AUBURN, Ala.— The Dores secured the first win of the 2023 SEC Championships with a 4-1 victory over 13-seed Arkansas. Vandy will now play 5-seed Texas A&M at 6 p.m. Thursday.
Vandy picked up an early lead in the match, with Commodores No. 19 Jeremie Casabon/Siim Troost and Macsen Sisam/Joubert Klopper winning their respective doubles matches. The Dores entered singles play with a 1-0 advantage over the Razorbacks.
“It was a gritty match,” Vanderbilt head coach Ian Duvenhage said. “I thought we didn’t play very well in doubles, but we found a way to win the doubles point.”
Arkansas rebounded, claiming the first singles point with a victory on Court 6. The Hogs’ efforts were outlasted, though, when Michael Ross and Troost each won straight sets to give the lead back to the Dores. After winning the tiebreak in his first set, Casabon defeated his Razorback opponent by a score of 6-3 to clinch the victory for the Commodores.
“Our coach is retiring this year, so we want to stay on the court as long as we can with him,” Casabon said, after his winning the match-clinching point. “I was nervous at the end of the match, but I was able to stay calm.”
The Commodores face the Aggies tomorrow evening for the last match of the second-round of the tournament. The latest contest between the two teams, which happened on April 7, saw Texas A&M pull out a 4-2 victory over Vanderbilt.
Singles
- Nathan Cox (VANDY) vs. Stefanos Savva 6-2, 6-7 (1-7), 2-5, unfinished
- Klopper (VANDY) vs. Melvin Manuel 1-6, 7-5, 3-2, unfinished
- Ross (VANDY) def. Alan Sau Franco 6-1, 6-4
- Troost (VANDY) def. Gerard Ripoll 7-5, 6-3
- Casabon (VANDY) def. Adrien Burdet 7-6 (8-6), 6-3
- Benedikt Emesz (ARK) def. Sisam (VANDY) 6-3, 6-0
Doubles
- No. 19 Troost/Casabon (VANDY) def. Savva/Manuel 6-3
- Burdet/Sau Franco (ARK) def. Cox/Ross (VANDY) 6-1
- Klopper/Sisam (VANDY) def. Jake Sweeney/Ripoll 6-4
On Deck in Auburn
The winner of the Vanderbilt/Texas A&M match will face No. 4-seed South Carolina on Friday at 6 p.m.