Georgia Takes Thursday Matchup

ATHENS, Ga. — The Vanderbilt men’s tennis team suffered its ninth consecutive loss on Thursday in a 4-1 road defeat to Georgia.

“Honestly, I’m super proud of our guys,” head coach Scott Brown said. “This was our best match of the season from a culture standpoint. Everybody, from top to bottom, brought the energy. I know the results don’t show it, but the culture took a big step forward today.”

Doubles play saw each team net points, the Dores at the No. 3 position and the Bulldogs at No. 1. Freshman Pablo Martinez Gomez and sophomore Danil Panarin fell to a 5-4 deficit against Thomas Paulsell and Oscar Pinto Sansano with the early point on the line. The pair notched three straight games en route to a 7-5 win at No. 2 doubles, giving the Dores a 1-0 match lead.

Georgia flipped the momentum in singles. The Bulldogs snatched leads at five of the six singles courts, including Niels Ratiu claiming a 7-6 (5) first set thriller over freshman Dylan Charlap. Panarin was the lone Dore to capture a lead in the opening frame, pulling ahead of No. 31 Miguel Perez Peña 7-5. Freshman Callum Markowitz brought Gabriele Vulpitta to a 6-6 tiebreaker in the next set, going ahead 5-1 before the match was clinched. Charlap also eyed a bounce back after taking a 6-5 advantage over Ratiu but was unable to close out the Bulldog. Each of Charlap and Markowitz’s matches were separated by just seven points.

“I want to bring notice to Callum and Dylan,” Brown said. “They haven’t played a ton of singles matches, but they came into this loud environment and went to war with their opponents. Georgia obviously had the much bigger crowd, and we only had nine guys, but we were right there with them noise-wise. This is something we are going to build off of going forward. The future of Vanderbilt men’s tennis, from a cultural standpoint, took a massive step forward today.”

No. 56 Vanderbilt (8-12, 1-9 SEC) makes a visit to Rocky Top for a road matchup against No. 16 Tennessee (15-5, 6-3 SEC) on Saturday. For more information, updates and exclusive game day content, follow the Vanderbilt men’s tennis team, @VandyMTennis, on Instagram and X.

No. 28 Georgia 4, No. 56 Vanderbilt 1

Doubles
1. No. 26 Freddy Blaydes/Ratiu (Georgia) def. No. 37 Nathan Cox/Michael Ross (Vanderbilt) 6-4
2. Panarin/Martinez Gomez (Vanderbilt) def. Paulsell/Pinto Sansano (Georgia) 7-5
3. Henry Ruger/Charlap (Vanderbilt) def. Miguel Perez Peña/Gabriele Vulpitta (Georgia) 6-2

Singles
1. Panarin (Vanderbilt) vs. No. 31 Perez Peña (Georgia) 7-5, 4-5, unfinished
2. No. 34 Ryan Colby (Georgia) def. Cox (Vanderbilt) 6-3, 6-1
3. No. 25 Paulsell (Georgia) def. Ross (Vanderbilt) 6-3, 6-4
4. Pinto Sansano (Georgia) def. Ruger (Vanderbilt) 7-5, 6-3
5. Ratiu (Georgia) def. Charlap (Vanderbilt) 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5)
6. Vulpitta (Georgia) vs. Markowitz (Vanderbilt) 6-3, 6-6, unfinished

Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (2,3,5,4)