NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Vandy men’s tennis opened the first day of their annual Commodore Scramble going 12-4 in singles action, and with two freshmen earning their first victories on home court.
“I thought today was a really good day and the guys were playing really well,” said associate head coach Jamie Hunt. “Even in the losses I thought we did some things well. So overall it was a good day, it was a long day, but we’re looking forward to coming back tomorrow and picking up where we left off today.”
As members of the fifth-ranked recruiting class in the nation, Vandy fans looked forward to watching freshmen Alex Ross and Vikram Chari take the court at Currey tennis center for the first time, and neither player disappointed as they gave energetic debut performances that neither will forget.
Ross, a native of La Grange, Ill., went 2-0 in singles play Friday afternoon, all while not dropping a set. In round one of singles action, Ross defeated Lipscomb sophomore Thias Minet 6-3, 6-2. The freshmen made quick work in his final match of the day, taking down MTSU’s Guillermo Mateo 6-2, 6-2.
“It was great winning at home for the first time,” said Ross. “Just having the guys and everyone behind my back and really helped add the home field advantage and really impacted how I played. I really enjoyed being out there today, and look forward to my next match tomorrow,”
Out of Saratoga, Calif., Chari went 1-1 against two student-athletes who were both ranked in the top-five in their age group in their respective countries. Chari’s first opponent at the Currey Tennis Center came in Lipscomb senior John Tougher, who at one point was ranked No. 2 in all of Ireland. The Commodore came out victories over the veteran, 6-3, 6-4. In his second match of the day, Chari fell in a well-played third set tiebreaker to Louisville’s Courtney Lock, 3-6, 6-1, 1-0(5).
“Winning at home is a great feeling,” said Chari. “It was really nice to see some fans out and cheering and that makes me really look forward to the spring season when there’s always huge crowds here watching the team and the matches. It’s great to be here after being away, and finally getting a win on courts that we practice hard on every day.”
Other standout performances by the black and gold came from Tate Allwardt who only allowed an average of two games the entire day. Pen Binet, Baker Newman and Daniel Valent all join Ross as Commodores who head into Saturday’s tournament play undefeated.
Rhys Johnson also went 1-1 for the ‘Dores with a dominate 6-2, 6-1 victory over Courteau of Lipscomb and a hard-fought 7-6, 1-6, 1-0(3) loss to MTSU’s Gonzalo Rachiatore.
Last year’s Commodore Scramble champions, Kris Yee, fell in both of his matches, but fought throughout each competition and taking both of his opponents to challenging third set 10-point tiebreakers.
Two doubles matches and one match of singles are on the schedule for Saturday. Play will resume at 9:00 am CT, with tournament results and updates found on Twitter at @VandyMensTennis.
