As the No. 2 seeded Bulldogs opened SEC tournament play against No. 7 seeded Auburn, the doubles point became a sore spot, as Auburn was victorious in two out of the three matches and secured the doubles point.

“We probably had some chances to win the doubles point several times at No. 2 doubles [Drake Bernstein and Javier Garrapiz]. We just didn’t quite get the job done,” said head coach Manuel Diaz.

In a tournament where winning the doubles relieves pressure from singles play, Diaz realizes the importance of that one point.

“We just need to play more aggressive at No. 2 doubles when we get up a break. If our No. 1 doubles [Nate Schnugg and Jamie Hunt] play as well as they are capable of playing, I got all the confidence in the world,” said Diaz.

But despite struggling in doubles play, the Bulldogs bounced back in singles, but not without “a huge scare.”

On court two, Javier Garrapiz battled against Auburn’s Lukas Marsoun, and at 3-2 in the first set, Garrapiz went down after twisting his ankle. He had his ankle taped, and returned to the court to drop only one game, and decidedly won his match 6-3, 6-0.

“That was a big scare, and at the same time created a lot of momentum for us,” said Diaz.

A tournament is still to be played, and how Garrapiz’s ankle holds up will be a concern for the Bulldogs. But with the Spaniard’s fighting spirit, his effort will go unquestioned.

“It’s a little tender, but Javier is such a fighter. He’ll prepare, and he’ll go out there and he’ll give it his all,” said Diaz.

With a semi-hobbled Garrapiz making the score 2-1, Drake Bernstein on court five sealed his match over Auburn’s Alex Petropoulos, 6-4, 6-3, leaving the task of clinching the match to Nate Schnugg on court one.

After dropping the first set 5-7, Schnugg made a turn around in the remaining two sets and commandingly clinched the match for the Bulldogs.

“Nate Schnugg really turned his match around. That was huge. He wound up clinching the match,” said Diaz.

The Bulldogs are set to face Tennessee in the semifinals today at 4 p.m.. This will be thw second time in a week the two teams play.

#4 Georgia (22-2), #19 Auburn (13-10)
Doubles
1. Lukas Marsoun/Alex Stamchev (AU) def. #4 Nate Schnugg/Jamie Hunt (UGA) 8-6
2. Alexey Tsyrenov/Alex Petropoulos (AU) def. Drake Bernstein/Javier Garrapiz (UGA) 8-6
3. Borja Malo/Christian Vitulli, (UGA) def. Milan Krnjetin/Michel Monteiro (AU) 8-4

Singles
1. #11 Nate Schnugg (UGA) def. #34 Alexy Tsyrenov (AU) 5-7, 6-3, 6-1
2. # 66 Javier Garrapiz (UGA) def. Lukas Marsoun, (AU) 6-3, 6-0
3. # 78 Jamie Hunt (UGA) vs. Alex Stamchev (AU) 5-7, 4-4, unfinished
4. Josh Varela (UGA) vs. Milan Krnjetin (AU) 6-3, 3-6, 1-1, unfinished
5. Drake Bernstein (UGA) def. Alex Petropoulos (AU) 6-4, 6-3
6. Christian Vitulli (AU) def. Michel Monteiro (AU) 6-2, 6-0

Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (6,2,5,1)
#4 Georgia (22-2), #19 Auburn (13-10)
SEC Tournament: Georgia advances to semifinals