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.
Full PDF of Match Notes Available Here
Match 12 – at No. 25 Alabama
Friday, Feb. 28, 2025
University of Alabama Tennis Center
Live Streaming/Live Stats: https://gado.gs/coz
Instagram: @UGATennis | X: @UGATennis | Facebook: UGAMensTennis
Match 13 – at No. 45 Auburn
Sunday, Mar. 2, 2025
Yarbrough Tennis Center
Live Streaming/Live Stats: statb.us/b/560956
Instagram: @UGATennis | X: @UGATennis | Facebook: UGAMensTennis
MEDIA RESOURCES:
Georgia Season Statistics: https://gado.gs/cox
Alabama Season Statistics: https://gado.gs/cov
Auburn Season Statistics: https://gado.gs/cou
SEC Season Statistics: https://gado.gs/cow
BULLDOG BULLETIN
The First Serve: Now into SEC action, the Bulldogs hold a 7-4 record with a 1-0 start to conference play. Georgia boasts wins over Georgia Tech, North Carolina and No. 16 Tennessee with all four losses coming to top 25 ranked opponents (No. 23 Harvard, No. 21 UCLA, No. 4 Wake Forest and No. 5 Virginia). Interestingly, Georgia matched up against Wake Forest - current No. 1 team and the ITA National Team Indoors champions - extremely well. The Demon Deacons have three 4-3 victories this season (Georgia, No. 3 Ohio State and No. 3 Texas).
The Bulldogs hold a 61-8 all-time record against Alabama with the last win coming in the 2024 season at home. This season, the Tide are off to an 8-3 start with wins over Georgia Tech, Alabama State, VCU, Tulsa, Middle Tennessee State, Alabama A&M, No. 15 Florida State and Presbyterian while dropping matches to No. 5 Virginia and the first two conference contests against South Carolina and No. 49 Florida. On the roster, Alabama has two freshman (Kriznik and Loh), one sophomore (Zimnokh), three juniors (Perez, Jones and Ponce De Leon) and four seniors (Aguiard, Foster, Nezar and Planinsek).
Against the Tigers, the Bulldogs are 63-6 all-time with the last win coming in 2023 in Auburn. This year, Auburn sits at 7-4 with wins over Mercer, North Alabama, Middle Tennessee State, Tulsa, Alabama State and a double over Florida Gulf Coast. The Tigers have fallen to No. 25 Michigan, Illinois, No. 49 Florida and South Carolina. Auburn has five freshman (Bredschneijder, Frusina, Nasridinov, Pettingell and Phillips), one redshirt freshman (J. Kennedy), one redshirt sophomore (Heng), two juniors (Blaydes and T. Kennedy) and one senior (Nolan) on the roster.
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: Overall:
Freddy Blaydes: 5-3 (1-2) 6-5
Ryan Colby: 11-7 (5-3) 16-10
Filipe Costa: 2-5 (3-0) 5-5
Parker Jacques: 5-3 (N/A) 5-3
Cyrus Mahjoob: 6-4 (2-0) 8-4
Parker Mariencheck: 2-5 (1-0) 3-5
Thomas Paulsell: 13-6 (3-4) 16-10
Miguel Perez Peña: 9-6 (7-0) 16-6
Oscar Pinto Sansano: 9-6 (9-2) 18-8
Niels Ratiu: 6-5 (6-3) 12-8
Gabriele Vulpitta: N/A (2-3) 2-3
Doubles: Overall:
Blaydes/Ratiu: 10-5 (3-0) 13-5
Paulsell/Colby: 7-4 (4-5) 11-9
Perez Peña/Pinto Sansano: 5-5 (NA) 5-5
Costa/Mahjoob: 2-3 (N/A) 2-3
Jacques/Mariencheck: 0-4 (N/A) 0-4
Ratiu/Vulpitta: N/A (2-0) 2-0
Blaydes/Pinto Sansano: N/A (3-1) 3-1
Perez Peña/Ratiu: N/A (2-4) 2-4
Perez Peña/Jacques: N/A (1-0) 1-0
*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.
Alabama Action: Once again, the Bulldogs embark on the road to face Alabama and Auburn in the first away conference action of the season. In 2023, Georgia defeated No. 58 Alabama and No. 14 Auburn each 6-1 to kick off SEC road action.
Georgia is on a five-match win streak against the Tide dating back to 2019. Since 2010, the Bulldogs are 13-1 against Alabama with the lone loss coming as a 2-4 decision in Tuscaloosa in 2018. Against the Tigers, Georgia also boasts a 12-4 record since 2010.
