Following a 4–1 victory in the Cotton Holdings Lone Star Showdown against No. 13 Texas A&M, the Texas Longhorns have moved up to No. 3 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings, their highest ranking since March 11.
Meanwhile, after a two-game losing skid, the Georgia Bulldogs have dropped to No. 31 in the rankings, their lowest since March 4.
Now, the two will face each other on Friday in Bulldog territory.
The two recent football rivals have yet to face each other in tennis since Texas moved to the Southeastern Conference. Unlike the dominant football team, Georgia’s tennis season got off to a rocky start. The Bulldogs lost their two opening SEC matches to No. 25 Alabama and No. 45 Auburn, damaging their record to 7–5. But after their 4–1 loss to Auburn, they flipped a switch. Georgia has posted a 7–3 record in its following ten matches, nine of which were against ranked teams.
However, Georgia is looking to erase a two-match losing streak. Georgia fell 4–3 to historic rival No. 32 Florida on Thursday and 4–0 to No. 21 South Carolina on Saturday.
The Bulldogs won the doubles point against Florida, and Georgia senior No. 27 Ryan Colby defeated No. 68 sophomore Jeremy Jin, improving the Georgia lead to 2–0. Florida snapped back with an upset win on court three. Gators redshirt senior JanMagnus Johnson defeated No. 32 senior Thomas Paulsell 6–4, 6–2 to give Florida its first point of the night. Florida sophomore No. 95 Adhithya Ganesan took down No. 43 senior Miguel Perez Peña 6–2, 7–6 (3) in the Gators’ second upset of the night, leveling the score at 2–2.
The Gators took their first lead of the night with a victory from sophomore Kevin Edengren on court four. Georgia tied the match 3–3 after a crucial three-set win from sophomore Niels Ratiu. It took Florida freshman Niels Villard three sets to defeat freshman Gabriele Vulpitta, which gave the Gators the rivalry win.
“Disappointing loss,” Georgia head coach Jamie Hunt said. “I thought we put ourselves in a position to win, again. We played outstanding doubles, which was a nice bright spot. … Again, we put ourselves in a position to win, but we have got to close out sets. It’s as simple as that. … We have to close our opponents out when we get that opportunity, and you have to give them credit. They hung around and played tough, but we have to close that match out.”
The Bulldogs will look to play to their strengths for a victory against high-ranked Texas, which means taking advantage of their strong doubles pairings. Georgia is just one of seven teams in the country to have more than two ranked doubles pairings. No. 23 Paulsell and Colby, No. 43 sophomore Freddy Blaydes and Ratiu and No. 77 Peña and senior Oscar Pinto Sansano are all key contributors to Georgia’s doubles success.
Despite the Longhorns’ impressive 5–2 away record, there is never an easy away match when played in Athens. The Bulldogs compete in the historic Dan Magill Tennis Complex, which contributes to their outstanding 12–1 home record. The complex is considered one of the biggest and best collegiate tennis facilities in America, offering more than 5,000 seats. The complex hosted the NCAA Championship for 13 consecutive years, from 1977 to 1989. The complex has hosted the championship 24 times in total, with the most recent one held in 2017.
“We’ve got to get home, we’ve got to rest up, get healthy, and get ready for two big matches at home next weekend,” Hunt said after the 4–0 loss to South Carolina.
No. 3 Texas will look to capture its eighth straight win against No. 31 Georgia in Athens, Georgia.
