Clemson Tiger tennis

Ok so the season is pretty close now, starting on January 11. Sneaking up on us. Let's take a look.

Schedule:

Men's schedule

- The schedule is pretty similar to last season. The big non-conference tilts are with Memphis, Michigan State, SC, Northwestern, just with the locations flipped from last year. Memphis away while MSU/NW and SC at home. No ITA kickoff weekend.

- The important 76-100 ranked matches will likely be against ETSU, FAU and UNCW. Good to have some more of those type of matches this year since that's what ended up costing ranking points last season.

- ACC wise, Clemson does not play the Cal/Stanford rotation, which I'm a little disappointed by. I wanted to see matches against the ACC new boys.


Lineup:

Im excited to see this because this is going to be the most unpredictable lineup in years for me. Most years I have a pretty solid idea of where each player will play before the year starts but this year its harder to pin.

It will be interesting to see where the newcomers are slotted.
- Victor Markov has the highest UTR on the team currently and had a fall win over Corey Craig of FSU who ended up in the ITA #10 after the fall season.
- The spring addition, Edoardo Cherie Ligniere has the 3rd highest UTR but will have zero college tennis experience to start the season.
- Abderrahman didn't have a great fall and you have to wonder how that affects his spring performance or lineup spot.
- Max Smith has an excellent fall but has never played higher than #6 in a big match before, so how high will he be in the lineup?

My guess is something like this:
1. Vukadin
2. Abderrahman
3. Smith
4. Markov
5. Ligniere
6. Gales
7. Mesarovic
Depth: Aronson, Matt Pitts

Vukadin likely solidifies himself at #1 after a big improvement from last year. Abderrahman at #2 after playing #1 for a lot of last year. I would be surprised to see him put lower in the lineup for now. Smith/Markov could flip between 3 and 4 a lot and maybe either one could slide up to #2 if they hit good form. Not exactly sure where to put Ligniere but #5 seems about right. Hard to imagine Mesarovic out of the lineup after playing 3/4 last year but I think Gales would get the slight nod at #6.

Doubles should be pretty good with Smith/Vukadin being one of the top combos in the country at #1. Other combos I will wait to see.

Overall season expectations and outlook:

According to the Collegetennisranks UTR team totals, Clemson is 38th in the nation but that is without Ligniere added in and with Abderrahman having a lowered UTR thanks to the fall. With those adjustments, Clemson is around 33-35 in terms of UTR ratings.

This should be and absolutely needs to be an NCAA tournament team this season. The non-con matches vs MSU and SC will be tough to win, even at home. Although I would not say SC at home is impossible to win based on how tight the match was last year in Columbia. The others like Memphis and FAU are must wins. The ACC slate will be tough as always but I think this team should be middle of the league, rather than toward the bottom like in recent years.

Mesarovic was 3/4 last year and likewise Gales played 3/4 for a top 30 VCU team last year and both will be fighting for this lineup which shows the team as a whole is stronger this year. The depth and middle of the lineup will be solid. I do still wonder about the #1 and #2 spots. Vukadin will be much improved but will he be able to get consistent wins over some of the top players in the nation playing at #1? Many ACC teams will have higher powered top end spots in the lineup so will have to overcome that in some of the tougher matches.
 
Vukadin should more than compete in conference except against the top guys like Dietrich, Suresh/Dostanic, Williams/Rodenas and Overbeck (if they happen to play Cal at the ACC tournament). His game has matured.
 
I hope so. Vukadin being a solid #1 will be important to the team's success this year.

On the women's side, it is going to be a much improved year as the current lineup of new players has the 24th highest UTR ranking on the Collegetennisranks list. Artemis Aslanisvili (badass name), Freshman from Greece should probably be #1, barely over Amelie Smejkalova, Freshman from Slovakia.

Looks like Boomer Saia is getting the talent in already like he was able to at Iowa State, using his Eastern European, particularly Slovakia, pipeline.
 
