Georgia Gwinnett College men's tennis players continued their strong starts to the 2023 season by winning seven of their eight singles matches against NCAA Division I opponents during Saturday's second day of the University of North Florida Invitational in Jacksonville, Florida.

With an additional 11 victories the Grizzlies now lead the tournament field with 18 wins against talented players from North Florida (17 wins) and University of Buffalo (13).

Four GGC players posted 3-0 records in Saturday's matches. Five of the team's seven singles wins came in three sets.

Senior Federico Bonacia picked up a 6-2, 6-0 victory against Buffalo's Ryan Thompson while classmate Leonardo Sprovieri won all six games in the second set after taking the opening set against Buffalo's Greg Hastings by a 6-4 score.

Freshman Dhakshineswar Suresh rounded out the team's winners against Buffalo with a three-set match victory against Cheng Tang. He won the decided third set by a 6-3 score after capturing all six games of the opening set.

The remaining four singles wins came when GGC players faced North Florida opponents. Junior Aleksa Ciric registered a three-set victory, outlasting the tournament host's PJ Kotan by a 6-4 score in the deciding set. Junior Charly Zick defeated Andreas Scott in another hard-fought match, winning a third-set tiebreaker by a 7-4 score.

Senior Jose Dugo rallied for a three-set victory against Spencer Dorosheff, capturing the final two sets by 6-4 and 7-5 scores. Junior Alex Gurmendi was victorious in a third-set tiebreaker by a 7-3 score against Rodrigo Crespo.

In doubles, the Dugo-Sprovieri tandem won two matches against teams from Buffalo, defeating Theodoros Mitsakos and Ryan Thompson by a 6-3 score before recording a 6-4 triumph against Finn McNamara and Simon Wibler.

The Gurmendi-Zick team also went 2-0 on the day against North Florida opponents, winning by 6-0 and 6-2 scores.
 
"We had a strong day. Going 7-1 in singles shows that the players are working to improve each day. They stepped up their play together. We want to finish the weekend strong. Alex (Gurmendi) and Jose (Dugo) continue to set the tone by going undefeated today, along with Leonardo (Sprovieri) and Charly (Zick)," said Head Coach Hannah Keeling.
 
The UNF Invitational concludes with singles matches on Sunday, January 15.