University of Georgia
Vanderbilt
Bulldogs Set To Host No. 56 Vanderbilt
March 26, 2025 | Men's Tennis
ATHENS, Ga. – The University of Georgia men's tennis team is set face No. 56 Vanderbilt on Thursday, Mar. 27 at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. Doubles are set to begin at 6:00 p.m. E.T.
Match 19 – No. 56 Vanderbilt
Thursday, Mar. 27, 2025
6:00 p.m. E.T.
Dan Magill Tennis Complex
Live Streaming: https://gado.gs/9kh
Instagram: @UGATennis | X: @UGATennis | Facebook: UGAMensTennis
*PDF of Full Match Notes Available Here
BULLDOG BULLETIN
The First Serve: After last weekend's win over No. 16 Mississippi State, the Bulldogs moved up to fourth in the SEC standings (*entering Thursday's contests between Kentucky/Auburn and Tennessee/Alabama).
Georgia holds a 62-7 all-time series edge against Vanderbilt, last defeating the Commodores during the 2024 regular season on the road, 4-3. Cyrus Mahjoon/Miguel Perez Peña won 6-4 over Hugo Coquelin/Danil Panarin after Vanderbilt's Jeremie Casabon/Nathan Cox took court two over No. 69 Thomas Paulsell/Ryan Colby, 6-4. No. 27 Freddy Blaydes/Niels Ratiu clinched the doubles point on court one with a 7-6(11-9) win over No. 85 Joubert Klopper/Michael Ross. In singles, No. 64 Colby extended the lead to 2-0 with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 win on court two before the Commodores responded with wins on courts five and four to level the match score at two-all. Vanderbilt then took the lead with a win on court six. Coming down to the final tow courts, No. 54 Paulsell defeated No. 64 Panarin on court one. With all eyes on court three, Ratiu pounced on his opponent late in the third set to win the match for Georgia.
Vanderbilt, ranked No. 56 in this week's ITA poll, sits at 8-11 (1-8 SEC). Despite dropping the last seven SEC contests and a non-conference match against Pepperdine, the Commodores hold wins over Alabama A&M, Tennessee Tech, Cornell, Belmont, Southern Indiana, Middle Tennessee, Northwestern and LSU. There are five freshman (Cerasuolo, Charlap, Martinez Gomez, Ingram and Markowitz), one redshirt freshman (Hoyoung), four sophomores (Coquelin, Jensen, Panarin and Roddy), three juniors (Brunetti, Cox and Deames), one senior (Ross) and one graduate (Ruger) on head coach Scott Brown's roster.
Vanderbilt has 43 singles wins this spring with graduate Henry Ruger leading the way at 10 wins. In doubles action, the Commodores boast a collective 26-18 spring record. Panarin, Ross and Ruger all have a team-leading three conference singles wins, and court three pairing Dylan Charlap/Henry Ruger have accounted for three SEC doubles wins. As a team, the Commodores have winning records on court two, five and six.
Prior to the dual match season, the Bulldogs put together several strong performances through the fall. Headlined by Thomas Paulsell's round of 16 run in the NCAA Singles Championships, three Bulldogs (Paulsell, Perez Peña and Pinto Sansano) qualified for the NCAA individual tournament. Paulsell qualified for the championships by way of finishing as a semi-finalist at the ITA Conference Masters Championships in Rome, Ga. Perez Peña qualified after being crowned co-champion of the ITA Southeast Regional, and Pinto Sansano after winning the 5-8 playoff at the ITA South Sectional. Interestingly, by reaching the round of 16 in the singles tournament, Paulsell was recognized as the program's 55th All-American.
