The nightmare continued this week for Vanderbilt Men’s Tennis, as the Commodores dropped their ninth and 10th straight losses to Georgia and Tennessee. The losses cemented a winless month of March for the program, as its last win came on Feb. 24 over the LSU Tigers.
The week started with a 4-1 slip-up against the Bulldogs on March 27 and ended with a 4-3 nailbiter loss to the Volunteers on March 29. The road losses followed a disappointing homestand against Texas A&M and Florida the week prior.
Vanderbilt vs. Georgia
The Commodores started strong by securing the doubles point. Georgia’s first doubles team, Freddy Blaydes and Niels Ratiu, pushed past Commodores Nathan Cox and Michael Ross, 6-4, but Vanderbilt claimed the other two matches to strike first.
Henry Ruger and Dylan Charlap squared things off with a 6-2 win over Miguel Perez Peña and Gabriele Vulpitta on the third court, leaving all the pressure on Danil Panarin and Pablo Martinez Gomez to secure the doubles point. The duo delivered a thrilling 7-5 victory over Thomas Paulsell and Oscar Pinto Sansano which saw the Commodores win three straight games to claw back from a 5-4 deficit.
The valiant effort in doubles was overshadowed by Georgia’s sweep of the singles games. The Commodores did not win a single set, as No. 34 Ryan Colby defeated Cox 6-3, 6-1, No. 25 Paulsell bested Ross 6-3, 6-4, Pinto Sansano topped Ruger 7-5, 6-3 and Ratiu felled Charlap 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5).
Vanderbilt vs. Tennessee
The group faced another tough road challenge against No. 16 Tennessee, and the Volunteers handily secured the doubles point to set the tone for the matchup. ITA No. 13 duo Alex Kotzen and Alejandro Moreno outplayed No. 37 Cox/Ross to the tune of 6-3, and Shunsuke Mitsui and Alan Jesudason breezed by Ruger/Charlap by a score of 6-2.
The singles play in Knoxville proved much more dramatic than the doubles, however. The Volunteers quickly shot ahead with first-set victories on four courts, and the top two courts were claimed by No. 35 Kotzen and No. 24 Mitsui shortly after. Two rain delays forced the matches indoors, but Vanderbilt didn’t falter.
With their backs against the wall, the Commodores fought back from a 3-0 deficit. Ruger produced a gritty 7-6 (4), 6-2 win over Jesudason to get his team on the board. Martinez Gomez tacked on another for Vanderbilt by defeating Moreno 6-3, 6-4, and Ross pulled the Commodores level with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 comeback victory over Jose Garcia.
The match came down to Tennessee’s Ian Cruz and Vanderbilt’s Callum Markowitz. The first-year from White Plains, New York, fought until the very end but lost a third-set tiebreaker 7-6 (4) to seal Vanderbilt’s fate.
Vanderbilt Men’s Tennis will return to West End for a four-match homestand, including a doubleheader on April 5 against No. 49 Ole Miss and Eastern Illinois.