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Clemson_tennis said:
Ok so the season is pretty close now, starting on January 11. Sneaking up on us. Let's take a look.

Schedule:

Men's schedule

- The schedule is pretty similar to last season. The big non-conference tilts are with Memphis, Michigan State, SC, Northwestern, just with the locations flipped from last year. Memphis away while MSU/NW and SC at home. No ITA kickoff weekend.

- The important 76-100 ranked matches will likely be against ETSU, FAU and UNCW. Good to have some more of those type of matches this year since that's what ended up costing ranking points last season.
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Well, if you're saying etsu was a key match that's a pretty solid start for the season!
 
chic said:
Well, if you're saying etsu was a key match that's a pretty solid start for the season!
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I said that based on how last year our schedule lacked wins vs teams in the 76-100 ranking range and had a bunch of lower than 125 wins which killed our ranking. But hopefully this year we won’t be close enough to the tournament bubble for that to really matter as much. FAU and Memphis coming up are more key.


But yes a solid win over ETSU. I was there and watched among the tiny crowd (because of the snow). The lineup was…

1. Vukadin
2. Markov
3. Abderrahman
4. Lignerie
5. Mesarovic
6. Smith

- I was surprised to see Max Smith still down at #6 despite being #96 in the itarankings and having the best fall results on the team. He’s never really played much higher than 6 in dual matches before but still was expecting a jump up. Maybe he will gradual work his way up as the season goes on. He easily dominated 6-0 6-1

- The other takeaway is Markov at #2. I underestimated his impact when he signed, but I did note that Mississippi State wanting him was a good sign since they are good at getting Balkan based talent. He is the first tall player we’ve had in a while, probably about 6’4. (Clemson website doesn’t list the tennis heights for some reason). His game reminds me of Marin Cilic. Very similar court positioning and very similar looking forehand. Good to see a power based player in the lineup.

- Lignerie on the other hand is probably the shortest player on the team (like 5’7 or 5’8) and a scrappy baseliner. He actually was the only player to lose, 6-4 6-4. But he also just got here from Italy and isn’t used to the courts and environment yet like the other players are.

- Vukadin looked very sharp at 1. Great point construction and control of most points. 6-0 6-1 rout win.

- Can’t take much from the 2nd match of the day vs The Citadel since they are one of the worst teams in D1. The crowd was a lot better for this one, fans and students came over from basketball that had just ended. Only interesting thing, Romain Gales was inserted in at #3 for that match, ahead of Lignerie, Mesarovic and Smith.

- so good start to the year, more thoughts to come before the first real match of the year at Memphis next Sunday.
 
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It would be silly to say a match so early in the year is a “must win” but I think tomorrow’s match vs Memphis is very important.

Getting a ranking win that’ll help all season is needed. Plus being 4-0 (assuming a win over FAU next week) with a good away ranking win heading into the Mich State and South Carolina home matches would be nice cushion. Being only 3-1 would create a feeling of being behind the eight ball and playing catch-up already.

Also just psychologically, showing that you can beat teams in the 30s ranking range is important moving forward and for the goal of this being a different type of season.

Ole Miss beating Memphis on Friday was unfortunate. For the ranking and also it might make Memphis more locked in for tomorrow and looking to rebound.
 
5-2 win.

Doubles came down to a tiebreaker which Damm/Markov pulled out 9-7 and that momentum carried into singles.

Really nice wins for Vukadin (6-3 6-0) and Markov (6-3 6-4) at #1 and #2 vs two experienced senior players for Memphis.

Mesarovic also came through with a straight sets (6-2 6-2) win at #6 to clinch it 4-0.

They played it out, where Abderrahman rallied from dropping the 1st set to win at #3, 10-7 in the super breaker.

Could have been 6-1 as Gales led 8-5 in the 3rd set super breaker on court #4 before losing the last 5 points to drop it 10-8.