The Bulldogs culled together 77 singles wins in the fall, 13 of which were over ranked opponents. In doubles, Georgia had 24 total wins - eight ranked. The Bulldogs individual records from the fall (spring dual match records in parentheses) are compiled below:
Singles: Overall:
Freddy Blaydes: 5-3 (1-2) 6-5
Ryan Colby: 11-7 (9-4) 20-11
Filipe Costa: 2-5 (3-0) 5-5
Parker Jacques: 5-3 (N/A) 5-3
Cyrus Mahjoob: 6-4 (2-0) 8-4
Parker Mariencheck: 2-5 (1-0) 3-5
Thomas Paulsell: 13-6 (6-6) 19-12
Miguel Perez Peña: 9-6 (10-3) 19-9
Oscar Pinto Sansano: 9-6 (14-4) 23-10
Niels Ratiu: 6-5 (8-5) 14-10
Gabriele Vulpitta: N/A (5-6) 5-6
Doubles (Teams): Overall:
Blaydes/Ratiu: 10-5 (4-3) 14-8
Paulsell/Colby: 7-4 (4-5) 11-9
Perez Peña/Pinto Sansano: 5-5 (N/A) 5-5
Costa/Mahjoob: 2-3 (N/A) 2-3
Jacques/Mariencheck: 0-4 (N/A) 0-4
Ratiu/Vulpitta: N/A (2-0) 2-0
Blaydes/Pinto Sansano: N/A (3-1) 3-1
Perez Peña/Ratiu: N/A (2-4) 2-4
Perez Peña/Jacques: N/A (1-0) 1-0
Paulsell/Pinto Sansano: N/A (3-3) 3-3
Perez Pena/Vulpitta: N/A (6-1) 6-1
Colby/Ratiu: N/A (0-2) 0-2
Doubles (Players): Overall:
Freddy Blaydes: 10-5 (7-4) 17-9
Ryan Colby: 7-4 (4-7) 11-11
Filipe Costa: 2-3 (N/A) 2-3
Parker Jacques: 0-4 (1-0) 1-4
Cyrus Mahjoob: 2-3 (N/A) 2-3
Parker Mariencheck: 0-4 (N/A) 0-4
Thomas Paulsell: 7-4 (7-8) 14-12
Miguel Perez Peña: 5-5 (9-5) 14-10
Oscar Pinto Sansano: 5-5 (6-4) 11-9
Niels Ratiu: 10-5 (8-9) 18-14
Gabriele Vulpitta: N/A (8-1) 8-1
*Arda Azkara, Cooper Johnson and Gabriele Vulpitta are entering their first semester with Georgia.
** Davis Taylor did not feature in ITA-sanctioned matches during the fall.
On The Cards: Georgia has won the last 21 matches between the two schools. Vanderbilt's last win against the Bulldogs came in 2003 in the second round of the SEC tournament, 4-0.
Since 2000, Georgia owns a 25-1 record against its Nashville foe. At home, the record sits at 13-0 with a 11-0 mark on the road, 1-1 in the conference tournament and 1-0 in ITA competition.
The Bulldogs 90%-win percentage against Vanderbilt is tied with Auburn for the program's best win percentage against an SEC opponent.
Last Time Out: Georgia split the last weekend on the road falling at No. 24 Oklahoma on Friday night before sweeping No. 36 Arkansas on Sunday.
Against the Sooners, after Miguel Perez Peña/Gabriele Vulpitta took court three, the home side grabbed wins on court one and two to seal the doubles point. In singles, Oscar Pinto Sansano and Ryan Colby were the first two finished in singles with wins on courts four and two, respectively, to propel the Bulldogs in front. Oklahoma responded with consecutive wins on courts six and three to reclaim the lead and sit one away from the clinch. Courts one and five both went to a third set tiebreaker, and freshman Sooner No. 96 Oscar Lacides took court one 1-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) to clinch the match.
On Sunday, Georgia responded in resounding fashion against Arkansas. Again, Perez Peña/Vulpitta were first off in doubles with a win on court three. After the Razorbacks took court one, Thomas Paulsell/Oscar Pinto Sansano earned their second point-clinching win as a duo to seal the point. Onto singles, the Bulldogs made swift work in route to the clinch with straight set results on courts one, four and two. Perez Peña was first off going 6-3, 6-0 against Bozo Barun, Pinto Sansano went 6-3, 6-2 over Benni Emesz - his former doubles partner when the Spaniard represented Arkansas - and Colby dispatched No. 80 Lukas Palovic 6-1, 6-4 for the sweep. Colby's win marked his eighth straight set win of the spring, his seventh career match-clinching win and his eighth ranked win of the 2024-25 campaign.
Strong Starts from the Spaniards: Senior Miguel Perez Peña made his best start in dual match play of his career at 6-0 following the match against No. 5 Virginia. Perez Peña is now 9-2 after a career-high win in singles during the Tennessee match, beginning his stint on court one for the Bulldogs in conference play and winning both of his matches against Kentucky and LSU's number ones. Prior to this season, the Spaniards held a career-best start to the spring of 5-0 in 2023.
More, Perez Peña's 9-2 starts includes three ranked wins over – at the time – No. 115 Ioannis Xilas of Wake Forest, No. 15 Shunsuke Mitsui of Tennessee and No. 53 Jaden Weekes of Kentucky. Seven of Perez Peña's nine wins have come in straight sets.
Senior Oscar Pinto Sansano leads the team in singles wins this spring with 12. Sitting at 12-4, and recently having moved up to court four, every match that Pinto Sansano has won has come in straight sets up until his match-levelling win on court four against Andrii Zimnokh for No. 25 Alabama. Against Kentucky, Pinto Sansano was second off the courts against Eli Stephenson and first off the courts against LSU's Aleksi Lofman.
