Cracked Racquets has been hard at work getting you ready for the coming college tennis season via our College Tennis Contenders series. Once a week, we take time to dissect one of the top 10 preseason teams. This week, we take an extensive look at the #7 ranked Georgia Bulldogs.

After an impressive fifth-straight SEC Championship and second consecutive NCAA semifinals appearance, the dawgs look to take it a step further in 2018. Hall of Fame Coach Manny Diaz is no stranger to success, leading Georgia to six national championships-four NCAA titles (99’, 01’, 07’ and 08’) and two ITA national indoor titles (06’ and 07’). With a veteran heavy squad lead by No. 12th ranked Wayne Montgomery, expectations are sky-high in Athens. The Bulldogs return every letter winner from last year’s team and will enjoy the luxury of another year of experience for emerging star and 2017 Freshman of the Year Nathan Ponwith.

2016 – 2017 Season Stats

Overall: 22-8

Conference: 11-1

Home: 12 – 2

Away: 6 – 2

Neutral: 4 – 4

Georgia’s Squad

Alex Diaz RS – Fr

Samuel Dromsky So

Walker Duncan Jr

Robert Loeb So

Andy Martinez Sr

Wayne Montgomery Sr

Paul Oosterbaan Rs – Sr

Alex Phillips Rs-So

Nathan Ponwith So

Emil Reinberg Jr

Jan Zeilinski Jr

Outlook

Head Coach Manuel Diaz’s 2018 Bulldogs features an upperclassmen heavy squad that returns every player from the 2016-2017 season. Junior Emil Reinberg begins the new year after posting 35 wins last season, the best out of the Bulldogs, and capturing the SEC Tournament MVP with a 3-0 and 2-1 doubles performance. Georgia has senior Wayne Montgomery (12), juniors Emil Reimberg (25), Jan Zielinski (30), and Walker Duncan (33), as well as sophomore Nathan Ponwith (66) ranked in singles meaning that the Bulldogs along with Wake Forest and Ohio State are the only three teams to currently have five players ranked in the ITA singles rankings.

One important member of the squad that is not ranked at the moment is redshirt senior Paul Oosterbaan who had to miss much of last season due to a wrist injury, and this season with his return he will give even more depth to an already stacked squad. Robert Loeb, who successfully stepped in for the injured Oosterbaan last year, will also be a big part of the team especially after he and Zielinski reached the final of the NCAA doubles championship this past season on their home courts.

Coach Diaz is a familiar face at the NCAA National Championships and has led the Bulldogs to six national championships, claiming four titles in 1999, 2001, 2007, and 2008 in addition to back-to-back ITA National Indoor titles in 2006 and 2007. With the retained talent from the 2016 – 2017 season and return of the big fella Oosterbaan, the Bulldogs boast an exceptionally talented squad that collectively posted 36 wins over nationally ranked teams last year.

We can’t cover Georgia without addressing the coaching staff shakeup that took place this past May. After losing associate head coach Bo Hodge to drug related issues, another alumni stepped in as Jamie Hunt filled the vacant role and brings needed leadership to the Georgia locker room. Hunt, who spent seven years as the associate head coach at Vanderbilt and played for Georgia under Coach Diaz, brings experience and familiarity with Diaz’s coach style and is a welcomed addition.

Georgia’s semifinals run in 2017’s National Championship ended after a 4-3 loss to UNC, who went on to lose to defending champion University of Virginia. Despite a close loss, Georgia posted impressive numbers only dropping six points through four matches before facing UNC in the semis as they dispatched Pac-12 foes USC and UCLA respectively in the round of 16 and quarterfinals. With all the great returning talent and experience, Georgia makes a strong argument for finals contention. Keep an eye on this team.

Georgia 2018 Schedule

Georgia’s path to the NCAA Championship features fewer matchups against ranked teams than the 2016 – 2017 season. Between February and March of 2017, the Bulldogs faced USC, Ohio State, UNC, and Wake Forest, taking Ls to each. The 2018 schedule only features a top ten matchup against Ohio State, which should allow the Bulldogs to build momentum coming into May. If the Bulldogs perform as expected, few will argue a finals appearance in May.

A downloadable PDF of the Georgia Men’s Tennis 2018 Schedule is available here.

Reader Poll

How will Georgia's season play out this year? Just like UGA football, Bulldogs tennis will take the title this year.

Georgia will dominate the SEC, but they don't have the depth to beat the likes of Virginia

The "dawgs" are all bark and no bite. They won't find much success in the post season this year.

Thanks for bringing the polls back, this is my favorite part of the article. View Results

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Cracked Predictions

Dalton Thieneman (Co-founder, CI Host) : The spring season kicks off at the MLK/Georgia Tech Invitation Jan. 13-15, but make sure to circle March 7 on your calendar when Georgia welcomes Ohio State to town. Coach Diaz and the Bulldogs will then enter conference play with the lofty goal of winning their sixth-straight SEC crown-which would be the first time in Coach Diaz’s decorated history at Georgia. Look for the dawgs to meet these expectations and then some heading into May!

Parker Thieneman (Contributor): Georgia is my front runner for this year’s season. They return every single letter winner from last season and they are coming off their 5th consecutive SEC title and their second straight NCAA semi-finals appearance. I’m expecting UGA to break through this year and win the title.

Alex Leopold (Co-founder, Contributor): As always, the bulldogs are going to be in the mix until the very end. It just feels like they haven’t had that upper echelon talent since Isner left to take them over the top. Maybe someone will step up this year.

Your Take

As we hit the home stretch of our College Contenders series, we want your input on each team. How do you think they will perform at the 2018 National Championship? Correctly predict their outcome for a chance to win Cracked Racquets Gear!