Georgia's Freddy Blaydes and Neils Ratiu Earn Spot in Round of 16 at NCAA Doubles Championships
STILLWATER, Okla. – Freshmen Freddy Blaydes and Niels Ratiu of the Georgia men’s tennis team won their Round of 32 match at the NCAA Doubles Championships on Tuesday afternoon, beating Middle Tennessee State’s Ondrej Horak and Leo Raquin by a 6-3, 6-2 score at the Greenwood Tennis Complex.
Five Fast Facts
• Blaydes and Ratiu notched the highest-ranked win of their careers together with the straight-set victory over No. 28 Horak and Raquin. Their previous best was versus No. 29 Bozo Barun and Jared Horwood of Arkansas on March 24.
• The Bulldog tandem now stands 13-6 together this season with eight wins against ranked opponents.
• Blaydes and Ratiu won 61 percent of their 33 first-serve points and went six-for-six on break points in their win.
• This marks the seventh time since 2009 a Georgia tandem has at least reached the Round of 16 in the NCAA Doubles Championship.
• Junior Thomas Paulsell’s season came to an end on Tuesday morning after falling to Dylan Dietrich of Virginia in the NCAA Singles Championship Round of 32 by a 6-4, 6-3 score. He finished the season with 16 singles wins, half of which came on court one.
Up Next
The NCAA Doubles Championships will continue with the Round of 16 on Wednesday, May 22. Blaydes and Ratiu will take on No. 5-8 seed Etienne Donnet and Natan Rodrigues of Louisville with the time yet to be determined. The Cardinals’ pairing is nationally ranked No. 8 in the country and are 15-5 with a 6-2 mark against ranked opponents.
