Geogia Gwinnett College men's tennis players won all five of their singles matches on Thursday afternoon to open play in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's South Regional at the GGC Tennis Facility. They all have advanced to the Round of 16 on Friday, September 20, starting at 11:30 a.m.

Three players registered Round of 32 victories in their debuts representing GGC on the court.

DRAWS: SINGLES | DOUBLES

Junior Santiago Villarruel, the tournament's No. 2 seed, won by identical 6-1 set scores against Daniel Garcia of Montreat College (North Carolina).

Senior Jose Garmendia broke Duarte Mestre's service to win the opening set by a 6-4 score. He then captured the first four games of the second set before his Middle Georgia State University opponent retired due to an injury. Garmendia is the No. 3 seed in the singles draw.

Jeremias Rocco, another senior making his GGC debut, defeated Middle Georgia State's Adria Pratdepadua by 6-1, 6-2 scores in Thursday's action.

Senior Aleksandr Kalinin opened the tournament with a dominating 6-0, 6-1 triumph against Middle Georgia State's Mauricio Olschansky. He advanced to play No. 4 seed David Leon of Tennessee Wesleyan University on Friday.

Freshman Gian Durrer rounded out the Grizzlies' strong singles play on Thursday with a straight-set victory (7-5, 6-3) against Neill Pillai of Middle Georgia State.

Doubles action begins on Friday at 9 a.m. with the top-seeded Gurmendi-Rocco tandem opening the tournament against a pair from Montreat. Meanwhile, the No. 4-seeded duo of Garmendia and Kalinin face a SCAD Atlanta team in a Round of 16 match.
 
Coach's Corner
"I can't ask for a better way to start in our first tournament of this fall. We're looking to build off this performance tomorrow and play our way up in the tournament. I'm super excited to begin doubles (play) and see the guys reap the benefits of all their hard work in practice," said Head Coach Hannah Keeling.
 
Up Next
Georgia Gwinnett College players are scheduled to continue play in the ITA South Regional with singles and doubles action on Friday, September 20, at the GGC Tennis Facility. Play in doubles matches begins at 9 a.m. with singles' Round of 16 matches scheduled to follow at 11:30 a.m.