The top-seeded Georgia Gwinnett College men's tennis team opened the 2025 NAIA National Championship tournament with a decisive 4-0 victory against No. 16 seed Middle Georgia State University on Wednesday afternoon at the Mobile Tennis Center in Mobile, Alabama.

The Grizzlies (17-2) picked up a pair of 6-3 victories on the No. 1 and No. 2 courts to secure the doubles point. The nation's top-ranked duo of senior Jeremias Rocco and junior Santiago Villarruel opened the match with a triumph at the top of the lineup. Senior Aleksandr Kalinin and junior Luis Francisco Sampedro secured the 1-0 match advantage with a No. 2 court triumph.

In singles, freshman Kamron McIntosh-Ross won 12 of the 13 games on the No. 6 court against Nick Dufner to give GGC, the 10-time defending NAIA national champions, a 2-0 lead.

Later, Kalinin tallied the team's third point of the match with a 6-3, 6-2 victory against Duarte Mestre on the No. 4 court. Francisco Sampedro closed out the match with a 6-2, 6-2 triumph against Dominik Simunovic at No. 2 singles.

The victory improved the Grizzlies to a 41-0 all-time record in NAIA postseason play.
 
Coach's Corner
"We had great energy and a really solid start today. It's all business this week and I'm super happy to get our first match completed in a dominating way, taking us into tomorrow. This is an amazing way to start the tournament by finishing the match in under two hours," said Head Coach Hannah Keeling.
 
Up Next
Georgia Gwinnett College is scheduled to face No. 9 seed Xavier University of Louisiana in the quarterfinal round of the 2025 NAIA National Championship tournament on Thursday, May 15, in Mobile, Alabama, starting at 2 p.m.