Seniors Have Grown, Shined During UGA Careers
April 10, 2025 | Men's Tennis, The Frierson Files
Staff Writer
On a sunny Tuesday afternoon, two of the Georgia men's tennis team's veteran leaders, Thomas Paulsell and Miguel Perez Peña, were blasting forehands and backhands back and forth on court two of Henry Feild Stadium.
The shirts were off, the powerful groundstrokes were flying, and two guys who were much different players when they arrived in Athens from far away were demonstrating how much their games and their bodies have developed over the years.
"When I first came here, I was 18 and I was pretty small," said Paulsell, a redshirt senior from Seattle. "I've put on good amount of weight, and just muscle. We do body mass tests at the start of every semester, and just from when I first came, my muscle has gone up and my fat has gone down."
"I've always been a very physical player," said Perez Peña, a senior from Castellon de la Plana, Spain. "I really care about my about my fitness and keeping myself strong. And I've always been eating healthy. But through the years, I've developed and ... you can just see my body as a whole is a more solid unit now than what it was probably my first year."
As their bodies have changed, and their games have developed at the same time, Paulsell and Perez Peña have risen in the Bulldog lineup. This regular season, which wraps up this weekend at home against No. 3 Texas on Friday and No. 14 Texas A&M on Sunday, has seen both men play in the top three spots in singles. Perez Peña has mostly played at No. 1 and Paulsell mostly at No. 3, with senior Ryan Colby mostly at No. 2.
In the most recent ITA rankings, Colby is the highest-ranked Bulldog at No. 28, Paulsell is No. 42 and Perez Peña No. 56. The team of Paulsell and Colby is ranked No. 23 in doubles, while Perez Peña and his childhood friend and competitor Oscar Pinto Sansano, who joined the team this season, are the No. 77-ranked team.
Back in 2022, when they were freshmen, Paulsell played a little at Nos. 5 and 6, while Perez Peña saw limited action at No. 6. The following year when Georgia went 12-0 to win the SEC championship, Perez Peña went a combined 20-7 playing either No. 5 or 6, while Paulsell played singles in just one dual match.
It was a much different story last season, with Paulsell mostly playing No. 1 singles and Perez Peña playing at least one match at the top four spots but predominantly at No. 4.
"I remember my freshman and sophomore year, I used to grind from the baseline and play long points," Perez Peña said. "And now, I'm doing really the same thing but a lot of times my ball is more effective or goes a lot faster. I'm stronger so my ball goes faster, even though I'm generating the same amount of force."
For both players, that 2023 SEC championship season is among the highlights of their Georgia careers. The Bulldogs had the best player in the country in NCAA singles champion Ethan Quinn, a redshirt freshman who turned pro afterward, and experienced seniors in Trent Bryde, Philip Henning, Blake Croyder and Teodor Giusca. Georgia finished the season No. 7 in the country and the home crowds that season were as big and spirited as they'd been in years, and that has continued in the years since.
"When we on the SEC championship my sophomore year, that was really a special year," Paulsell said. "I speak to those guys every single day in our group chat. We have a team group chat, and we text in it every single day, and it's just like, Wow, I'll probably be close with those guys for the rest of my life. And these guys on this team, I'll probably be close with for the rest of my life."
"My sophomore year was an unbelievable year in every single aspect of my life," Perez Peña said.
In the team's locker room, the walls are covered with displays celebrating the program's many achievements over the years. Among them is a long list of All-Americans that includes Paulsell. He earned All-American honors in the fall at the NCAA singles championships, and having his name up there means a great deal to him.
"Becoming an All-American, that was huge," he said. "That's been a goal of mine since I realized I could play Division I tennis. I was like, OK, I want to become an All-American."
While Paulsell thinks he might want to give pro tennis a shot, Perez Peña thinks he'll be ready to put the rackets away after this season. He said he has one more semester of school left after this spring and he's got an internship with an insurance company in town this summer.
"I've been playing tournaments every summer, but this year, I just wanted to get a little bit more of a professional experience," he said. "And after that, I've got one more semester, I want to get a job here in the States. I'll know after the summer if I'll still be practicing some, but I don't think so. I think I'm ready to go — I've had my time.
"I'm having fun and I've been doing it for a long time, and, you know, no regrets."
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files.
Players Mentioned
