Playing at home for the first time this spring, the Georgia Gwinnett College men's tennis team affirmed its top national ranking with a 9-0 victory over No. 2 Xavier University of Louisiana Friday afternoon during the Grizzly Invitational from the GGC Tennis Facility.
The match featured the top two ranked teams in the NAIA, and was a rematch of the two teams that squared off in the 2017 national championship match.
GGC (6-0) wasted no time in getting out to a 3-0 lead by being victorious on all three doubles courts. The freshmen duo of Serge Becerra and Valentino Caratini won eight of the 10 games on the No. 3 court. Senior Gilad Berman and junior Ayed Zatar gave GGC its second doubles win with an 8-5 triumph on the No. 1 court. Junior Rafael Coutinho and sophomore Federico Herrera Duran was an 8-3 winner at No. 2 doubles.
Then, the Grizzlies won all six singles matches in straight sets. Coutinho clinched the team victory at No. 3 singles with a 6-3, 6-1 triumph. Zatar won 12 of 14 games to grab the first singles victory of the day.
Georgia Gwinnett College has yet to drop a match within any dual match this spring.
Results
Doubles
No. 1 Ayed Zatar/Gilad Berman (GGC) def. Samir Chikhaoui/Shaikh Abdullah (XULA), 8-5
No. 2 Federico Herrera Duran/Rafael Coutinho (GGC) def. Pierre Andrieu/Chris Anders (XULA), 8-3
No. 3 Serge Becerra/Valentino Caratini (GGC) def. Catalin Fifea/Gabriel Niculescu (XULA, 8-2
Singles
No. 1 Berman (GGC) def. Fifea (XULA) 6-1, 6-4
No. 2 Zatar (GGC) def. Alec Abdullah (XULA) 6-2, 6-0
No. 3 Coutinho (GGC) def. Samir Chikhaoui (XULA) 6-3, 6-1
No. 4 Becerra (GGC) def. Andrieu (XULA) 6-1, 6-1
No. 5 Herrera Duran (GGC) def. Anders (XULA) 6-0, 6-4
No. 6 Caratini (GGC) def. Niculescu (XULA) 6-2, 6-0
Up Next
Georgia Gwinnett College is scheduled to face Point University (Ga.) and Bluefield State College (W.Va.) Saturday, Feb. 17, in the second day of the Grizzly Invitational at the GGC Tennis Facility. The match with Point is set to begin at 2 p.m. before playing Bluefield State at 5 p.m.
