University of Georgia Athletics
Sunday, February 9
Athens, Ga.
1:00 p.m.
University of Georgia
vs
North Carolina
Sophomore Niels Ratiu during a doubles match against No. 5 Virginia in the Lindsey Hopkins Indoor Facility on Friday, Feb. 7, 2025.
Photo by: Tony Walsh/UGAAA
Bulldogs Primed for Sunday Double Header
February 08, 2025 | Men's Tennis
ATHENS, Ga. – The University of Georgia men's tennis team closes a four-match home stand against North Carolina and Alabama State on Sunday, Feb. 9 at the Lindsey Hopkins Indoor Facility.
Match Eight – North Carolina
Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025
Lindsey Hopkins Indoor Facility
Live Streaming/Live Stats: https://gado.gs/91i
Instagram: @UGATennis | X: @UGATennis | Facebook: UGAMensTennis
Match Nine – Alabama State
Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025
Lindsey Hopkins Indoor Facility
Live Streaming/Live Stats: https://gado.gs/91i
Instagram: @UGATennis | X: @UGATennis | Facebook: UGAMensTennis
BULLDOG BULLETIN
The First Serve: The Bulldogs have split their last two contests, defeating Georgia Tech 4-2 last Tuesday and falling to No. 5 Virginia last Friday. Now, Georgia turns its attention to the Tar Heels of North Carolina and the Hornets of Alabama State.
The Bulldogs hold a 13-11 all-time record against the Tar Heels. Last season, at the Chewning Tennis Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina came out on top 6-1. This season, the Tar Heels have put together a 4-2 record with wins over James Madison, Charlotte, Campbell and North Carolina Central while falling to Memphis and Illinois. North Carolina, led by head coach Sam Paul, have three freshmen (Mangiapane, Rafiee and Xu), one redshirt freshman (Wright), one sophomore (Schoen), two juniors (Djakouris and Perumov), one senior (Jerry) and two graduates (Melnic and Zapp) on the roster.
Georgia and Alabama State have met one previous time in 2022 when the Bulldogs swept the Hornets 4-0 in the first round of the NCAA tournament at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. This year, Alabama State is currently 4-6 with positive results over Florida Gulf Coast, Auburn-Montgomery, West Alabama and South Alabama while dropping contests to Georgia Southern, Florida State, No. 19 Alabama, Mississippi State, Samford and Auburn. On the roster, the Hornets are led by one freshman (Roux), three sophomores (Mileusni, Lataste and Obrul) and three seniors (Amier, Grandinot and Verlaguet).
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 (3-3)
Filipe Costa: 2-5 (1-0)
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 (5-2)
Niels Ratiu: 6-5 (3-2)
Gabriele Vulpitta: N/A (2-3)
Doubles:
Blaydes/Ratiu: 10-5 (N/A)
Paulsell/Colby: 7-4 (2-4)
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.
Fresh From the Start: Since 2000, Georgia is 23-3 in season openers. The figure becomes in more dominant when looking at non-power four conferences. Against such, the Bulldogs are 11-0 when playing a non-power four conference in a season opener.
Interestingly, Georgia also opened the 2021 and 2025 campaign at home with 7-0 victories over in-state rival, Mercer. More, the Bulldogs have now defeated Presbyterian 7-0 in their previous two meetings in Athens.
This year's season opener also marked the first official match of first year head coach Jamie Hunt's tenure as the head coach of Georgia. Although it is a small sample size, new head coaches are 3-0 in season openers (Magill, Diaz and Hunt).
Last Time Out: On Friday night, Georgia fell 5-2 to No. 5 Virginia.
In doubles, the Cavaliers grabbed wins on courts two and one, in order, to seal the point.
In singles play, Georgia responded after Niels Ratiu took court four, 6-4, 6-1. Virginia responded taking courts two, six and one to clinch the win. The two teams played out singles leading to Miguel Perez Peña's six win of the spring confirming his best start to dual-match singles play of his career. Oscar Pinto Sansano fell in a 10-point tiebreak third set to hand the Cavaliers the last point.
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 Wednesday, Feb. 5.
Leading off, Thomas Paulsell slots in at No. 23 with Ryan Colby jumping up to No. 36 and Miguel Perez Peña sliding to No. 46.
In doubles, after a career-high win in doubles last weekend against No. 4 Wake Forest, Paulsell/Colby find themselves as the highest ranked Georgia pairing at No. 15. Freddy Blaydes/Niels Ratiu come in just behind at No. 16, and Perez Peña/Oscar Pinto Sansano rise to No. 26.
