Georgia men’s tennis back on top of SEC

ATHENS — Don’t look now, but the Georgia men’s tennis team has messed around and won another SEC championship.

The No. 7-ranked Bulldogs (16-5, 10-0 SEC) clinched at least a tie for the regular-season title Sunday when they defeated No. 20 Florida 4-3 in Gainesville. They can win it outright at home this week with a victory over either No. 14 Mississippi State on Thursday or No. 29 Ole Miss on Saturday. A sweep will see Georgia go undefeated in conference play for the first time since 2016.

The SEC title is the 42nd in UGA tennis history, including indoor and outdoor seasons and conference tournaments. That means that every Georgia tennis player since 1971 who played for at least four years has won a conference championship.

“For these guys, winning the conference championship means a heck of a lot, and I am so proud of them,” Georgia coach Manuel Diaz said. “This past fall, when we had former players back at the alumni event, I introduced our team to the lettermen there. I asked everyone to raise their hand if they had won a championship ring during their time as a Bulldog, and every single player that was there raised their hand. … So, for our fifth-year seniors, it’s been a huge goal for them, and this means a ton.”

Georgia definitely earned its latest trophy with a hard-fought grinder against the Gators. Senior Blake Croyder earned the match-clinching win for the Bulldogs at No. 4 singles.

Ranked No. 107, Croyder dropped the first set of his match against Lukas Greif, but managed to take the second in a back-and-forth tiebreaker. A Marietta native, Croyder earned his second match-clinching win of the season after he took the final set to win on court four with a pair of breakers, 3-6, 7-6(8), 7-6(6), clinching a share of the conference crown.

That stood up as the clincher as Georgia’s Miguel Perez Peña lost a third-set tiebreaker against Nate Bonetto 6-3, 6-7(2), 7-6(6). It was the first loss of the season at No. 5 singles for the sophomore.