ATHENS – Tuesday was a great day for Georgia tennis. On a warm central Florida morning, courts 1 through 6 at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona all were occupied by Bulldogs.
Georgia’s women’s team was practicing on three of the courts and the men’s team was working out on the three right next door. It was reminiscent of almost any week back in Athens.
But this isn’t just any week. Over the next two days, Georgia’s men’s and women’s tennis teams will take turns on these courts competing in the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Championships.
Tuesday, though, was about staying sharp while staying loose. Not surprising then, that their side-by-side practices devolved into some mixed doubles matches.
“It was incredible,” Georgia women’s coach Jeff Wallace said. “A lot of positive energy flowing out there.”
There’s much about which to be positive. Georgia has a long and storied history in tennis, both on the men’s and women’s sides. There’s a dozen national championships shared between them, with indoor titles being counted.
As for this week, UGA is one of just two schools with both its men’s and women’s teams still alive. The other is Texas.
Wallace was asked what the late legendary tennis coach Dan Magill might think about that.
“He would be excited that the tradition has continued,” said Wallace, once a Magill player himself. “He’d be proud that he’d built such an incredible thing at the University of Georgia. The fact that both programs are still playing at an extremely elite level would put a big smile on his face.”
Like always, the aim now is to outlast Texas and everybody else. The Georgia women will be first up on the big stage Wednesday. The No. 3 Lady Dogs (23-1, 13-0 SEC) will meet No. 6 N.C. State (19-5, 10-3 ACC) in a quarterfinal match scheduled for an 11 a.m. start. It’s just the fourth meeting ever between the schools, with Georgia holding a 2-1 advantage. They last met in 2017, with the Bulldogs winning 4-0.
No. 11 Georgia takes center court against No. 3 Tennessee on Thursday in the men’s Elite Eight. The Bulldogs (17-6) knocked off No. 6 North Carolina 4-3 on Monday to advance. It was their eighth win in the last nine matches and third in this tournament.
The Vols beat Georgia 4-2 in both team’s SEC opener on Feb. 19 in Athens. But the Bulldogs were without Tyler Zink and Blake Croyder that day due to illness and injury, respectively.
“We want to prove to everybody and to themselves, really, they we’re one of the elite teams in the country once again this year,” said men’s coach Manuel Diaz, who has won four national outdoor championships in 32 years as Georgia’s coach. “I’m proud of them. We’ve fought hard. We had some problems with our health early in the season. We were 1-4 in the SEC in March. But we put together a string of victories that got us back to where we knew we belonged.”
Magill would indeed be proud and excited. He recruited both Diaz and Wallace to play for him, and basically neither has left. Between Magill and his proteges there have been the only three coaches of Georgia’s two tennis programs since 1985.
Wallace was actually playing for Magill when Diaz joined him as an assistant coach in 1982. So they’ve long been friends, but their relationship goes even deeper than that.
Diaz’s wife, the former Suzanne Rondeau, and Wallace’s wife, the former Sabina Horne, are first cousins from Canada.
“I met my wife through them, so I owe them dinner every year,” Diaz cracked. “Our kids grew up together, so we’re very close as programs and individuals. It’s great to see them continue to have such great teams. And the kids on both ends, both teams, have great relationships and friendships and love and support each other.”
Nowhere was that more apparent than at the end of the Georgia men’s tight match against North Carolina on Monday. After completing their off-day practice at a nearby court, the women’s team gathered along the fence beside Billy Rowe, who was toiling against the Tar Heels’ Josh Peck in a match that was all square at 3-3. Rowe rallied from a 4-4, second-set tie to clinch the round of 16 victory, and the midcourt celebration by the men was rivaled only by the one from the 10 players jumping up and down outside the fence.
“They were incredible support yesterday; without them, I don’t know that we would’ve gotten through that match,” said Trent Bryde, Georgia’s No. 1 singles player. “There’s such mutual respect there. They’ve obviously had an incredible season. We’ve supported them the whole way, and they’re doing the same for us.”
That’s been the case since Magill first brought the NCAA Championships to Athens in the 1970s. He made UGA’s campus the “Mecca of College Tennis” for years before the NCAA started rotating the event to multiple venues.
Thanks to gender equity, now it’s truly a coed event. The men’s and women’s teams exchange practice spaces and alternating competition days.
For Georgia, that means being assured of having at least a small rooting section every time. When competing at this level, the smallest of edges can make a difference.
“I think it had an impact,” Wallace said. “You’ve got to credit the guys; they brought it and played outstanding. But the electricity in the environment was absolutely incredible. And, hey, our players are Bulldogs and they love their fellow Dogs and all the other sports teams and they’re going to support them as much as they can. With the way the schedule worked out, we just had a perfect opportunity then.”
