Vanderbilt Men’s Tennis fell at the hands of the Alabama Crimson Tide in the SEC Tournament on April 16 in Columbia, South Carolina, officially ending its season. The loss put the Commodores at 12-14 on the year (4-10 SEC), and since they finished below .500, they are not eligible for the NCAA Championships.
The Commodores started their match against the Crimson Tide by capturing the doubles point. Danil Panarin and Pablo Martinez Gomez took the first match of the best-of-three doubles series when they downed Matic Kriznik and Roan Jones, 6-1. Nathan Cox and Michael Ross faltered and allowed the Tide to even the series up, losing 4-6 to Damien Nezar and Andril Zimnokh. Henry Ruger and Dylan Charlap clinched the doubles point when they defeated Zach Foster and Enzo Aguiard 7-6 (7-2), putting Vanderbilt up 1-0.
Alabama made up for the lost point when No. 79 Jones made quick work of No. 88 Panarin in first singles, winning 6-3, 6-4. Aguiard put Alabama up 2-1 with a decisive 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) victory over Cox. Vanderbilt evened things up when Hugo Coquelin prevailed against Carlos Gimenez Perez in straight sets (6-4, 6-4). Nezar struck back to bring Alabama within one point of advancing when he won a three-set battle against Ruger, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.
Then, Vanderbilt, as it has all season, forced a decisive seventh match. The Commodores played eight dual matches that came down to the decisive point this spring season. Martinez Gomez took Zimnokh down in straight sets, winning 6-2, 7-6 (7-5).
From there, it all came down to Ross, playing in his final match for Vanderbilt. The standout senior fell 7-6 (7-4) to Kriznik in the first set before bouncing back with a 7-5 victory in the second set. When all was said and done, Kriznik cruised to a 6-2 victory in the final set, ending Ross’s Black and Gold career and Vanderbilt’s season.
It was an up-and-down spring season for Vanderbilt, as the ‘Dores suffered from a 10-game losing streak from Feb. 28 to March 29. SEC wins over Ole Miss, Arkansas and Oklahoma gave Vanderbilt a chance to improve to over .500 with a run at the SEC Tournament, but it was not to be.
Head coach Scott Brown and the Commodores will have a chance to reflect on their season — Brown’s second at the helm of the program — and get ready for the Fall 2025 season.
