Top-seeded Georgia men blank 8-seed Florida
AUBURN, Ala. - The top-seeded University of Georgia men's tennis team blanked 8-seed Florida, 4-0, in the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference Tournament on Friday afternoon at the Yarbrough Tennis Center.
The Bulldogs (19-5, 12-0 SEC) earned the sweep against the Gators (14-13, 5-7 SEC) by notching the doubles point and wins in singles competition on courts one, five and six, with redshirt freshman Ethan Quinn earning his fifth match-clinching victory of the year.
"We had phenomenal effort from everyone today," said head coach Manny Diaz. "The biggest thing I took from this match was that our guys responded to some of the challenges that we had against Florida in our previous match. We got beat on five and six in singles and lost the doubles point in the previous match, and we turned all of those around in our favor today. I'm very proud of our effort, focus and the way we battled out there.
The Bulldogs came out strong in doubles competition, earning the point swiftly with impressive wins on courts one and three.
No. 7 Trent Bryde and Quinn picked up their 13th win together on court one with a 6-2 victory against No. 4 Will Grant and Axel Nefve, their ninth over a ranked opponent this year.
Blake Croyder and Britton Johnston earned their sixth point-clinching win of the season after a 6-1 result over Jonah Braswell and Lukas Greif gave Georgia a 1-0 lead heading into singles.
The Bulldogs carried the momentum into singles, where the team earned four first sets.
Teodor Giusca extended the team's match lead with his fourth on court six, defeating Tanapatt Nirundorn in straight sets by a 6-2, 6-3 score. The redshirt senior won his 20th match of the year and 11th in the dual match season.
Miguel Perez Peña gave the Bulldogs match point with a 6-2, 6-3 win against Nate Bonetto, his ninth victory in the previous 10 matches. A sophomore, Perez Peña now leads the team in singles wins on the year with 26 and in the spring with 16.
RESULTS
On court one, No. 4 Quinn notched his seventh consecutive singles win and the match with a 6-4, 6-4 defeat of No. 37 Nefve. The Fresno, Calif. native improved to 14-8 on the season from court one and now has 16 ranked wins with the result.
"For me to be able to clinch the match, especially my first SEC tournament match, is pretty special," said Quinn.
RESULTS
Singles competition
1. #4 Ethan Quinn (UGA) def. #37 Axel Nefve (UF) 6-4, 6-4 2.
2. #15 Philip Henning (UGA) vs. #95 Will Grant (UF) 6-7(8), 2-0, unfinished 3.
3. #119 Trent Bryde (UGA) vs. #86 Jonah Braswell (UF) 3-6, 3-2, unfinished 4.
4. #101 Blake Croyder (UGA) def. Lukas Greif (UF) 7-6(4), 3-1, unfinished.
5. Miguel Perez Peña (UGA) def. Nate Bonetto (UF) 6-2, 6-3 6.
6. Teodor Giusca (UGA) def. Tanapatt Nirundorn (UF) 6-2, 6-3
Order of finish: 6, 5, 1*
Doubles competition
1. #7 Trent Bryde/Ethan Quinn (UGA) def. #4 Will Grant/Axel Nefve (UF) 6-2 2.
2. Teodor Giusca/Philip Henning (UGA) vs. Nate Bonetto/Tanapatt Nirundorn (UF) 3-4, unfinished.
3. Blake Croyder/Britton Johnston (UGA) def. Jonah Braswell/Lukas Greif (UF) 6-1
Order of finish: 1, 3*
Up Next
Georgia advances to the semifinals and will play the winner of No. 4 South Carolina and No. 5 Texas A&M Saturday at 4 p.m. ET. The Bulldogs previously defeated the Aggies 5-2 at home on March 9 and went 2-0 against the Gamecocks, with wins at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships and during conference action in Columbia.