FLUSHING MEADOWS, N.Y. – Gonzales Austin fell to No. 7 Brayden Schnur in a nail-biting National Indoor Intercollegiate Championship match; 6-4, 7-6(2). While the senior does not come away from the USTA/ITA Billie Jean King Tennis Center with the championship, as the first Commodore to compete as an NIIC finalist the Miami Fla. native enters Vanderbilt tennis history books.
“It would have been really special to see AJ (Austin) win the tournament, but it was not to be,” said head coach Ian Duvenhage. “I thought he played really well, maybe a few loose points here and there. His opponent (Schnur) played and served extremely well. This is unfortunately one of those things that happens sometimes. If the guy on the other side of the net just plays a little bit better than you at critical times than these types of things can happen, but I am really proud. He (Austin) had a great tournament. I’m also proud of Rhys (Johnson) and AJ in doubles.”
Sunday’s final was extremely hard fought with both opponents fighting point for point. No. 9 Austin took an early 2-0 lead after coming up with a break on Schnur early. The lead wasn’t enough as the No. 7 Tar Heel powered back into contention, cutting the Commodore to a 3-2 advantage. Schnur took the lead and almost broke Austin to take the set, but the Vandy senior held on clinching the game making the score, 4-5 in favor of UNC. The UNC sophomore took the first set 6-4.
The second set was no easier for the two, as both players held serve five straight times. Austin had the chance to take the final to a third set, but Schnur broke serve taking both finalists chances for the tournament title to a tiebreak. The tiebreak world be Austin’s third of the tournament has he dropped the first set in both his quarter and semifinal matches, only to rally back to a victory in each.
Austin took the first point of the tiebreaker, but could not sustain the lead as the Tar Heel took command accumulating six consecutive points. The senior Commodore lost for the fourth time this season; 6-5, 7-6(2). Brayden Schnur remains undefeated this fall after earning the NIIC Singles title.
This tournament ends what was one of Vanderbilt’s most fruitful preseasons in both singles and doubles. The Commodores show great depth and promise for the spring as student-athletes from every class came up with great wins.
“This tournament is definitely something that we can use as a spring broad for the rest of the fall as far as practice goes and then in spring. They’ll get a few days off and then we’ll get ready to go again.”
