No. 14 Texas A&M men’s tennis finished the regular season with a disappointing loss to No. 31 Georgia. After a hard-fought 4-3 match at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex, the Aggies stood defeated.
The Maroon and White travelled to Athens, hoping to build off of a strong performance that resulted in a road victory over No. 17 Tennessee last week.
A&M’s doubles slate got off to a rocky start. Junior Tomás Pinho and senior Alan Magadan were on the wrong end of a one-sided affair on Court 2. No. 23 seniors Thomas Paulsell and Ryan Colby delivered the 6-2 win and pushed the home side closer to the doubles point.
However, it didn’t take long for the Fightin’ Farmers to get back level. Freshman Theo Papamalamis and senior Luke Casper demolished senior Oscar Pinto Sansano and sophomore Niels Ratiu, 6-0.
All eyes shifted towards Court 3, where redshirt freshman Ritesh Patil and senior Giulio Perego were locked into a battle with senior Miguel Perez Peña and freshman Gabriele Vulpitta. Fortunately for the Aggies, the nerve of the experienced Perego and the talent of the younger Patil was enough to overcome the Bulldogs, securing the doubles point after a tiebreak, 7-6.
The singles stage of the match started even worse than the first for the visitors. On Court 5, Ratiu steamrolled Patil 6-1 in the first set. The Houston native was unable to bounce back after the two switched sides and fell 6-1 for the second time. As a result, Ratiu brought the home side back level.
On Court 4, Pinto Sansano capitalized on this newfound momentum and put the Bulldogs ahead, defeating graduate Matthis Ross 6-4, 6-1.
Shortly after, Perego dragged the Aggies back to tie things up, defeating sophomore Cyrus Mahjoob, 6-3, 6-3. Consequently, the Maroon and White now had to win two of the remaining three to secure the win in Athens.
Initial returns were positive as No. 35 Papamalamis dominated a third set to defeat No. 28 Colby, 6-1, 6-7, 6-0. Unfortunately for the Aggies, it was downhill from here. With a shot to secure the victory, Casper was handled by No. 43 Paulsell, 4-6, 4-7.
With the two sides level at 3-3, the only point left was being fought for on Court 2. Only Magadan stood between the Bulldogs and their highest-ranked win of the season. The first set was a war, that ultimately ended in a 7-6 victory for No. 56 Perez Peña. In response, the man in maroon delivered a counter blow, winning the next set, 6-3. But despite his history of heroics, Magadan was unable to deliver anything else for the Aggies and was defeated 6-0 in the decider.
In a huge upset, the unranked Bulldogs defended their home court and defeated the Aggies, 4-3 in The Peach State.
The Maroon and White will head into the Southeastern Conference Tournament beginning on April 17 when the Aggies take on an undetermined opponent in Columbia, South Carolina.
