UGA Tennis
Author: ConnorMay 18 2010
Something I’ve enjoyed throughout my college career is cheering on other athletes I’ve gotten to know. When you’re a fan of a team its always awesome to be there in person to support that team. When you’re a college athlete you are constantly seeing and getting to know other athletes at study hall, the dining halls, the weight room, etc. That makes it even more exciting to watch.
I have to admit I didn’t make it to as many UGA sporting events as I wanted to this year but I went to multiple football games, baseball games, gymnastics meets, volleyball matches, as well as women’s basketball games. Truth be told, I was a spectator at our basketball games thanks to the NCAA requiring me to redshirt.
One of the teams I failed to see compete before this weekend was the Tennis team.
I don’t know why it took me so long to attend a match and I’m literally upset with myself that I didn’t make it out during the regular season. I’ve been to NBA playoff games, the Final Four, bigtime football games. However, my favorite sporting event of all time was the US Open in New York City in the fall of 2006. I got to see Andre Agassi beat Marcos Baghdatis in a match that was sold out and the stadium was full until the match ended at 2am. A few days later I saw Agassi’s last match ever. I was also able to watch Andy Roddick, Rafa Nadal, Roger Fedderer, and Andy Murray up close. In my opinion, tennis is one of the best sports to watch live.
I walked over to our amazing tennis facility to watch the first and second round of the NCAA Tournament this past weekend. UGA beat UNC-Greensboro on Saturday and Florida State on Sunday. Outside of watching my own team take care of business this season, this weekend’s match vs. Florida State was my favorite sporting event of the year.
UGA won the doubles point and needed to win 3 of the 6 singles matches to beat Florida State. We lost 3 of the first 4 matches. We needed Javier Garrapiz and Drake Bernstein to win their matches or the season was over. Javi lost the first set but won a second set tiebreaker to stay alive and went on to win the third set. Drake won the first set, lost the second set in a tiebreaker, and had the fate of the team resting on his shoulders as he won the third set.
The atmosphere was incredible. Javi was on the first court on my left while Drake was to my right on the fourth court. UGA and the annoyingly vocal FSU players were constantly monitoring the scoreboard and swiveling their heads back and forth between matches.
I strongly encourage anyone in Athens to come out and support the team this Friday at 6pm against Florida. A little over a month ago UGA lost to Florida. Christian Vitulli, who was an extreme baller this past weekend finishing off his UNC-G and FSU opponents without any drama, was injured and was out of the singles line up. Also, the loss took place in Gainesville, Florida. It was obvious this weekend that the Dawgs were feeding off of the crowds’ energy. Even if you aren’t a tennis fan and have little interest in the sport, it really is an awesome event to see in person. Help the Dawgs take advantage of the fact that the NCAA championships are in the best city in the world: Athens, Georgia.
2 Responses for "UGA Tennis"
Connor, when I was back at Georgia in the earlier part of this century, I worked at the Red and Black as a sportswriter. Basketball and football recruiting were probably my most read stuff, but I also got the women's tennis beat for 2 or 3 years. While football and basketball were my loves, the sport and players really grew on me. Jeff Wallace gets some great girls in his program and his teams are always pretty good. Plus the skirts are a nice bonus.
Thanks to Annie Nguyen, Lori Grey, Tata, Alex Smith, and all the rest of the squad that helped make me a much more rounded Georgia athletics fan.
I was at UGA way back in the mid-80s and UGA tennis was being put on the map with Mikael Pernfors, the two-time NCAA champion (he actually won 4 titles in a row, winning the Junior college championships two years before UGA). We would go to class, then head to the afternoon matches and watch tennis with plenty of good looking tennis groupies around, getting sun and having fun. Then the NCAAs redefined what watching tennis could be, with the fans singing UGA chants and laughing at opponents bad shots. Totally rude, uncalled for, especially for tennis fans, and it was perfect for college. I wish the NCAAs would stay at UGA, but the tennis "elitists" from California complained loud enough and now UGA only gets it once every few years. But if you can go, it's awesome. But for students, its a great place in the spring to get some sun and hang out before dinner/going out (or studying, if thats what you are in school for).
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