Georgia Falls to Texas A&M in ITA Kickoff Weekend Final

ATHENS, Ga. – The No. 19 Georgia men’s tennis team fell to No. 18 Texas A&M, 4-2, in the finals of the ITA Kickoff Weekend Athens regional on Monday afternoon at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.

Despite the loss, No. 36 Ryan Colby earned his fifth ranked win against No. 109 JC Roddick by a score of 6-4, 6-2. Colby leads the team in ranked wins this year.

“It was not the result that what we wanted, but our players fought until the very end,” head coach Manuel Diaz said. “Our team fought like Bulldogs and I’m proud of our efforts. We have a lot of young guys who learned some big lessons today.”

Georgia (3-1) opened the contest by earning the doubles point for the fourth-straight match. On court one, Niels Ratiu and Freddy Blaydes took an early lead, capping off their third win of the season by a 6-2 score. Cyrus Mahjoob and Miguel Perez Peña clinched the point in a 6-1 decision, as the tandem secured their second career point-clinching win together.

The Bulldogs went into singles with momentum, which No. 36 Colby used to earn his victory in straight sets. The Aggies earned their first point of the match after Blaydes lost for the first time of the dual match season on court six. Each of the remaining matches entered into third sets, with Texas A&M taking the three wins they needed to clinch the match.

“It certainly was a close match on the top three courts,” Coach Diaz said. “Ryan played an exceptional match today, and courts one and three went to third sets. We have to work on some things and execute a bit better in these close matches. I thought we grew a lot as a team today. We will have a couple of days to work hard and get ready for our next match.”

Georgia will host in-state rival Georgia Tech on Tuesday, Feb. 6th at 2:00 p.m. ET at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. The dual match will be the 91st meeting between the two teams. The Bulldogs lead the series with a record of 72-18, including the last 12 meetings against the Yellowjackets. Most recently, Georgia topped Georgia Tech in a 5-2 decision at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex in Atlanta on Feb. 12, 2023.

No. 18 Texas A&M 4, No. 19 Georgia 2

Doubles competition

1. Freddy Blaydes/Niels Ratiu (UGA) def. Togan Tokac/Giulio Perego (TAMU) 6-2

2. Thomas Paulsell/Ryan Colby (UGA) vs. JC Roddick/Luke Casper (TAMU) 3-3, unfinished

3. Miguel Perez Peña/Cyrus Mahjoob (UGA) def. Raphael Perot/Tiago Pires (TAMU) 6-1*

Order of finish: 1, 3*

Singles competition

1. Raphael Perot (TAMU) def. No. 41 Thomas Paulsell (UGA) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3

2. No. 36 Ryan Colby (UGA) def. No. 109 JC Roddick (TAMU) 6-4, 6-2

3. Togan Tokac (TAMU) def. No. 43 Miguel Perez Peña (UGA) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4

4. Niels Ratiu (UGA) vs. Giulio Perego (TAMU) 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 4-5, unfinished

5. Tiago Pires (TAMU) def. No. 112 Cyrus Mahjoob (UGA) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3

6. No. 93 Luke Casper (TAMU) def. Freddy Blaydes (UGA) 6-4, 6-0

Order of finish: 1, 3*