WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Vanderbilt men’s tennis team produced a near perfect Saturday, as multiple Dores moved on at the ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championships hosted by Purdue.
“We had a solid day today in both singles and doubles,” assistant coach Geoff Hernandez said. “We brought a physical level in our singles wins, that’s something that we’ve been preaching. We’ve been working on that all fall and have been building into today.”
Senior Henry Ruger and sophomore Hugo Coquelin reeled in the first win of the day for Vanderbilt in an SEC doubles matchup, pulling away from Kentucky’s Matthew Rankin and Eli Stephenson in an 8-5 win. The victory punched the two’s ticket into the final four of the doubles draw. The pair continued the momentum in singles, wearing down their opponents over the course of each match. Ruger claimed a 6-2, 7-5 win over Belmont’s Sabi Roi. Coquelin generated a comeback effort to overcome Kyle McNally of Dayton 3-6, 6-0, 6-1. Senior Michael Ross joined in with a come-from-behind win of his own, downing Purdue’s Daniel Labrador 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-4.
“We were happy with the competitiveness from the guys that played singles today,” Hernandez said. “In doubles, Henry and Hugo had great energy against a good Kentucky team. They’re continuing to grow in confidence, knowing and understanding the style of play that they like together. It’s been fun to watch and we’ve just got to keep pushing ourselves as we get deeper into the tournament.”
However, the round of 16 singles began with an unfortunate pairing for the Dores: Coquelin versus Ross. The two produced a competitive match, but Coquelin ultimately bested his fellow captain 7-6 (2), 6-3 to advance into the round of eight. Freshman Dylan Charlap also saw his tournament run end Saturday, falling to Jip van Assendelft of Indiana 6-2, 6-4.
Vanderbilt marches deeper into the regional tournament on Sunday, with No. 86 Ruger and Coquelin set to play at 8 a.m. CT against Middle Tennessee’s No. 53 ranked Karim Al-Amin and Ondrej Horak in the doubles semifinals. The singles quarterfinals are expected to follow at 10:30 a.m. Ruger embarks on a rematch, again facing Al-Amin for a spot in the singles semifinals. Coquelin matches up against No. 10 Shunsuke Mitsui of Tennessee.
