Four Commodores took the stage in Atlanta, Georgia, for the Georgia Tech Invitational following a successful performance at the ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championship last month.
The tournament included Alabama, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Liberty, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Yale. Junior Tighe Brunetti and first-years Dylan Charlap, Jack Ingram and Callum Markowitz participated for the Commodores and took on singles and doubles play throughout the three-day invite. The doubles portion consisted of an eight-game pro set (tiebreaker at 7-7, if necessary), and singles was decided in a best two of three format.
Singles play began at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex where Markowitz fell to Liberty’s Santiago Arraez in a tiebreak with a match score of 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-1). Brunetti then earned Vanderbilt’s first singles win of the tournament against Liberty’s Ernst Gouws, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. The Commodores failed to emerge with a winning record in singles as Charlap lost in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2.
The Brunetti/Ingram pair kicked off Vanderbilt’s doubles play, facing Georgia Tech’s Robert Bauer and Owen DeMuth. The Commodore pair failed to hang on and lost 8-5. Charlap and Markowitz triumphed over Liberty 8-6 to close out the day and make up for their respective losses in singles play.
The Commodores kicked off Day Two with two straight singles wins, the first of which coming from Markowitz as he defeated Georgia Tech’s DeMuth in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5. Brunetti then faced Liberty’s Matija Samardzic, and despite losing the first set 6-7 he won two consecutive sets 6-4 and 6-0. Charlap (6-4, 6-4) and Ingram (6-4, 6-1) both lost in straight sets to finish the singles matches for the day.
The Black and Gold kept this rhythm consistent for the doubles matches later in the day after splitting the singles matches in the morning. The pair of Markowitz and Charlap defeated Georgia State’s Gabriele Datei and Baran Soyler in a tiebreak 8-7 (7-4) set. Brunetti and Ingram found themselves 0-2 for the weekend as a pair, losing 8-7 (8-6) against Liberty’s Trey Stinchcomb and Chase Robinson to conclude the second day of the invitational.
Expectations were high on the final day of the tournament, but reality quickly sent in for the Commodores. Vanderbilt suffered three consecutive straight-set losses to start the singles matches: one at the hands of Ole Miss and the others against Mississippi State. Brunetti (6-1, 6-4), Ingram (6-3, 6-2) and Charlap (6-3, 6-3) suffered these losses before Markowitz defeated Datei 6-0, 6-0 — a previous opponent in his Saturday’s doubles play.
The Markowitz/Charlap pairing defeated Georgia Tech 8-5 to end the weekend, capping off an undefeated event for the duo. Brunetti/Ingram fell 8-5 to Mississippi State — the pair were swept in the doubles events throughout the weekend.
The Commodore’s season will continue in Tallahassee, Florida, for the ITA Sectional Championship from Nov. 7-10.
