Friday, September 19

University of Georgia

at

Carolina Classic

Sophomore Gabriele Vulpitta during a match agaisnt Vanderbilt at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga. on Thursday, Mar. 27, 2025.
Sophomore Gabriele Vulpitta during a match agaisnt Vanderbilt at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga. on Thursday, Mar. 27, 2025.
Photo by: Sofia Yaker/UGAAA

Select Bulldogs to Compete at ITA All-American Championships, Carolina Classic

September 18, 2025 | Men's Tennis

TULSA, Okla./COLUMBIA, S.C. – Select Bulldogs will travel to compete in the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma and the Carolina Classic in Columbia, South Carolina beginning this weekend.
 
*PDF of Match Notes Available Here
 
ITA All-American Championships
Saturday, Sept. 20-Sunday, Sept. 28
Michael D. Case Tennis Center – Tulsa, Okla.
Live Stats: https://gado.gs/dh2
Live Streaming: https://gado.gs/dh1
Cracked Racquets Live Streaming (Main Draw): https://gado.gs/dh0
Instagram: @UGATennis | X: @UGATennis | Facebook: UGAMensTennis
 
Carolina Classic
Friday, Sept. 19 – Sunday, Sept. 21
Carolina Tennis Center – Columbia, S.C.
Results: https://gado.gs/dgz
Live Streaming: https://gado.gs/dgy
Instagram: @UGATennis | X: @UGATennis | Facebook: UGAMensTennis
 
BULLDOG BULLETIN
Tournament Information:
• The ITA All-American Championships, set to take place at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, will commence for the 47th consecutive year with a brief hiatus in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Acting as qualifier for the NCAA Singles and Doubles tournament in November, 10 singles players - eight quarterfinalists and two consolation finalists - and four doubles teams - 
semifinalists - will book their ticket during competition. 
• Graduate Derrick Chen, senior Santi Giamichelle, senior Will Jansen and sophomore Gabriele Vulpitta will take part in this year's ITA All-American Championships.
•  The Carolina Classic is hosted by the University of South Carolina at the Gamecocks' home, the Carolina Tennis Center.
•  Redshirt freshman Cooper Johnson and freshman Noah Johnston will make their collegiate debuts in this year's edition of the competition.
•  The Carolina Classic has a draw size of up to 32 players competing in singles and doubles.
 
Last Time Out
Derrick Chen and Santi Giamichelle each enjoyed strong performances last weekend at the Battle in the Bay Classic
• Chen, after falling in the opening round of the singles draw, rebounded with an unblemished run to the consolation finals where he took down Michigan State's Taym Alazmeh, 6-3, 3-6, [10-8]
• Giamichelle reached the quarterfinals of the singles draw including defeating Stanford's Nico Godsick – ranked No. 86 in the ITA singles poll. The No. 84-duo in Chen and Giamichelle lost in the quarterfinals of the doubles draw to No. 16 Nico Godsick/Hudson Rivera.
 
New Faces, New Places:
• Georgia welcomed four new members to the Bulldog men's tennis family this fall including three transfers – Derrick Chen, Santi Giamichelle and Will Jansen – as well as one new freshman, Noah Johnston. This year's transfer class was ranked No. 4 nationally and No. 1 in the SEC by College Tennis Nation.
• Graduate Derrick Chen arrives from California-Berkeley. Over the course of four seasons with the Bears, Chen was a two-time ITA Scholar-Athlete and recorded over 70 combined singles and doubles wins.
• Senior Santi Giamichelle made two stops before arriving in Athens after spending his freshman year at UT-Arlington and then two years at the University of Central Florida. The Argentine international has over 50 career singles and doubles wins, respectively.
• Senior Will Jansen also featured for two programs before landing with the Bulldogs featuring for the North Carolina Tar Heels during his freshman and sophomore seasons and then last year with Ohio State. The 2025 ITA Doubles All-American begins his career as a Bulldog with a career-high singles ranking of No. 35 and 13 combined singles and doubles ranked wins.
• Freshman Noah Johnston embarks on his college journey on the back of two junior Grand Slam doubles finals appearance in this year's U.S. Open and Roland Garros. He holds a career-high ITF Juniors Ranking of No. 18 and boasts a current 13.26 UTR.
 
Rank the Dawgs:
• Four Bulldogs received preseason nods in the ITA singles and doubles rankings.
• In singles, graduate Arda Azkara came in at No. 80 and Jansen came in at No. 103. Azkara's ranking is his highest singles rankings as a Bulldog and just two spots behind his career-high singles ranking of No. 78.
• For doubles, Azkara/Jansen lead off Georgia in the rankings at No. 30. Transfers Chen and Giamichelle feature, as well, at No. 84.
 
Fall Forecast:
• The Dawgs are slated to compete in four ITA tournaments throughout the fall, two regional showcase events and two ATP Challengers this fall before ending the fall campaign with the NCAA Singles and Doubles Tournament.
• First up, Chen and Giamichelle featured in the Battle in the Bay Classic in San Francisco, Calif. before the Carolina Classic rolled around.
• The next four events all act as NCAA Singles and Doubles Tournament qualifiers. 
• 10 singles players and four doubles pairings will book their ticket at the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla. From Sept. 20-28. The two singles finalists and the doubles champion at the ITA Southeast Regional will also seal their ticket to Orlando. At the ITA South Sectional, six singles and three doubles will qualify, and at the ITA Conference Masters, four singles and three doubles will earn their berth.
• Select Georgia men's tennis players will take part in the two ATP Challenger events in Tiburon, Calif. and Fairfield, Calif.
 
Hosts with the Most:
• Next spring, NCAA Tennis returns to Athens as the University of Georgia was selected to host the NCAA Division 1 Men's and Women's Tennis Tournaments.
• The Bulldogs last hosted the NCAA tennis tournament in 2017. More, the Dan Magill Tennis Complex has hosted the event on 29 occasions – the most frequented site location.
• On top of hosting the team tournament in 2026, Georgia will also host the 2026 NCAA Singles and Doubles Tournament and the 2027 NCAA Tournament.
• Last year, three Dawgs featured in the NCAA Singles Tournament. Former Bulldogs Miguel Perez Peña and Oscar Pinto Sansano fell in the first round of the event, and Thomas Paulsell reached the round of 16 becoming the program's 55th All-American.
 
Head Coach Jamie Hunt
• Jamie Hunt, now in his second year as the head coach, 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. 
• 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.
 

Players Mentioned

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