NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Vanderbilt men’s tennis team visits Auburn for a Friday afternoon matchup at the Yarbrough Tennis Center.
Vandy eyes its second straight conference win after a 4-3 thriller over LSU on Monday. The Dores already logged matches against Auburn opponents earlier this season in the SEC Challenge hosted by Alabama. Fifth year Henry Ruger, senior Michael Ross, and freshman Giuseppe Cerasuolo all generated singles wins against the Tigers, with Cox and Ross picking up a doubles victory as well. Now-No. 87 Cox and Ross are 3-0 against ranked opponents and own a 5-0 dual match record.
Auburn remains winless in SEC play after losses to Florida and South Carolina; the Tigers fell 6-1 in Columbia on Monday. Despite trailing 36-23 in the all-time series, Vanderbilt captured its first ranked victory of last season in a 4-3 win over No. 21 Auburn on March 22. No. 112-ranked freshman Alex Frusina has paced the team to open the season. He leads the Tigers in singles wins with seven and captured their only conference singles win thus far, a 6-3, 6-4 result over South Carolina’s Lucas Da Silva. In doubles, Auburn rides behind its No. 1 team of Billy Blaydes and Will Nolan; no other pairing has more than half as many matches played. Blaydes and Nolan are 18-5 and sit at No. 9 in the most recent Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) doubles rankings.
No. 32 Vanderbilt (8-3, 1-1 SEC) takes on No. 45 Auburn (7-4, 0-2 SEC) tomorrow at 2 p.m. Live streaming will be available online, with live stats accessible here at the start of the match. For other updates and exclusive game day content, follow the Vanderbilt men’s tennis team, @VandyMTennis, on Instagram and X.
