Georgia's Ethan Quinn takes home NCAA men's singles title in tennis
Georgia tennis redshirt freshman Ethan Quinn took home the NCAA Division I men’s singles national championship on Saturday as he took down Michigan’s Ondrej Styler, ranked No. 8 in the country, at the United States Tennis Association National Complex in Lake Nona, Fla.
Quinn is the first UGA player to win a singles title since 2002. Furthermore, he’s the first freshman winner of an NCAA men’s singles title since 2009.
In order to win the title, Quinn had to keep his dreams alive in the second set. Down 67, 4-5, 0-40, Quinn saved four straight match points against Styler, who had lost just once all spring. Then, in the third set, Quinn played his best tennis and took control of the match, winning the tiebreaker set 6-2.
Quinn’s appearance in the title marked the first time a Georgia freshman had played for an individual national championships. Six Bulldogs before him had reached the final match, the last being John Isner in 2007, with Matias Boeker (2001, 2002) and Mikael Pernfors (1984, 1985) as the only singles champions in school history.
Quinn already has one collegiate national title to his name. In October, Quinn won the ITA All-American Championships over teammate Philip Henning.
Quinn took home SEC Freshman of the Year honors in 2023. The Fresno, Calif. native has won 22 of his last 23 matches dating back to February 19th including 17 in a row. On the year, Quinn went 34-10 and 26-7 against ranked opponents.
“We’ve had players in the finals before, but every year is different,” Georgia head coach Manuel Diaz said after Quinn advanced to the championship with a comeback victory over Virginia’s Chris Rodesch in the semifinals. “This year, Ethan has just come into his own and improved as the year has gone on … He’s been playing his best tennis towards the end of this season. He’s done a great job of preparing, not just physically but mentally, he improved in many areas as the year and spring has gone along.”
Quinn was named a 2023 ITA All-American in singles and doubles after earning the No. 2 and No. 4 seed in NCAA singles and doubles championships. He’s the only freshman in the country inside the top-10 of either the singles or doubles rankings.
Quinn led Georgia in ranked wins this past season and played as the Bulldogs’ top option, both in singles and doubles, routinely throughout the year.
Georgia’s men’s tennis team fell in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament to Ohio State after hosting regionals and super regionals in Athens. The Bulldogs won the SEC regular season championship, going unbeaten against conference competition, and fell in the finals to Kentucky in the SEC Tournament.