New Faces, New Places: The Bulldogs have 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 will arrive in Athens for the 2025 SEC dual-match conference 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 is set to don the red and black beginning in the spring. 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 on Tuesday, Nov. 12. 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 Eight – North Carolina
Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025
Lindsey Hopkins Indoor Facility
Live Streaming/Live Stats: https://gado.gs/91i
Instagram: @UGATennis | X: @UGATennis | Facebook: UGAMensTennis
Match Nine – Alabama State
Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025
Lindsey Hopkins Indoor Facility
Live Streaming/Live Stats: https://gado.gs/91i
Instagram: @UGATennis | X: @UGATennis | Facebook: UGAMensTennis
BULLDOG BULLETIN
The First Serve: The Bulldogs have split their last two contests, defeating Georgia Tech 4-2 last Tuesday and falling to No. 5 Virginia last Friday. Now, Georgia turns its attention to the Tar Heels of North Carolina and the Hornets of Alabama State.
The Bulldogs hold a 13-11 all-time record against the Tar Heels. Last season, at the Chewning Tennis Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina came out on top 6-1. This season, the Tar Heels have put together a 4-2 record with wins over James Madison, Charlotte, Campbell and North Carolina Central while falling to Memphis and Illinois. North Carolina, led by head coach Sam Paul, have three freshmen (Mangiapane, Rafiee and Xu), one redshirt freshman (Wright), one sophomore (Schoen), two juniors (Djakouris and Perumov), one senior (Jerry) and two graduates (Melnic and Zapp) on the roster.
Georgia and Alabama State have met one previous time in 2022 when the Bulldogs swept the Hornets 4-0 in the first round of the NCAA tournament at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. This year, Alabama State is currently 4-6 with positive results over Florida Gulf Coast, Auburn-Montgomery, West Alabama and South Alabama while dropping contests to Georgia Southern, Florida State, No. 19 Alabama, Mississippi State, Samford and Auburn. On the roster, the Hornets are led by one freshman (Roux), three sophomores (Mileusni, Lataste and Obrul) and three seniors (Amier, Grandinot and Verlaguet).
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 (3-3)
Filipe Costa: 2-5 (1-0)
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 (5-2)
Niels Ratiu: 6-5 (3-2)
Gabriele Vulpitta: N/A (2-3)
Doubles:
Blaydes/Ratiu: 10-5 (N/A)
Paulsell/Colby: 7-4 (2-4)
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.
Fresh From the Start: Since 2000, Georgia is 23-3 in season openers. The figure becomes in more dominant when looking at non-power four conferences. Against such, the Bulldogs are 11-0 when playing a non-power four conference in a season opener.
Interestingly, Georgia also opened the 2021 and 2025 campaign at home with 7-0 victories over in-state rival, Mercer. More, the Bulldogs have now defeated Presbyterian 7-0 in their previous two meetings in Athens.
This year's season opener also marked the first official match of first year head coach Jamie Hunt's tenure as the head coach of Georgia. Although it is a small sample size, new head coaches are 3-0 in season openers (Magill, Diaz and Hunt).
Last Time Out: On Friday night, Georgia fell 5-2 to No. 5 Virginia.
In doubles, the Cavaliers grabbed wins on courts two and one, in order, to seal the point.
In singles play, Georgia responded after Niels Ratiu took court four, 6-4, 6-1. Virginia responded taking courts two, six and one to clinch the win. The two teams played out singles leading to Miguel Perez Peña's six win of the spring confirming his best start to dual-match singles play of his career. Oscar Pinto Sansano fell in a 10-point tiebreak third set to hand the Cavaliers the last point.
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 Wednesday, Feb. 5.
Leading off, Thomas Paulsell slots in at No. 23 with Ryan Colby jumping up to No. 36 and Miguel Perez Peña sliding to No. 46.
In doubles, after a career-high win in doubles last weekend against No. 4 Wake Forest, Paulsell/Colby find themselves as the highest ranked Georgia pairing at No. 15. Freddy Blaydes/Niels Ratiu come in just behind at No. 16, and Perez Peña/Oscar Pinto Sansano rise to No. 26.
New Faces, New Places: The Bulldogs have 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 will arrive in Athens for the 2025 SEC dual-match conference 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 is set to don the red and black beginning in the spring. 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 on Tuesday, Nov. 12. 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.
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