Consistent Colby: In his second full season with the Bulldogs, senior Ryan Colby has cemented his spot near the top of the lineup for Georgia.
At this stage of the season, Colby sits at 9-4 in dual singles with five ranked wins - all inside the top 90 in the country. A list of his ranked victories are compiled below:
Feb. 1, 2025: 7-6(4), 5-7, 6-4 vs. No. 7 DK Suresh (Wake Forest)
Feb. 24, 2025: 6-3, 6-3 vs. No. 31 Alex Kotzen (Tennessee)
Feb. 28, 2025: 6-1, 6-0 vs. No. 59 Roan Jones (Alabama)
Mar. 15, 2025: 6-2, 6-4 vs. No. 88 Petar Jovanovic (Mississippi State)
Mar. 23, 2025: 6-1, 6-4 vs. No. 80 Lukas Palovic (Arkansas)
Eight of the senior's nine wins this spring have come in straight sets. The one three set victory came against his highest ranked opponent in Wake Forest's Suresh. Colby has played on courts one, two and three this spring, holding a 1-2 record on the top court, going 7-2 just below and maintaining a 1-0 mark on the third.
Positive Paulsell: Alongside Perez Peña, Thomas Paulsell is the only four-year senior on Georgia's roster. Each year, Paulsell has seen an uptick in key stats to his name.
Since his freshman year, Paulsell has worked his way up to the top courts for the Bulldogs. More, the senior has earned more ranked wins in each season that he has spent at Georgia beginning with one his freshman year, seven in his junior year and nine already this season. More, Paulsell is on pace for at least six SEC wins this season which would be a career-best, as well as nine dual-match singles wins - which would also be a career-best.
Freshman Finding Form: Freshman Gabriele Vulpitta, in his first season with the Bulldogs, has begun to find his form for Georgia.
In SEC play, Vulpitta owns a 3-3 mark in singles, including three match-clinching wins on court six. In total his season, Vulpitta now has five match-clinching wins and three point-clinching wins.
Top 25 Wins: Since 2020, Georgia has amassed 32 top-25 wins in regular season and post-season play. A list of each top-25 victory is compiled below.
2020: 4-2 vs. No. 10 Tennessee, 4-0 vs. No. 3 Ohio State, 4-1 vs. No. 11 Ohio State
2021: 4-3 vs. No. 14 N.C. State, 5-2 vs. No. 22 Mississippi State, 4-2 vs. No. 21 UCF, 4-3 vs. No. 20 Kentucky, 4-2 vs. No. 8 Texas A&M, 4-0 vs. No. 25 Texas Tech, 4-3 vs. No. 6 North Carolina
2022: 4-3 vs. No. 16 N.C. State, 4-3 vs. No. 6 Texas, 5-2 vs. No. 23 Mississippi State, 4-3 vs. No. 14 South Carolina, 4-2 vs. No. 5 Tennessee, 4-0 vs. No. 9 Ole Miss, 5-2 vs. No. 18 Alabama
2023: 4-3 vs. No. 16 Stanford, 4-3 vs. No. 8 South Carolina, 4-2 vs. No. 6 USC, 6-1 vs. No. 14 Auburn, 4-3 vs. No. 18 Tennessee, 5-2 vs. No. 4 Kentucky, 4-0 vs. No. 5 South Carolina, 4-3 vs. No. 20 Florida, 6-1 vs. No. 20 Mississippi State, 7-0 vs. No. 25 Ole Miss, 4-0 vs. No. 24 Florida, 4-0 vs. No. 21 Texas A&M, 4-2 vs. No. 10 Harvard
2024: 5-2 vs. No. 21 Alabama
2025 (so far): 4-2 vs. No. 16 Tennessee, 4-3 vs. No. 16 Mississippi State
Award-Winning: The week of Mar. 12-18, freshman Gabriele Vulpitta was named the SEC Co-Freshman of the Week for his performance against Mississippi State alongside Texas' Timo Legout.
Vulpitta recorded his third straight match-clinching win for Georgia against No. 16 Mississippi State to improve the team's record to 4-2 in conference play. After Mississippi State took the doubles point, Georgia needed four of the six courts in singles to walk out victors. After results came in on courts one through five, the overall match was tied 3-3; Vulpitta's match on court six would decide the match. In his first set, Vulpitta and Cortes headed to a tiebreak. Down 2-6 in the tiebreak, Vulpitta rallied winning five straight games before ultimately grabbing the first set 7-6 with a 10-8 decision in the tiebreak. Cortes took the second set, pitting the two freshmen in a third. Up 3-2 in the third set, Vulpitta won the three of the final four games to seal Georgia's second top 20 victory of the season.
