LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Commodores’ men’s tennis team finished its third day of play at the ITA Southeast Regional on Saturday with Vijay Paul and the doubles team of Scott Lieberman and Alex Zotov each earning victories.
Paul continued his hot play on Saturday and moved his record to 4-0 in the tournament with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 upset over Memphis’ Amrit Narasimhan in the round of 32.
Subsequent to becoming the lone Commodore to advance to the round of 16, Paul’s run finally came to an end with a 6-3, 6-4 loss to Ole Miss’ Kalle Norberg. Paul concluded the tournament with a 4-1 record, which was the best on the team.
Also playing in the round of 32 on Saturday was Ryan Preston, who had a hard-fought match with Ole Miss’ Matthias Wellermann. Preston won the first set, but eventually was downed 6-7(4), 7-6(13), 6-4.
After winning all four doubles matches on Friday, the Commodores did not experience as much success on Saturday, dropping three of four matches in the round of 32.
Vanderbilt’s lone team to advance to the round of 16 was the duo of Scott Lieberman and Alex Zotov, who earned an 8-3 win over Tennessee’s tandem of Conkic and Brewer. Unfortunately, Lieberman and Zotov were unable to advance beyond the round of 16, as they were downed by Florida’s tandem of Hamui and Dadamo, 8-5.
With over 150 players from 28 teams represented at the ITA Southeast Regional, the tournament has experienced significant delays in scheduling due to the abundance of matches. The majority of the consolation matches were to be played on Saturday, but results are still pending.
Singles Round of 32
Vijay Paul (Vanderbilt) def. Amrit Narasimhan (Memphis), 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
Matthias Wellermann (Ole Miss) def. Ryan Preston (Vanderbilt), 6-7(4), 7-6(13), 6-4
Singles Round of 16
Kalle Norberg (Ole Miss) def. Vijay Paul (Vanderbilt), 6-3, 6-4
Doubles Round of 32
Lieberman/Zotov (Vanderbilt) def. Conkic/Brewer (Tennessee), 8-3
ten Berge/Wellermann (Ole Miss) def. Preston/Salcedo (Vanderbilt), 9-7
Briceno/Lacroix (Florida) def. Baker/Paul (Vanderbilt), 8-1
Tragardh/Lissner (LSU) def. Cromydas/Dufaux (Vanderbilt), 9-8 (2)
Doubles Round of 16
Hamui/Dadamo (Florida) def. Lieberman/Zotov (Vanderbilt), 8-5
