ATLANTA – While the 2020 season came to an abrupt end for the Georgia State men's tennis team, the Panthers can look back on a year that was trending in the direction toward a second consecutive Sun Belt Conference regular season title.
"We were just getting over the hump and some big things were coming with our Sun Belt season right around the corner," GSU head coach Jon Wolff said. "We were really looking forward to defending our regular season title and getting back to the Sun Belt Championship."
GSU opened the year with a 4-2 win over No. 66 Old Dominion in the ITA Kickoff Chapel Hill Regional, as
Vazha Shubladze and double partners
Roberts Grinvalds/
Andrei Duarte each earned ranked victories.
The team was later faced with some adversity in early February, enduring a difficult portion of its non-conference schedule that featured multiple ranked opponents and seven consecutive matches on the road.
Despite the tough stretch in the schedule, Duarte, Grinvalds and Shubladze all entered the Oracle/ITA national rankings after impressive starts to the dual season. Duarte and Grinvalds were ranked No. 41 in the national doubles rankings while Shubladze rose to No. 104 in the national singles rankings.
In the first home match of the season, Georgia State defeated FAU 4-2 on what was the beginning of a three-match win streak. The Panthers followed up their home-opening victory with back-to-back wins over Stetson (4-3) and Mercer (6-1).
After continued dominance in doubles competition, Duarte and Grinvalds were ranked No. 28 in the March 3rd Oracle/ITA national rankings, the second-highest doubles ranking in school history. Shubladze moved to No. 123 in the national singles ranking, owning a 6-1 record in 2019-20 with three nationally ranked victories.
In what was the final match of the season, GSU defeated Charlotte 4-3, getting the clinch from
Diego Padilha in his first singles appearance of the dual season. Senior
Quentin Coulaud picked up a victory at the No. 1 singles position and at the No. 2 doubles position with partner
Bailey Showers, capping off a perfect 3-0 overall record on the week, earning him Sun Belt Player of the Week honors on March 11.
GSU ended the year having won four of its final six contests. The Panthers had two doubles tandems with double-digit victories in Duarte/Grinvalds (10-5) and Coulaud/Showers (10-4), who ended the season on a five-match win streak.
Georgia State, which owned a 5-1 record when winning the doubles point, was starting to play its best tennis with the conference schedule just one week away. While it did not get the chance to defend its regular season title, the team finished the year ranked No. 68 in the national ITA poll, the highest among all other teams in the league.
"Despite the season being cut short I am really proud of every single one of our student-athletes," Wolff said. "I know they put in the hard work every day both on and off the court, with their grades, their tennis, and their fitness. Hopefully sooner rather than later we can get back on the court and defend our title."
