#20 Tennessee Rolls to 6-1 Win Over Vanderbilt

Thursday, March 9

Knoxville, TN

Noon

University of Tennessee

Vanderbilt

March 09, 2023 | Men's Tennis

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – A dominant all-around performance saw the 20th-ranked Tennessee men's tennis team slam the door on the Commodores in a 6-1 victory Thursday afternoon at Barksdale Stadium.

Tennessee (10-5, 1-1 SEC) won its 13th doubles point of the season, with wins on courts three and two over Vanderbilt (5-8, 1-2 SEC).

UT's Angel Diaz and Tomas Rodriguez won 6-1 on court three over Vanderbilt's Joubert Klopper and Macsen Sisam, taking 74 percent of the match's total points. At No. 2 doubles, #50 Emile Hudd and Shunsuke Mitsui clinched the doubles point in just over 20 minutes, 6-1 over Michael Ross/Nathan Cox. The nation's fourth-ranked doubles pairing of Pat Harper and Johannus Monday led 4-2 on court one doubles upon going unfinished.

"Doubles is seemingly on a good path," head coach Chris Woodruff said. "We're just trying to work through some other things right now. Like I told the guys, any win in the SEC is a good win. We'll try to build off of this, grow in areas that we can grow in and keep the things that are going well on the right track."

Each of Tennessee's five singles wins came in straight sets Thursday. Mitsui, ranked No. 120 in singles, clinched the Vols' win on court four, defeating Vanderbilt's Siim Troost, 6-3, 7-5.

Tennessee first singles win of the day came on court five by Diaz, a strong 6-2, 6-0 victory over Jeremie Casabon. Just moments later, Harper earned a convincing 6-1, 6-4 win on court six, toppling Sisam of Vanderbilt.

Following Mitsui's clinch, seventh-ranked Monday took a second-set tiebreaker to increase Tennessee's lead to 5-1, battling past Cox atop the singles lineup, 6-2, 7-6(8). Monday earned his 50th (50-12) career dual singles victory win the straight-set win.

"Johannus has been really consistent," Woodruff said. "You factor in that he's been around for a little bit now, so he understands what I'm about and what we're trying to do here in the program. He does a very good job of staying with something. He has a great attitude and he's been a model of consistency so far."

Hudd, ranked 62nd in singles, overcame Klopper on court two in 7-6(6), 6-4 fashion. With the win, Hudd improves to 3-0 at the No. 2 singles position this spring and now owns 80 overall singles wins in his career.

CONTINUED DOUBLES SUCCESS
Through 15 matches this season, Tennessee has won the doubles point 13 times and hold a 10-3 record when taking that crucial 1-0 advantage.

UP NEXT
Tennessee plays host to LSU on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET at Barksdale Stadium.

RESULTS: Tennessee 6, Vanderbilt 1
Doubles

1. #4 Pat Harper/Johannus Monday (UT) vs. Siim Troost/Jeremie Casabon (VANDY) 4-2, unfinished
2. #50 Emile Hudd/Shunsuke Mitsui (UT) def. Michael Ross/Nathan Cox (VANDY) 6-1
3. Angel Diaz/Tomas Rodriguez (UT) def. Joubert Klopper/Macsen Sisam (VANDY) 6-1

Order of Finish: (3,2)

Singles

1. #7 Johannus Monday (UT) def. Nathan Cox (VANDY) 6-2, 7-6 (10-8)
2. #62 Emile Hudd (UT) def. Joubert Klopper (VANDY) 7-6 (8-6), 6-4
3. Michael Ross (VANDY) def. Blaise Bicknell (UT) 7-6 (7-3), 6-4
4. #120 Shunsuke Mitsui (UT) def. Siim Troost (VANDY) 6-3, 7-5
5. Angel Diaz (UT) def. Jeremie Casabon (VANDY) 6-2, 6-0
6. Pat Harper (UT) def. Macsen Sisam (VANDY) 6-1, 6-4

Order of Finish: (5,6,3,4,1,2)