Following the success of seniors Nathan Cox and Michael Ross at the teams’ season-opener just two weeks ago at the SEC Challenge, Vanderbilt Men’s Tennis took on its next challenge at the ITA All-American Championships.
Doubles pair Hugo Coquelin and Henry Ruger kicked off the weekend by grabbing a quick win over Calum Jestin and Will Pellegrini from Tulsa, 6-2, 6-3. Coquelin and Ruger also earned a hard-fought victory over UCLA’s Aadarsh Tripathi and Rudy Quan, starting strong with a 6-1 score in the initial set, before dropping the second set 7-6(4). Vanderbilt’s duo secured the win with a dazzling finish in a tight 14-12 tiebreaker.
While the doubles duos powered through the first two matches together, they were less successful apart. Coquelin faced his first singles loss of the weekend against LSU’s Julien Penzlin in straight sets, 6-3 and 7-5. Ruger won his first match, triumphing 6-3 6-3 over Hiroki Sakagawa from UC Irvine before falling in his second match to TCU’s Duncan Chan, 1-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3.
Ross and Cox, Vanderbilt’s SEC Challenge champions from two weeks prior, closed out the singles matches. Ross went 1-2, winning his first match 6-4, 6-2 against Oklahoma State’s Alessio Basile, but losing 6-4, 6-3 to Ohio State’s Christopher Li. In similar fashion, Cox went three sets, outlasting Georgia’s Neils Ratiu 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 before ultimately falling to Ole Miss’ Noah Schlagenhauf, 7-6 (8) and 7-6 (4).
On Day 3 on Monday, Cox was paired with Danil Panari, but the duo was defeated 6-3, 6-4 in straight sets by Lucas Andrade Da Silva and Jelani Sarrbut of South Carolina.
Coquelin and Ruger competed in doubles against Luca Staeheli and Martin Borisiouk from North Carolina State. After quickly taking the first set 6-2, the Commodores found themselves in a decisive tiebreaker after dropping the second set 6-3, but held on long enough to secure a 10-6 victory. The duo was set to take on Duke’s Sam Landau and Andreja Petrovic, but after the Blue Devils withdrew from the tournament, Coquelin and Ruger were automatically placed into the main draw.
Danil Panarin kicked off the All-American main draw in a singles match against Florida State’s Corey Craig. After quickly taking the first set 6-3, Panarin dropped the following two sets 6-1, 6-1, ending his singles weekend just as quickly as it began.
On the doubles side of the main draw, Coquelin and Ruger took on Florida State’s Joshua Dous Karpenschif and Erik Schiessl. After the ‘Dores lost their first set 6-4, they stormed back with a 6-4 second-set victory and another triumph in the 10-point tiebreaker (11-9) to take the match. With the win, Coquelin and Ruger — the only ‘Dores to make the round of 16 — advanced to their sixth-straight day of play.
The Black and Gold duo’s luck fell short there, as it faced off against No. 13 Alex Chang and Michael Wright of California. The Commodores fought hard, but ultimately came up empty-handed, losing 6-4 in both sets despite jumping to a 3-1 lead in the second. This marked the end of Vanderbilt’s run in the event.
Next, the Commodores will take a trip to the ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championships, hosted by Purdue University, on Oct. 10.