Following the first week of spring action, sophomore Niels Ratiu was announced as the first SEC men's tennis player of the week for the 2025 season.
Ratiu was efficient in the home openers for the Bulldogs. In singles play, Ratiu dispatched Mercer's Fouilhoux on court four in straight sets 6-0, 6-4 earning Georgia it's second singles point of the match. In the second match, Ratiu moved up to court two for the Bulldogs, blanking his opponent, Presbyterian's Pedro Cardoso, in straight sets, 6-0, 6-0 – the Bulldogs' first singles point of the match. Ratiu's appearance on court two against Presbyterian is his fourth career appearance in the position for Georgia. In doubles play, Ratiu maintained his court one presence from his freshman season playing alongside freshman Gabriele Vulpitta. The duo earned their first two wins over Mercer's No. 55 Stefanovic/Fouilhoux and Presbyterian's Mamalat/Vasilakis winning both matches 6-0. With the win over No. 55 Stefanovic/Fouilhoux, Ratiu now has 13 career ranked doubles wins and his first with Vulpitta.
Rank the Dawgs: Georgia checked in at No. 28 in this week's ITA poll.
In singles, Paulsell is No. 25, Perez Peña is No. 31 and Colby is No. 34. In doubles, Paulsell/Colby are No. 16, F. Blaydes/Ratiu are No. 26 and Perez Peña/Pinto Sansano
Across the SEC: Georgia is one of two schools in the SEC to have at least three players ranked inside the top-50 of the ITA singles rankings. Texas' Timo Legout, Sebastian Gorzny and Pierre-Yves Bailly all feature inside the top-50, just as Georgia's Paulsell, Perez Peña and Colby do.
Interestingly, Georgia is the only school in the SEC to have three players ranked inside the top-40 of the singles rankings.
On the doubles side, Georgia is the only school in the SEC to have two top-30 duos in the ITA doubles rankings with No. 16 Paulsell/Colby and No. 26 Blaydes/Ratiu.
New Faces, New Places: The Bulldogs welcomed three new faces to Athens for the 2025 season, with a key signing for the fall 2025 class.
VCU transfer Oscar Pinto Sansano joined the ranks for the fall campaign. Pinto Sansano began his collegiate career at Arkansas and compiled a 7-14 singles dual match record before spending transferring to VCU for two seasons. With VCU, Pinto Sansano held a 20-5 overall singles dual match record and was ranked as high as No. 31 in ITA doubles ranking. Prior to his collegiate career, he was regarded as the No. 53 junior in UTR world rankings.
In January, Grand Slam champion Gabriele Vulpitta arrived in Athens for the 2025 season and beyond. Vulpitta, a native of Rome, Italy, boasts an impressive resume with a junior doubles title at Wimbledon, as well as finishing as a 2023 junior doubles Roland Garros finalist. He also held career-high ATP rankings of No. 747 in doubles and No. 1168 in singles with a Universal Tennis Rating of 13.23. More, New Mexico transfer Arda Azkara now dons the red and black. Azkara compiled 50 singles wins with the Lobos and was named the Mountain West Co-Freshman of the Year in 2022. After his sophomore and junior seasons, Azkara became the first Mountain West player to earn back-to-back Player of the Year honors since Oliver Maiberger of San Diego State University from 2001-2003. The Turkish native recorded an 11-0 record at No. 1 singles for the Lobos last season and holds a 13.15 Universal Tennis Rating. Georgia native Cooper Johnson will join the Bulldogs in January. Johnson holds career-high recruiting rankings of No. 1 in the state of Georgia and No. 21 nationally. He holds a Universal Tennis Rating of 11.9 with a 3-2 record against other five-star recruits. Johnson also holds an ITF junior ranking of 3,157 and an ITF World Tennis Number of 16.5
Blue-chip recruit and Anderson, S.C. native Noah Johnston signed with Georgia for the fall of 2025, head coach Jamie Hunt announced last fall. The former No. 1 overall recruit in the nation holds a 5-5 record against fellow blue-chip prospects and a career-high ITF junior ranking of 50. Johnston has recent singles and doubles wins at the J200 Tampico, a doubles championship at the J300 Barranquilla, and a doubles championship at the J300 San Jose while also featuring in the junior doubles draw of the 144th edition of the U.S. Open.
Head Coach Jamie Hunt: Jamie Hunt, who 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, was tabbed to lead the Bulldogs' men's tennis program on Feb. 27, 2024.
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.
Hunt and his wife Kyndal Edwards Hunt met as seniors at the University of Georgia and have five children: Daughter Blakely, son Hayes, twins -- daughter Macy and son Hudson -- and son Ford.
Players Mentioned
