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The Georgia women’s tennis team, ranked No. 4 in the ITA rankings, played its first home match of 2024 during the ITA Kickoff Weekend. The Bulldogs played the University of South Florida Bulls on Friday and won 4-0.
South Carolina will face Georgia State in the championship match on January 27th after a 4-1 win over Arizona State.
The win marks Drake Burstein’s first win as head coach following the retirement of Jeff Wallace. Bernstein recognized how much the team benefited from playing at the Dan McGill Tennis Complex.
“I got to play on the courts at this facility and see familiar faces in the crowd. It’s great to be back home,” Burstein said.
Juniors Guillermina Grant and Mai Nirndon dominated court two as they were the first pair to finish in a double play. The duo, ranked 15th in the ITA, defeated their opponents Lea Makesar and Ireland Sime 6-0.
Dasha Vidmanova and Aysegul Mert earned another doubles point for Georgia with a 6-2 victory over Grace Schumacher and Najabay Christians. Vidmanova and Maat had a strong game and combined well to earn the Bulldogs the extra point toward the end of the game.
“I think we were very diligent in executing what we did in practice and what our coaches told us to do. I think we did well and we did well,” Vidmanova said.
On Court 3, Aleksandra Becic and Mel Reasco chose not to finish their doubles match against Marta Falceto Font and Melisa Senli, despite leading 5-3.
In single play, Grant finished quickly against Gargi Pawar and was in complete control of Court 5. In back-to-back sets, Grant dominated his opponent, winning 6-0, 6-0, effectively making the score 2-0 for Georgia.
Looking to add another win to the scoreboard, sophomore Anastasia Lopata finished next on court four. Lopata, ranked No. 70 in the ITA, played well in straight sets as she cruised to a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Font. Lopata’s win made the score 3-0 in favor of Georgia, and he only needed to win one more match in singles for the team to seal the victory.
Nirndorn, ranked 108th in the ITA, was a close second behind Lopata, and continued to perform well in both sets against Makesar, earning a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Georgia.
After a crushing 7-0 loss in the spring season opener against No. 1 ITA-ranked UNC, Bernstein said his team was determined to win every game.
“Everyone today worked really hard on how they wanted to play from start to finish. I’m really happy with the results in singles. I left the court feeling better than I started,” Burstein said. .
Following the ITA Kickoff Weekend in Athens, the Bulldogs will travel to Austin, Texas to face the Longhorns on February 4, 2024.
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