Last season, Georgia ended a five-game skid during the regular season with a 5-2 win over No. 21 Alabama in Athens. The Bulldogs took the doubles point with Ryan and Niels winning on court two before Blaydes/Paulsell won on court one to clinch the point. In singles, wins from Miguel and Cyrus on courts three and five, respectively, put Georgia in reach before Colby clinched on court two. Paulsell took court one to give the Bulldogs their fifth point.
Georgia fell to No. 35 Auburn 3-4 last season at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. Wins on courts three then two clinched doubles for the visitors. In singles action, Niels leveled the score with a win on court three before Tiger wins on courts six and four put Auburn in striking distance. The Bulldogs battled back with Mahjoob winning on court five, but the Tigers clinched the match on court one in three sets. Playing out, Colby grabbed court two.
Last Time Out: The Bulldogs kicked off SEC-play with an emphatic, come-from-behind victory against No. 16 Tennessee before rolling The Citadel 7-0 later in the afternoon.
Tennessee kicked off doubles play taking courts one and two to clinch the point. Into singles, and down a point, the Bulldogs needed four of the six courts to move to 1-0 in SEC play. On court five, Oscar Pinto Sansano was the first to grab a win for Georgia defeating Jan Kobierski 6-3, 6-0 and tying the match. The Volunteers responded as No. 95 Alejandro Moreno beat Niels Ratiu on court four to put the away side ahead once again. Down in the match again, the Bulldogs sparked to life. Making his first start on court one for conference play, No. 38 Miguel Perez Peña earned his career-high win in singles, 6-1, 6-3 over No. 16 Shunsuke Mitsui, to bring Georgia level once more. Immediately after, No. 46 Ryan Colby made swift work of No. 31 Alex Kotzen on court two winning 6-3, 6-3 to give the home side the lead. Needing one more for the clinch, No. 20 Thomas Paulsell, on court three, dispatched Jose Garcia 6-4, 6-4 to clinch Georgia's highest ranked regular season win since defeating No. 5 South Carolina on Apr. 7, 2023.
In the second match of the day, Georgia rotated the doubles pairings with one familiar pairing. Perez Peña/Parker Jacques, in their first match together, defeated The Citadel's Stroumpis/Hendrix 6-1 on court three. Then, on court one, No. 16 Blaydes/Ratiu defeated Noah Van Dyke/Reece Beckendorf 6-1 to clinch the doubles point.
The Bulldogs swept singles action with Ratiu winning first on court one 6-0, 6-2 over Van Dyke. The Belgian was followed by Filipe Costa's 6-0, 6-2 win on court four, Cyrus Mahjoob's 6-2, 6-1 win on court five, Pinto Sansano's 6-3, 6-1 win on court two and Blaydes' 6-3, 6-2 win on court three. Making his first appearance of the spring, Parker Mariencheck sealed the sweep with a 6-2, 6-2 decision on court six.
Strong Starts from the Spaniards: Senior Miguel Perez Peña made his best start in dual match play of his career at 6-0 following the match against No. 5 Virginia. Perez Peña is now 7-0 after a career-high win in singles during the Tennessee match. Prior to this season, the Spaniards held a career-best start to the spring of 5-0 in 2023.
More, Perez Peña's 7-0 start includes appearances at courts one, two and three including two ranked wins against Wake Forest's No. 115 Ioannis Xilas – who has since improved to No. 56 in the nation – 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 and No. 16 Shunsuke Mitsui, 6-1, 6-3. Four of the senior's seven wins this spring came in straight set fashion.
Senior Oscar Pinto Sansano leads the team in singles wins this spring with nine. Sitting at 9-2 and mainly occupying court five, every match that Pinto Sansano has won has come in straight sets. The senior's 9-2 start marks his career-best start to spring action for any team he has represented.
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 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.
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.
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
Georgia Men's Tennis NCAA Round 2 vs NC State - Postmatch Interview - Coach Hunt
Sunday, May 04
Georgia Men's Tennis NCAA Round 1 vs UNCW - Video Recap
Saturday, May 03
Georgia Men's Tennis SEC Tournament vs Oklahoma Post-match Interview - Coach Hunt
Thursday, April 17
Georgia Men's Tennis Feature - Lifelong Bond: Miguel Perez Peña and Oscar Pinto Sansano
Tuesday, April 15