By BRANDON ZIMMERMAN
Staff Writer

With two home matches against top five teams this weekend, the No. 2 Georgia men’s tennis team doesn’t need many words to describe the significance of its upcoming matches.

"It boils down to these matches for us," senior John Roddick said.

Junior Hisham Hemeda also understands the ramifications of the difficult weekend.

"This weekend is big for us," Hemeda said. "Both matches will be tough."

And no one can comprehend what the two upcoming matches mean to the Bulldogs better than head coach Manuel Diaz.

"These are huge matches," Diaz said. "This is a big weekend, obviously."

The big weekend for Georgia (15-1 overall, 7-0 Southeastern Conference) begins today at 4 p.m. against No. 4 Mississippi State (13-2, 6-1) at Henry Feild Stadium. Meanwhile, No. 5 Louisiana State (16-1, 7-0) awaits a 2 p.m. Sunday showdown with Georgia.

"LSU could be our biggest match of the year," said Roddick, who lost for only the second time this season at the No. 1 singles position Tuesday against Auburn. "But we can’t take Mississippi State for granted."

When the Bulldogs began practice Thursday, the team was excited to be joined by senior Steven Baldas. Baldas was cleared to play in this weekend’s matches following his removal from the second set of his match with Auburn’s Steve Huss on Tuesday, after re-aggravating a groin injury.

"Baldas is much better than we first thought," Diaz said. "We put him through two days of extensive treatment and we’re excited that his injury is very mild."

Hemeda, who is joined by junior Talito Corrales as the only two Bulldogs who are undefeated in SEC singles play, explained the significance of Baldas’ presence in the lineup.

"We’re excited that Baldas is in good shape," Hemeda said. "He helps the whole team, just seeing him out there on the court."

And Georgia will take all the help it can get. Hosting two conference foes ranked in the top five in one weekend is unprecedented.

"These matches are feasibly quarterfinal matches of this year’s NCAA Final Four," Diaz said. "We must take these one game at a time. It’s hard to look to the finals of the NCAAs when you still have to play the semifinals. And that’s the quality of tennis the fans can expect to see this weekend."