Five Georgia Gwinnett College men's tennis singles players and three doubles teams have advanced in their tournament draws following Thursday's action in the 2025 Intercollegiate Tennis Association South Regional at the GGC Tennis Facility.

The Grizzlies combined for an 11-1 singles record and a perfect 2-0 in doubles action during the opening day of the fall season.

DRAWS

Sophomore Gian Durrer collected the day's biggest victory, knocking off No. 7 seed Lucas Perez of Tennessee Wesleyan University across straight sets by 6-3, 6-4 scores in a Round of 16 match. Earlier, he had defeated TWU's Agustin Gaia by 6-4, 7-5 scores.

"Generally, it was a great day on the court. I saw that he (Gaia) was a bit tight throughout the match and it gave me more confidence to go more for my shots. He had more to lose than I did. Today's play gives me a lot of confidence going forward in this tournament," said Durrer.

Top seed and defending regional/NAIA national singles champion Santiago Villarruel opened the tournament with a pair of dominant victories – winning 24 of 25 games across two matches. The senior won all 12 games of his Round of 16 match against TWU's Yanael Lundqvist.

Villarruel will now face Durrer in the quarterfinal round on Friday, September 19.

Meanwhile, senior Luis Francisco Sampedro, the tournament's No. 4 seed, collected two straight-set victories: 6-1, 6-3 against TWU's Maceo Simpson in the morning session and 6-0, 6-2 over Montreat College's (North Carolina) Lucas Descalzi. That clinched him a spot in the quarterfinal round.

"The veteran guys like Santiago and Luis know how to manage themselves in a tournament like this. Each round and day get tougher. They took care of business today," said GGC Head Coach Hannah Keeling. "Gian was simply amazing today. I'm glad to see his hard work paying off with the results he earned."

Two other players advanced in the singles draw with wins in their GGC debuts. Senior Francisco Perez Esnaola avoided a first-round upset by winning a marathon three-set match. The No. 2 seed won the opening set by a 6-4 score and completed the triumph with a 10-4 score in the tiebreaker. Perez Esnaolo then advanced to the quarterfinal with a 6-3, 6-3 Round of 16 win against Montreat's Vitor Gomes de Oliveria. A service break at 4-3 in the second set paved the way for the victory.

Freshman Kanan Gasimov earned a pair of straight-set victories, defeating Montreat's Mario Monclus Martin 7-5, 6-3 in Thursday's Round of 16 action. He earlier collected a commanding 6-0, 6-1 victory against SCAD Atlanta's Maximilian Grenz in the first round. Gasimov will face another teammate Francisco Sampedro on Friday.

In doubles, both of GGC's pairings won by identical 8-4 scores on Thursday. The team of junior Juan Carlos Garcia and Durrer, the tournament's No. 4 seed, defeated a pairing from Montreat.

Gasimov teamed with Perez Esnaola for a Round of 16 triumph against a duo from Tennessee Wesleyan.

The top-seeded Villarruel-Francisco Sampedro team earned a first-round bye and will hit the court for the first time in Friday's quarterfinal round, starting at 3:30 p.m.
 
Coach's Corner
"It was a great start for us. It is awesome to have five guys advance in the draw to be among the eight quarterfinalists in the first tournament of the new school year. The players competed hard. It was great to see how they are going to represent GGC going forward this season," said Head Coach Hannah Keeling.
 
Up Next
Georgia Gwinnett College players will continue play in the ITA South Regional on Friday, September 19, at the GGC Tennis Facility, starting at 9 a.m.