Not the best day for Max Smith, losing singles 6-4 7-5 at #5 after also losing in doubles with Vukadin at #1.


Overall a good road win. Memphis may not be as good as they were last year but still expect them to get a few teams on their tough schedule to boost their ranking. Also Clemson beat them more convincingly than Ole Miss did who did so in a 4-3 last court decider match.
 
And as far as the women. 3 matches vs lesser competition this weekend. I went to some of it.

I was impressed with freshman Candela Yecora from Sevilla who won both her matches with double bagels. She looks like a no-nonsense player who locks in and goes to work every point, giving nothing away. The type of player that gets things done in the college game. I expect her to rack up a lot of wins in the lower part of the lineup this year.
 
Clemson_tennis said:
Ok so the season is pretty close now, starting on January 11. Sneaking up on us. Let's take a look.

Schedule:

Men's schedule

- The schedule is pretty similar to last season. The big non-conference tilts are with Memphis, Michigan State, SC, Northwestern, just with the locations flipped from last year. Memphis away while MSU/NW and SC at home. No ITA kickoff weekend.

- The important 76-100 ranked matches will likely be against ETSU, FAU and UNCW. Good to have some more of those type of matches this year since that's what ended up costing ranking points last season.

- ACC wise, Clemson does not play the Cal/Stanford rotation, which I'm a little disappointed by. I wanted to see matches against the ACC new boys.


Lineup:

Im excited to see this because this is going to be the most unpredictable lineup in years for me. Most years I have a pretty solid idea of where each player will play before the year starts but this year its harder to pin.

It will be interesting to see where the newcomers are slotted.
- Victor Markov has the highest UTR on the team currently and had a fall win over Corey Craig of FSU who ended up in the ITA #10 after the fall season.
- The spring addition, Edoardo Cherie Ligniere has the 3rd highest UTR but will have zero college tennis experience to start the season.
- Abderrahman didn't have a great fall and you have to wonder how that affects his spring performance or lineup spot.
- Max Smith has an excellent fall but has never played higher than #6 in a big match before, so how high will he be in the lineup?

My guess is something like this:
1. Vukadin
2. Abderrahman
3. Smith
4. Markov
5. Ligniere
6. Gales
7. Mesarovic
Depth: Aronson, Matt Pitts

Vukadin likely solidifies himself at #1 after a big improvement from last year. Abderrahman at #2 after playing #1 for a lot of last year. I would be surprised to see him put lower in the lineup for now. Smith/Markov could flip between 3 and 4 a lot and maybe either one could slide up to #2 if they hit good form. Not exactly sure where to put Ligniere but #5 seems about right. Hard to imagine Mesarovic out of the lineup after playing 3/4 last year but I think Gales would get the slight nod at #6.

Doubles should be pretty good with Smith/Vukadin being one of the top combos in the country at #1. Other combos I will wait to see.

Overall season expectations and outlook:

According to the Collegetennisranks UTR team totals, Clemson is 38th in the nation but that is without Ligniere added in and with Abderrahman having a lowered UTR thanks to the fall. With those adjustments, Clemson is around 33-35 in terms of UTR ratings.

This should be and absolutely needs to be an NCAA tournament team this season. The non-con matches vs MSU and SC will be tough to win, even at home. Although I would not say SC at home is impossible to win based on how tight the match was last year in Columbia. The others like Memphis and FAU are must wins. The ACC slate will be tough as always but I think this team should be middle of the league, rather than toward the bottom like in recent years.

Mesarovic was 3/4 last year and likewise Gales played 3/4 for a top 30 VCU team last year and both will be fighting for this lineup which shows the team as a whole is stronger this year. The depth and middle of the lineup will be solid. I do still wonder about the #1 and #2 spots. Vukadin will be much improved but will he be able to get consistent wins over some of the top players in the nation playing at #1? Many ACC teams will have higher powered top end spots in the lineup so will have to overcome that in some of the tougher matches.
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Not sure if you saw the breakdown above
 
Yeah I posted that season preview a few messages ago which are my general thoughts.

