No. 55 Vanderbilt Men’s Tennis has continued to falter, dropping its seventh and eighth-straight matches over this past weekend. The Commodores lost 4-3 to Texas A&M on March 21 and were swept 4-0 by Florida on March 23.
Vanderbilt vs. Texas A&M
Vanderbilt showcased flashes of promise against the No. 12 Texas A&M Aggies, beginning with two straight victories in doubles. The third doubles pairing of first-year Dylan Charlap and fifth-year Henry Ruger set the tone early with a dominant 6-0 victory over Texas A&M’s Luke Casper and Giulio Perego. At the top doubles spot, junior Nathan Cox and senior Michael Ross snapped their five-game losing streak with a commanding 6-2 win against Alan Magadan and JC Roddick, clinching the doubles point for Vanderbilt.
However, Texas A&M bounced back quickly in singles. At the top of the lineup, Danil Panarin was outmatched by No. 32 ranked Theo Papamalamis, 6-2, 6-0, and Cox fell in straight sets to Magadan, 6-4, 6-2. Ross continued his hot streak at the third singles spot, edging out Tiago Pires in a tight second-set tiebreaker. After Pablo Martinez Gomez delivered the Commodores a third point at fourth singles, Vanderbilt needed just one more point to seal the match, but neither Ruger nor Hugo Coquelin could get the job done as the Aggies took both fifth and sixth singles to clinch the victory.
Vanderbilt vs. Florida
Vanderbilt welcomed the No. 31 ranked Florida Gators to Nashville for its second match, looking to rebound from its narrow 4-3 loss just two days prior. The day’s festivities began with another big victory from Vanderbilt’s third doubles tandem of Charlap and Ruger, who took down Kevin Edengren and Ben Weintraub, 6-3. Florida quickly bounced back by taking second doubles, setting up a decisive battle for the doubles point on the top court. In a tightly contested match, Florida’s No. 18-ranked duo of Henry Jefferson and Tanapatt Nirundorn squeaked out a tiebreak victory against Cox and Ross, 7-6 (7-4).
While the doubles play was competitive, singles was an entirely different story. The Gators took command early and never let up, winning third, fourth and fifth singles in straight sets to clinch the match. Florida also claimed the first set on the top two singles courts, further amplifying its dominant 4-0 sweep.
Next up, the Commodores will travel south to Athens for a midweek showdown against No. 28 Georgia on March 27, where they will look to finally snap their losing streak.
