In a mid-state rivalry game on Wednesday night, Middle Tennessee men’s tennis (3-5) fell 4-3 to the Vanderbilt Commodores (6-2). 

Doubles

Vanderbilt opened the night at the Adams Tennis Complex by taking the doubles point on the backs of the Commodores’ pairings on courts one and two. 

Nathan Cox and Micheal Ross won on court one over Middle Tennessee’s Karim Al-Amin and Ondrej Horak. After tying at 6-6, the Commodores prevailed 7-6 (7-4) in the tie breaker. 

Middle Tennessee fought back on court three as Shu Matsuoka and Jakub Kroslak held off Henry Ruger and Giuseppe Cerasulo. With the score at 5-5, Matsuoka and Kroslak held on to win the sixth set and broke serve in the final set to win 7-5. 

Vanderbilt clinched doubles on court two, as Danil Panarin and Pablo Martinez Gomez defeated Kacper Szymkowiak and Rostislav Halfinger 7-5. The two sides tied at 5-5, before Panarin and Gomez found a break and held on to come out on top. 

Singles

The first singles point of the night came from Vanderbilt’s Panarin, who defeated Kroslak on court two 7-5, 6-4. 

The Blue Raiders quickly gathered a response from court three, as the true freshman Szymkowiak bested Ross 7-6 (7-3), 6-2. This win is Szymkowiak’s sixth singles victory of the year as he remains undefeated in his first collegiate season. 

“It doesn’t matter who the guy is on the other side,” Szymkowiak said. “I just walk on the court and if he’s No. 1 in ATP rankings or if he’s No. 1,000 in the ATP, it doesn’t matter to me.” 

After Szymkowiak opened the scoring for the Blue Raiders, Al-Amin and Matsuoka followed the freshman, pushing Middle Tennessee to a 3-2 lead with two matches to play. 

Al-Amin’s victory was especially important for Middle Tennessee, as it snapped a streak of four losses for the senior after he defeated Vanderbilt’s Cox 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. 

“I wanted it so bad,” Al-Amin said. “I really wanted to show myself and the crowd and the team that I can do it, and that I will be able to lead our team upfront and win those tight matches.” 

With two matches still in play, the Blue Raiders turned to Horak on court five and Igor Mandou Berranger on court six, needing one win to clinch the match against Vanderbilt. After winning the first set 7-6(8-6), Horak dropped the next two 6-4, 6-3. 

With the match tied up at three, the atmosphere around court six became electric as Berranger and Tighe Brunetti split the first two sets 6-4, 5-7. The two played a stellar third set, which led to a seven-point tiebreaker after each had won six games. 

Brunetti ultimately prevailed in the tiebreak, winning it 7-2 while clinching the match for Vanderbilt.  

“We have such a strong team here at Middle Tennessee, and I don’t think there’s anything in particular that sets apart from Power Four schools,” Al-Amin said. “It’s just a point here and there. We’re improving with every game we play, and people will see at the end of the season we’ll be able to beat those teams.” 

The Blue Raiders will be back in the ATC Friday night as they look to end their three-game skid against the Indiana Hoosiers. 

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