As far as specific matches...

- Need to win: Louisville, Notre Dame, at Miami, at Virginia Tech, at FAU, UNCW, Georgia Tech, Northwestern

- Toss ups: North Carolina, at SMU

- Upset chance: South Carolina, at Florida State, NC State

- Likely losses: Michigan State, Duke, Wake Forest, at Virginia

If they can sweep the need to wins (plus the handful of gimme matches still on the schedule) then the tournament is a lock. Can maybe afford one slip up in that category, but I don't think they can afford to drop more than one in that list.

The season can really take off and exceed expectations if they can win the toss-ups and pull off at least one upset.
 
So I missed this back in June but Clemson chose to pass in the ITA kickoff draft when there were options to go be the #4 seed in Columbia, Oklahoma or Kentucky.

Instead the match at FAU was scheduled, who also passed in the kickoff draft. I get it, the chance to go 1-0 in a weekend vs a decently ranked team rather than 1-1 or risk 0-2.

But still I feel like being a part of the nationwide event is just more fun and kinda what it’s all about. Challenging and gaining experiences.

Personally I would have chosen to go be #4 in Norman. Play Oklahoma and then have a 2nd match against likely Oregon.
 
Wow what a crazy match in Boca Raton yesterday. I was honestly expecting a 5-2 or 6-1 win but FAU really came to play. Had to follow this one through old school slow live scoring updates (updates like every 10-15 minutes), no video.

Scores of the 4-3 win

FAU won doubles in a tiebreak. Markov did not have the best day, losing in doubles and then getting routined in singles. Surprised to see Vukadin lose at #1 after winning that 1st set.

Nice straight set wins for Gales and Mesarovic at 4 and 5.

At one point things looked pretty bleak with Abderrahman trailing 0-4 in the 3rd set but he then made one of the biggest comebacks I can remember for a Clemson player in a tight spot, coming all the way back from 0-4 to 6-4 to win his match. Wish there was video highlights of some type to see the team reactions and everything to the comeback.

After Abderrahman won Max Smith led 4-0 in his 3rd set so it was looking good. The live scoring update that updated the 6-4 win on court #3 and 4-0 for Smith at the same time hit like crack. (I think any college tennis fans know this feeling of watching those updates lol).

Smith gave a break back and I was worried for a bit that FAU was going to do a reverse 0-4 comeback of their own but Smith served it out at 5-4 to clinch the dramatic win. Again wish there was video of this clinch with Smith being a senior team leader and often gets the most hyped up of any of the players on the team. I'm sure it was a great team celebration.

Already more dramatic of a match than any from last season which only had 1 match (Duke) that came down to a deciding match at 3-3. So while it was too close for comfort, a tight win like this can help for confidence in these situations moving forward.
 
Just saw the schedule update with a new match @ Illinois on Feb 15th. Very interesting. I like it. I did think the schedule kind of lacked one more big non-con road trip. Cool to add a new location and a match against a problem we haven't played since the 2000s Kriese years.
 
Excited for Michigan State at home tomorrow at Noon. Just gonna sit back and see how it plays out. Hopefully a good crowd with it being promoted as kids day.

Wonder if Thanos will be out again and how will MSU bounce back after the Tennessee loss.
 
chic said:
And decisively
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Yes! This was the surprising part. All straight set wins.

Ok so first off the crowd was really good. The indoor facility really creates a louder atmosphere and packs people in. Pretty much every seat was taken.

Vukadin and Smith played a great game at 5-4 in doubles to steal #1 and then Abderrahman/Gales played a great tiebreak and won it 7-2 to clinch the doubles point. This is when I started to think there was a chance of a win. I will say Clemson seemed a bit more motivated throughout the match, maybe because of the crowd but MSU was a bit flat looking.

