North Carolina Tar Heels Beat Bulldogs, 6-1 in Chapel Hill

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The No. 24 Georgia men’s tennis team lost to No. 25 North Carolina, 6-1, at the Chewing Tennis Center on Sunday afternoon.

“Our guys fought hard,” head coach Manuel Diaz said. “We had the doubles point under control and we really didn’t perform up to our standard. It was a tough loss. We have a young team, and we need to be learning from these mistakes. We’ve got to show a little bit more discipline during some of these difficult moments during the match. We’re learning some valuable lessons. This is a great group and I really enjoy working with these guys. They’re working extremely hard – they just need a little bit more experience and hopefully this match will serve its purpose.”

Georgia (4-3) was unable to take the doubles point after losing matches on courts two and three. Niels Ratiu and Freddy Blaydes lost their first match together on court two, 6-4. Ryan Colby and Thomas Paulsell won for the third time this spring, 6-3, which put the deciding match on court three. It all came down to a breaker, where Cyrus Mahjoob and Miguel Perez Peña led North Carolina’s (5-3) Peter Murphy and Patrick Schoen, 3-1, but ultimately fell by a 7-6(3) score.

The Tar Heels jumped out to a 3-0 lead after picking up straight-set wins on courts six and three in singles competition. No. 68 Paulsell and No. 44 Colby won their first sets, while on courts four and five Ratiu and Blaydes each dropped a breaker to fall behind in their matches. North Carolina went on to clinch the match on court four where No. 75 Karl Poling beat Ratiu by a 7-6(6), 6-4 score. The teams played out the remaining matches, where No. 44 Colby notched his sixth-ranked win of the year in three sets over No. 60 Benjamin Kittay, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3.

Georgia’s next match will come against No. 9 Wake Forest on Monday, Feb. 26 at 2:30 p.m. ET at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. This will mark the first time the programs have met in Athens since the 2021 season.

No. 25 North Carolina 6, No. 24 Georgia 1

Doubles competition

1. Thomas Paulsell/Ryan Colby (UGA) def. Phillip Jordan/Benjamin Kittay (UNC) 6-3

2. Will Jansen/Karl Poling (UNC) def. Niels Ratiu/Freddy Blaydes (UGA) 6-4

3. Peter Murphy/Patrick Schoen (UNC) def. Miguel Perez Peña/Cyrus Mahjoob (UGA)

Order of finish: 2, 1, 3*

Singles competition

1. No. 94 Will Jansen (UNC) def. No. 68 Thomas Paulsell (UGA) 3-6, 6-3, 6-1

2. No. 44 Ryan Colby (UGA) def. No. 60 Benjamin Kittay (UNC) 7-5, 2-6, 6-3

3. Phillip Jordan (UNC) def. No. 51 Miguel Perez Peña (UGA) 6-2, 6-1

4. No. 75 Karl Poling (UNC) def. Niels Ratiu (UGA) 7-6(6), 6-4

5. Patrick Schoen (UNC) def. Freddy Blaydes (UGA) 7-6(4), 6-3

6. No. 110 Will Peters (UNC) def. Cyrus Mahjoob (UGA) 6-1, 6-1

Order of finish: 6, 3, 4*, 1, 5, 2