Georgia men's tennis advances to second round of NCAA Championship tournament

Georgia recorded a sweep in its first-round dual match of the NCAA Championship tournament.

Facing Florida A&M, the 12th-seeded Bulldogs rolled to a 4-0 victory. After winning the doubles point, Georgia (19-7) secured three quick two-set singles wins from No. 33 Wayne Montgomery, Robert Loeb and Walker Duncan.

Montgomery, Georgia's No. 1 singles player, downed Florida A&M's Courage Okungbowa 6-1, 6-0.

"I started off well, and felt confident and felt good out there," Montgomery said. "Didn't feel tired or slow, felt strong. As soon as I got the first couple of games, I just kind of kept the momentum going and tried to exploit his weakness and ended up playing really well. So I'm happy."

Duncan's 6-1, 6-4 win over Walner Espinoza on Court 4 was Georgia's clinching match.

While Georgia had no issues in the singles matches, Florida A&M (11-12) proved tough at times in doubles. While the No. 2 doubles team of Emil Reinberg and Nathan Ponwith cruised to a 6-1 win over Okungbowa and Karlyn Small, Georgia's No. 3 tandem of Montgomery and Duncan battled out a 6-3 win over Luis Federico Nani and Jalen Evans.

Georgia's nationally top-ranked doubles team of Loeb and Jan Zielinsk was pushed to an unfinished 5-4 score by Espinoza and Carlos Agustin Waitman.

"(Friday) was about being prepared and not taking anyone for granted," Georgia head coach Manny Diaz said. "We know that they're well coached and they had some impressive doubles, especially at one and three. They really challenged us. Our two team played extremely well. Wayne probably played the best match of the year as far as how he hit the ball today, so I was really pleased with that."

Georgia's win sets up a second-round match against South Florida, which will take place Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.

The Bulls defeated Duke 4-0 in the match before Georgia's.

"It’s an honor to play on these courts," South Florida head coach Ashley Fisher said. "Georgia is a really storied program, and we’re excited for that opportunity (to play the Bulldogs Saturday)."

The Georgia women's tennis team, seeded fifth, will kick its NCAA Championship tournament off Saturday at noon against South Carolina State.

Quotes were obtained through UGA Sports Communications.

This story was originally published May 12, 2017 at 4:30 PM with the headline "Georgia men's tennis advances to second round of NCAA Championship tournament ."