Singles:

MSU wins
2: Sheldon def. Markov 6-2 6-2 - This one didn't look good from the start. Bad matchup for Markov as he was off balance on most of the points, never getting his feet under him to use his power. Sheldon had him shuffling and sliding with just being solid and moving the ball around the court.

3: Forbes def. Abderrahman 6-4 6-3 - I had a bad feeling about this one as well from early on because Abderrahman was absolutely treeing (on fire) for the first few games, all over the court and hitting outrageous shots, to go up 3-1 while Forbes looked annoyed. But despite that you could tell it would only take a slight lull for Forbes to eventually take control, which he did and stayed in front most of this match. (Including a strange celebration where he ripped off his shoe and tossed it on the court after the win).

Clemson wins
5: Mesarovic def Al-Azmeh 6-2 6-2 - Mesarovic continues his great form as he blitzed another opponent in two easy sets. He was just controlled aggressive the whole time and never gave Al-Azmeh a thought he could come back. The type of performance you want to see at a solid bottom of the lineup court.

1: Vukadin def Baris 6-4 7-5 - as @Sureshot said Vukadin really showing he belongs with this type of win. He played well throughout but even though he was keeping it close, I expected Baris to eventually squeeze out tight sets but the opposite happened. Vukadin was better in the big points. Baris made a lot of errors when he tried to inject pace into the rallies. He had a lot of frame hits and shots into the net going for winners. Vukadin meanwhile worked the angles and had several killer inside-in forehands that caught Baris off guard. Really dramatic match point at 40-40 at 6-5.

4: Gales def Radjenovic 7-6(5) 6-4
It became apparent that courts 4 and 6 were going to be the critical ones. Gales missed any easy put away volley on match point at 5-2 40-40 and then MSU held easily to move it to 5-4. So naturally there was some worry that this could be the court that MSU got back into at as their players tried to cheer their guy on to shift momentum. But Gales was not having it as he played several good points at 5-4 to close it out for the clinch.

6: Smith def Saye 7-5 6-4
Lots of intense rallies in the 1st set of this match, Smith was down a break but eventually overcame Saye to steal the first set. Smith then started to hit the forehand amazingly in the 2nd set, just slapping winners, to cruise out to a 5-0 3rd set lead before Saye started to fight back for a slight MSU resistance push. But Smith closed it out after the clinch was secured to make it 5-2 for Clemson.

- MVPs: Everyone played their part but Vukadin and Gales get the game balls for this match for their work in singles and doubles.

- Overall this win will do wonders for the ranking all season long and honestly can change the perspective of the season to perhaps something loftier than expected.

- Like I said MSU appeared to be a bit flat at times, Baris was almost trying to be too calm it seemed like. But they will still get big wins this year, especially with Thanos added back in whenever he gets back. But they are vulnerable at the bottom of the lineup.
 
Court_Gamecocks said:
I notice you did not mention Michigan State was missing their #2 player
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Clemson_tennis said:
Excited for Michigan State at home tomorrow at Noon. Just gonna sit back and see how it plays out. Hopefully a good crowd with it being promoted as kids day.

Wonder if Thanos will be out again and how will MSU bounce back after the Tennessee loss.
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Its there is you're following the thread
 
Court_Gamecocks said:
I notice you did not mention Michigan State was missing their #2 player
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I did mention it but tbh I am not convinced the result would have been different with Thanos in the lineup. He has not a big part of doubles for MSU this year and would not have changed the result at #1. So that's still two points. MSU would have become a big fav on 3 and 4 but maybe Thanos would have been a better matchup for Markov at #2 than Sheldon was.

Also Mesarovic and Smith still would have had pretty good shots to win, no reason to think they couldn't have beaten Radjenovic and Al-Azmeh.
 
Sureshot said:
That win over Baris for Vukadin is gonna age really well. Great confidence booster for the Tigers and they can build on it. Can spring more surprises in ACC play.
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Yep. Another case of too bad the NCAA individuals already happened because Vukadin would already be in good position to make it thanks to that win over Baris and become the first tiger to make it since Hunter Harrington in 2015.

