University of Georgia Athletics
Happy And Healthy, Reasco Returning To Top Form
May 01, 2025 | Women's Tennis, The Frierson Files
Staff Writer
The Georgia women's tennis team is ranked No. 1 in the country heading into the NCAA tournament. Dasha Vidmanova, the reigning NCAA singles champion and one of the most accomplished Bulldogs ever, is ranked No. 2 after spending most of the spring atop the singles rankings. And ranked No. 1 in doubles are Vidmanova and Mell Reasco, who have been almost unbeatable since Georgia's coaches put them together a few months ago.
In some ways, the only surprise here is Reasco, who had hip surgery after last season and has traveled a long recovery road to return first to the court and then to being the difference-maker she's been throughout the All-SEC senior's career.
"I think I'm still working on it," Reasco said of returning to her top form. "The fact that I've been playing every week has helped me a lot, but I think there's a lot that I can improve, especially my movements. I think I'm still developing that confidence in moving on the court."
Reasco said she played through her hip injury all of last season — it had been an issue for years — and knew that surgery was in her future. While her teammates were playing individual tournaments in the fall, she was on crutches and doing rehab.
"I actually had a good recovery, very speedy. I didn't plan to play at the beginning of the (spring) season, but we have great medical support here at UGA, and our trainers and coaches did a very good job. They did a very good job in getting me back to it," said Reasco, from Quito, Ecuador.
As a freshman, Reasco went 27-9 in singles, earned All-America and All-SEC honors, and was No. 21 in the final ITA rankings. She also got to represent Ecuador in the 2022 Billie Jean King Cup. She went 24-7 in singles as a sophomore, including 17-6 at the No. 3 spot in the lineup, and again earned All-SEC honors.
During her junior season, when her hip was becoming a challenge and limiting her practice time, Reasco went 15-9 in singles, including 10-8 in dual matches. In doubles, she and Anastasiia Lopata made a formidable duo, going 15-3 overall and 12-2 in dual matches at the No. 3 spot.
"Last year, she would wrap up any given day and she would be just hurting," Georgia head coach Drake Bernstein said. "She's always been speedy, so I don't know if it's been a net gain on the speed, but she's moving no worse than she was last year, and she's walking off the court without hip pain."
On the doubles court, Reasco and Lopata started the season playing together just like last year, going 2-0 in completed matches. But the coaches decided to switch things up heading into the ITA National Indoor Championships, so Reasco was paired at the No. 1 spot with Vidmanova, who last spring won the NCAA doubles title with Aysegul Mert. The result: Reasco and Vidmanova are 17-2 together,
"They're great friends off the court, so there's great chemistry there," associate head coach Jarryd Chaplin said of the teammates and roommates for the past four years.
In her most recent singles match, when then-No. 2 Georgia beat then-No. 1 Texas A&M on April 20 to win the program's third straight SEC tournament, Reasco, who is 6-8 in completed singles matches this spring, played as well as she has in a long time. Facing Mia Kupres at No. 3 singles, Reasco rolled to a 6-3, 6-1 win, helping the Bulldogs go on to a 4-2 victory.
"I think at the beginning of the season, I played very good, maybe because of excitement and just going back to the courts. And then I had a few weeks where I was very up and down," Reasco said.
After a tough three-set win over LSU's Tilwith Di Girolami on March 14, Reasco went 10 matches without a win. She lost four of the 10 and the rest were unfinished because the team match had been clinched. But against Kupres, an opponent she'd lost to twice already in 2025, with the SEC title on the line, Reasco was the first Bulldog off the court.
"At the SEC, I just put in my mind that I need to be confident in myself and do it for the team, and that helped me a lot," she said.
"I think it probably started with a decision before that match that she was just going to stick to it from start to finish," Chaplin said. "She played very physical and spirited, and we'll need more of that from her for the last little push."
That last little push starts Friday (1 p.m.) when Georgia takes on Florida A&M in the first round of the NCAAs at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
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
