Men's Tennis Central: #5 Tennessee vs. Georgia

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The fifth-ranked Tennessee men's tennis team is set to kick off SEC action, welcoming No. 43 Georgia inside Goodfriend Tennis Center on Friday at 5 p.m. ET.

Live stats will be provided by UTsports.com and can be found here. A live stream is available and can be found here. CrackedRacquets is offering a cross-court cast of SEC matches which can be found here. Admission is free and complimentary tennis parking is located in SC40 at the Kingston Pike Building. Additional parking information can be found here.

The first 50 students in attendance will receive a free t-shirt. Additionally, an $8 concession voucher will go to the first 50 fans Friday.

LAST TIME OUT
The Vols (11-3) capped off non-conference play with a doubleheader win over The Citadel on Feb. 26. Nicolas Kobelt made his Big Orange debut, posting a decisive 6-4, 6-4 victory over the Bulldog's Sebastian Kamieniecki at the No. 2 spot, while notching two doubles wins alongside Johannus Monday, 6-1, and Filip Apltauer, 6-3, at the No. 2 and 3 spots, respectively.

SCOUTING GEORGIA
Georgia (4-4) is 0-4 against ranked opponents in 2024, dropping matches to No. 3 Wake Forest, No. 25 North Carolina and No. 6 Virginia in February, and losing 4-2 to No. 18 Texas A&M at ITA Kickoff Weekend at the end of January. The Bulldogs registered two wins over Eastern Kentucky in a doubleheader at the beginning of the season and swept Louisiana in the opening match of ITA Kickoff Weekend. UGA's most impressive win was a 5-2 comeback victory over Georgia Tech.

Thomas Paulsell, ranked 54th in the nation, boasts a 3-4 singles record atop Georgia's lineup, recording a top-25 win over Georgia Tech's No. 22 Andres Martin. No. 56 Ryan Colby holds a 5-2 record heading into conference action, playing primarily at the No. 2 spot. Freddy Blaydes is 4-3 competing at the bottom of the Bulldogs' lineup.

Georgia posted a 9-7 collective doubles record in non-conference play. Cyrus Mahoob and Miguel Perez Pena boast a 3-1 mark at the No. 2 spot.

VOLS IN THE RANKINGS
Singles
#7 - Johannus Monday
#27 - Shunsuke Mitsui
#82 - Filip Pieczonka

Doubles
#8 - Johannus Monday/Angel Diaz
#36 - Shunsuke Mitsui/Filip Pieczonka

BULLDOGS IN THE RANKINGS
Singles
#54 - Thomas Paulsell
#56 - Ryan Colby
#77 - Miguel Perez Pena

Doubles
#37 - Ryan Colby/Niels Ratiu

VOLS IN SEC PLAY
UT registered a 10-2 record in conference play last season, including an impressive seven-match winning streak to finish second in the SEC heading into the postseason. Johannus Monday, Shunsuke Mitsui and Angel Diaz, Tennessee's three returners from last season, eclipsed nine wins in their respective lineup positions in 2023 conference action.

QUICK HITTERS
● Tennessee holds a 27-7 (.794) collective record in doubles this spring, including a 9-1 record at the No. 1 spot.
● Johannus Monday has defeated seven ranked opponents in 2023-24, five residing in the top 50.
● UT has won the doubles point in 13 of its 14 matches this season.

MILESTONE TRACKER
● Angel Diaz is one win away from earning his 90th career singles victory.
● Johannus Monday is two conference victories away from notching 25 career SEC singles wins.

UP NEXT
Tennessee will host No. 47 Arkansas on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET at Barksdale Stadium.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Filip Apltauer

Angel Diaz

Nicolas Kobelt

Shunsuke Mitsui

Johannus Monday

Filip Pieczonka

University of Tennessee Athletics