Georgia men's tennis wins 10th SEC Tournament title

The Georgia men's tennis team now has 10 SEC Tournament titles. 

On Sunday, the Bulldogs defeated Mississippi State 4-3 in Knoxville, Tennessee to capture the 2017 SEC Tournament title. It marked the first SEC Tournament title Georgia has won since 2013.

Georgia's SEC Tournament championship followed share of the regular season conference crown with Texas A&M.

The Bulldogs (18-7, 11-1 SEC) were tied 3-3 when Emil Reinberg fell behind 5-2 in a fifth-set tiebreaker on Court 3. Reinberg then rallied back to defeat Strahinja Rakic 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (8-6) to clinch the dual match for Georgia. Reinberg, ranked 61st in the country, was named the SEC Tournament MVP.

“At Georgia, it is all about the team and not the individual,” Reinberg said. “We just play for each other and that was obvious this weekend. I am always bound to go three sets but I really wanted to keep it in that second set, and I was able to do that. Again, it’s not about me, its about this team, and I am so fortunate to be a part of this program.”

Mississippi State won the doubles point to jump out to an early 1-0 lead. In singles play, Jan Zielinski defeated Niclaus Braun to even the score. Mississippi State's Simon Baudry then defeated Georgia's Paul Oosterbaun, which was followed by Georgia's Walker Duncan beating Giovanni Oradini to notch the championship match at 2-2.

Courts 1 and 2 featured a couple of three-setters that helped set up Reinberg's deciding win. Georgia's Wayne Montgomery dropped the first set before getting past Mate Cutura 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 at No. 2 singles. Mississippi State's Nuno Borges then evened the score with a win over Georgia's Nathan Ponwith 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.

“We knew this was going to be a tough match, beginning with doubles,” Diaz said. “Our team had to battle through two very physical matches the last two days, and I am so proud of how they responded. We are a young team that has matured so much since January. We are banged up but showed so much resiliency to win this tournament. I could not be more proud of these guys.”

Georgia will find out its seeding for the NCAA Men's Tennis Championships on Tuesday at 5 p.m. Georgia is hosting the first two rounds on May 12-13 as well as the team and individual tournaments from May 18-29.

This story was originally published May 1, 2017 at 9:01 AM with the headline "Georgia men's tennis wins 10th SEC Tournament title."