University of Georgia Athletics
Grateful Grant Staying Present As Career Winds Down
April 17, 2025 | Women's Tennis, The Frierson Files
Staff Writer
Guillermina Grant sat down for an interview at 10 Tuesday morning, talking at length about how much her Georgia women's tennis experience over the past four years has meant to her. After that, the senior had practice at 11 as the No. 2-ranked Bulldogs prepared for the SEC Tournament. Later, she and some others were going over to Clarke Middle School to help present some awards.
That is a Gigi Grant kind of day.
"I think UGA gave me so many things, it's made me so happy, so every time I get the chance to share that with others, I really want to do it. … I want to be able to pour all of that in others," said Grant, who will wrap up her collegiate career in the weeks ahead, first with the SECs this weekend and then the NCAA tournament.
Grant knows the end is coming, but she's trying hard not to think about it. She has already earned an undergraduate degree and is in graduate school working on a master's degree that will keep her around for another year. She said she will be around the athletic department as a graduate assistant next year, but her time competing on the court with her teammates — something that wound up meaning more to her than she ever could have imagined — will end next month.
"The last few weeks, like before Senior Day, were very emotional for me," said Grant, from Montevideo, Uruguay. "I've been trying to remind myself to stay present and to not think about how much time I have left. Instead, I just try to think about how I get to spend time with the team, with my friends, and I get to go out there and play."
One of the constants with the Georgia women's tennis program over the past four seasons — along with the incredible amount of winning the Bulldogs have done, of course — is Grant's warm smile. Whether in the thick of competition, interacting with the many fans she's gotten to know over the past four years, or something as basic as riding her scooter around campus, Grant's smile will be there. It's who she is, and it's who she's always been.
"I think I have always been a very positive and smiley person. I don't think I have any pictures growing up where I'm not smiling at all," said Grant, who usually plays No. 5 singles and is 12-3 in completed dual-match singles play this spring.
Between singles and doubles, Grant has won well over 100 matches for the Bulldogs. She's helped them win SEC titles, she helped them win the ITA National Indoor Championships earlier this year, and she will be vital to helping Georgia go deep in the postseason this spring. The team format of collegiate tennis was new to Grant when she got to Georgia, and it has been a life-changing experience. She doesn't want to play tennis any other way.
"I had no idea what I was coming to, and then it was like the best decision of my life," she said. "I completely love it. I love the way the game is played on a team. I grew up going to practice with just boys, because there are not too many girls playing tennis in Uruguay, and now I have, every day, 11 girls practicing with me."
Along with those Georgia tennis teammates are the hundreds of fellow Bulldogs, many of whom she has served alongside on the UGA Athletic Association's Student-Athlete Advisory Council or the Leadership Education and Development program. She's also been busy giving back around Athens and was recently named to the 2025 SEC Community Service Team.
"I think one of my characteristics is putting others first," she said. "From a very young age, I'm always checking on others and making sure everyone is having a good time or feels welcome. I don't think I think about it, it comes natural. It comes from the values my family poured into me growing up. I think."
Earlier this month, when the Bulldogs hosted Missouri on Senior Day, Grant got the chance to play with her former doubles partner, Mai Nirundorn, who has missed nearly all of her senior year with an arm injury. But with Nirundorn serving underhanded, the duo took the court together for the first time since last spring's NCAA team final against Texas A&M.
That Grant smile was everywhere during the six games they played before their teammates on courts one and three closed out their matches to clinch the doubles point. As Georgia head coach Drake Bernstein pointed out after the match, Grant was giving her all to help Nirundorn earn a victory.
"I think maybe the coolest part about it was just how hard Gigi was playing for Mai," Bernstein said. "You know, Gigi is out there every day, and for her to want it that bad for her teammate says a lot."
Going off to college, whether you're going five miles away or to a different country, it's a leap of faith with an uncertain outcome. In Grant's case, she came to Georgia sight unseen. Her first time seeing Athens and the campus was when she arrived with all of her stuff.
She said it was the best decision of her life. There are a lot of folks around the team, on campus, and in the Athens community, whose lives she has made better with her play, her warmth and her selfless ways, that would agree.
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.
Players Mentioned
