NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt men’s tennis team fell 4-3 to No. 26 Alabama in the conference season opener Friday afternoon at the Currey Tennis Center.
Alabama (8-1,1-0) started out with a 2-1 doubles win, marking the Tide’s ninth consecutive doubles point for 2007. Vanderbilt (6-5,0-1) seniors Andy Mack and Jordan Magarik earned the only Commodore doubles victory, defeating Joseph Jung and Saketh Myneni in a 10-4 tiebreaker.
VU sophomore Nik Cromydas and junior Evan Dufaux dropped singles matches to put Alabama within one victory of clinching the win. Commodores Mack and Ryan Preston followed with wins at Nos. 6 and 1, respectively, to put Vanderbilt on the board (3-2).
A clinching battle followed at No. 5, where VU’s Nathan Sachs fought UA’s Matthieu Thibaudeau through three sets. Sachs trailed the Canada native by one game throughout the final set, but Thibaudeau’s powerful serve was too much for Sachs in the final game, and the Tide clinched the match title with Thibaudeau’s 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 win.
Freshman Vijay Paul continued to fight at No. 4 after winning a first set tiebreaker over Alabama’s Javier Bes. Paul put the final Vanderbilt point on the board with a 7-6(8), 6-4 win.
Vanderbilt will continue SEC action on Sunday against Auburn at 1 p.m.
RESULTS
Doubles
1. Buikema/Thibaudeau (AL) d. Preston/Dufaux (VU) 8-4
2. Mack/Magarik (VU) d. Jung/Myneni (AL) 8-7(4)
3. Mertz/Bes (AL) d. Cromydas/Sachs (VU) 8-4
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2*
Singles
1. Ryan Preston (VU) d. Joseph Jung (AL) 7-5, 6-3
2. Sammy Struyf (AL) d. Nik Cromydas (VU) 6-2, 6-4
3. Billy Mertz (AL) d. Evan Dufaux (VU) 6-3, 6-4
4. Vijay Paul (VU) d. Javier Bes (AL) 7-6(8), 6-4
5. Matthieu Thibaudeau (AL) d. Nathan Sachs (VU) 5-7, 6-3, 6-4
6. Andy Mack (VU) d. Dan Buikema (VU) 6-3, 6-4
Order of finish: 2, 3, 6, 1, 5*,4
