NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Despite defeating the No. 6 doubles pair and 15th-ranked singles player in the nation, the Vanderbilt men’s tennis team fell to No. 9 Georgia, 6-1, in the SEC home opener Friday evening.
The Commodores got off to a slow start in doubles play, falling behind 6-2 on courts two and three. Bryant Salcedo and Blake Bazarnik fought back, but ultimately fell 8-5 while Charlie Jones and Alex Zotov dropped an 8-3 decision in the No. 3 match. On court one, Ryan Lipman and Adam Baker never trailed as they pulled off an upset over the sixth-ranked pair of Javier Garrapiz and Hernus Pieters, 8-6.
Georgia won the first set in five of six singles matches, and ended up winning all five of those matches. The Bulldogs increased their lead to 2-0 when Salcedo dropped a 6-1, 6-4 decision in the No. 4 match. Zotov fell to Drake Bernstein, 6-3, 7-6(5) on court six, and Georgia clinched the match victory with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Bazarnik in the No. 5 match.
Vanderbilt picked up its lone singles victory of the match when Lipman defeated 15th-ranked Wil Spencer on court one. Lipman earned a 6-3 win in the first set, and Spencer tied up the mach with a 6-4 win in the second set. Battle injury, Lipman came through with a 7-5 win in the third set. Lipman now holds a 3-1 record over nationally ranked players.
“I thought Ryan really showed something there, finding a way to win in singles,” said head coach Ian Duvenhage. “He certainly wasn’t physically 100 percent, but that’s what great players do, they find a way to win even when they’ve got certain obstacles to overcome.”
Georgia picked up wins on court two and three to conclude the match. In the No. 3 match, Jones fell to No. 37 Sadio Doumbia, 7-6, 6-1, and Baker dropped a three-set match on court two.
“In singles, I thought there were a lot of positives in a number of places,” said Duvenhage. “There were a couple of places we didn’t play up to our ability and made some mistakes. You can’t beat a team like this if you make too many mistakes, and you can’t beat a team like this if all of your guys are not playing up to their ability. We just need to learn from this and get more disciplined.”
Vanderbilt continues its home stand on Sunday when Tennessee visits the Currey Tennis Center. Doubles play begins at noon. Live stats will be available .
