The No. 38 Georgia men’s tennis team capped off the regular season with wins over No. 44 Vanderbilt and Tennessee State during a doubleheader on Sunday at the Ensworth Tennis Center.
Five Fast Facts
• The Bulldogs earned the doubles point against the Commodores by winning on courts three and one, with No. 27 Freddy Blaydes and Niels Ratiu clinching the point for the fifth time together. Georgia has now won the doubles point in nine of its last 10 matches.
• Ratiu earned his second career match-clinching win in singles after he beat Joubert Klopper 7-6(4), 6-7(2), 7-5. The freshman has now won six of his last eight completed singles matches.
• No. 54 Thomas Paulsell won his sixth ranked singles match of the year in a 5-7, 7-6(10), 6-2 decision against No. 60 Danil Panarin on court one.
• After winning 4-3 in a four-hour, nine-minute match, Georgia is now 60-5 since 1961 against Vanderbilt.
• Georgia’s 4-2 victory over Tennessee State marked the first match the programs have played against each other.
Key Quote
“I’m very proud of our team for winning such a long and physical match,” head coach Manuel Diaz said. “At moments, we had a lot of momentum, but it went back and forth a lot. Our guys showed a lot of resolve and fight, but toward the end, we almost seemed out of it. Thomas Paulsell did a fantastic job today and Niels Ratiu has played at a high level in the last two matches. We’ve continued to grow as a team. While we’ve lost a lot of close ones this spring, we’ve also had nothing but incredible effort from our guys as they’ve continued to grow.”
Up Next
The Bulldogs begin in postseason action at the Southeastern Conference Men’s Tennis Tournament in Baton Rouge, La. on Thursday, April 18. Georgia, the eight-seed, will take on Arkansas at 7 p.m. ET at the LSU Tennis Complex. The teams played in Athens this season on March 24, with the Bulldogs earning a 4-0 sweep over the Razorbacks.
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