ATHENS, Ga. – The Vanderbilt men’s tennis team opened its 2016 fall tournament season Friday, Sept. 23, competing in the Southern Intercollegiate Championships. Hosted by the University of Georgia at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex, Vandy went undefeated in round of 64 play.
Vanderbilt competed in two rounds of singles competition, with doubles action kicking off Saturday, the 24th at 8:00 am CT.
For freshmen Billy Rowe and Panu Virtanen, Friday’s tournament action gave the duo an opportunity to represent Vanderbilt for the first time in collegiate competition. Both freshmen student-athletes and sophomore Alex Ross appeared in the “Division II” singles bracket this weekend, with Rowe and Ross listed as alpha seeds.
Friday morning, Coronado, California’s Rowe defeated Georgia Tech’s Phillip Gresk for his first Commodore win in a decisive 6-3, 6-4 decision. One hour later, Virtanen began his freshmen season with an ACC victory of his own. After pulling out the first set in a tiebreaker, the Helsinki, Finland native powered through his second set to defeat Clemson’s Christian Harris, 7-6, 6-1.
Other ‘Dores to take their first singles victories of the 2016 individual season include; 3rd seeded Daniel Valent (2/3), 14th seeded Cameron Klinger (4/2), Baker Newman (4/3), and Alex Ross (1/1).
Four of the six advancing Commodores brought in victories in the round of 32, with Klinger, Virtanen and Ross all bringing victories after battling through three sets. No. 21 Valent, will contend in the round of 16 as Kentucky’s Wallart withdrew from tournament play.
Both round of 32 losses came against SEC opponents, with Newman falling to UF’s No. 37 Alfredo Perez, 6-2, 6-1. Against Rowe, Mississippi State Bulldog, Vaughn Hunter, came out on the winning side of three sets, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6.
In the Division III singles bracket, sophomore Vikram Chari fell in a tough three-setter to UCF’s Saitejas Mopuri, 7-6, 1-6, 7-5. Playing outside of tournament competition, Tate Allwardt suffered a tight loss to Virginia Tech’s Freddy Mesmer, 7-5, 6-4.
Vandy will debut two doubles pairings, Newman/Virtanen and Klinger/Rowe, Saturday morning. Ross/Chari and Valent/Allwardt will also be in doubles competition bringing experience to the table having played together as teams last fall.