And yes teams like FSU and NC State may be more in the sights now. Even before ACC play I’m more pumped for the SC and Illinois matches coming up.
 
Clemson_tennis said:
Yep. Another case of too bad the NCAA individuals already happened because Vukadin would already be in good position to make it thanks to that win over Baris and become the first tiger to make it since Hunter Harrington in 2015.

And yes teams like FSU and NC State may be more in the sights now. Even before ACC play I’m more pumped for the SC and Illinois matches coming up.
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That win will help him for the NCAA individuals next fall. LOL
 
Ok time to shift focus to the Gamecocks. Hosting them tomorrow at 5pm. Hoping for a great crowd. Nothing else going on athletics wise on Clemson’s campus tomorrow.

A little throwback Thursday here

Weirdly enough this will be the first SC at Clemson men’s tennis match I’ll be attending in 13 years, since 2012, which was my 1st year as student manager for the team. I lived out of the state from 2014-2019, then I missed the 2021 and 2023 matches cause of work trips on those dates (even number hosting years flipped to odd after no match in 2020 covid year).

That 2012 match was an all time heartbreaker. One of my most vividly remembered matches. I can still picture several points on each court from that day.
 
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Clemson_tennis said:
I feel gutted and grilled after this result

decent crowd about 220 in doubles.

doubles:

SC played poorly in doubles. #1 and #2 doubles were easily won. #3 went to SC easily.

singles: (in order of how they finished)

6: Kyle Koch def Zac Rigsby 6-2 6-2
This is a sad result. Rigsby was a better junior player and a far bigger deal but now is getting blasted by Kock who was a decent player but not great from Irmo. Koch did play well in this match. One way traffic the whole time.

3: Andrew Adams def Ayrton Wibowo 6-4 6-0
I was actually looking forward to this match the most out of the 6 singles matches. Wibowo led 2-1 and had break points but Adams then reeled off 4 straight games. Wibowo then grabbed some momentum to make it 5-4, but then gave away a game to lose the first set. After that he sunk without trace. He was confused. He is a net player but hesitated going to net each time. Adams ate it up. Adams is too strong off the ground for a player to hesitate going to net and get away with it.

4: 117 Thiago Pinheiro def Hunter Harrington 6-4 7-6(4)
This was a toe-to-toe battle. Pinheiro is a strong player for a Freshman. He will be string at 5 all season. Big strong lefty who fights hard. Harrington fought as well. Both players held serve easily all match. Pinheiro was more clutch in the intense moments. The 2nd set tiebreak was testy. The Gamecock players watching were pretty routy and things got personal on court 5. Harrington played well but Pinheiro was the more solid player, Harrington took more risks but was not able to convert on many of them. Pinheiro worked Harrington's backhand to death.

3-1 Cocks now, the Tigers need the 3 remaining courts.

4: Dom Maden def Chip Cox 3-6 6-3 6-2
This was the surprise of the day. Not the result but how it happened. I had waffled back and forth over who would win this match. I knew Cox's game would bother Maden and appeared that it was even worse than I feared when Cox led 6-3 3-0. I even turned to someone and said "Dom's done". His body language was terrible and Cox looked set to bagel him. Then out of nothing Dom won 2 games. Then 4, then 6 and then 8 in a row. He would win 12 of 14 to end the match. I didnt watch a lot of this match. It was hard to tell exactly what was going on that changed the momentum so much. It just appeared that Maden was getting more a hold of his forehand during his run. He was cracking it, while early he was looping it. Cox lost his intensity as well. This is what kept the Tigers alive.

1: 49 Yannick Maden def Nick Jones 6-4 4-6 6-4
Jones played very well. He has really improved from last year when he played #4 and had a poor record. Jones was getting ahold of Madens short balls and bossed the court a lot of the time. But he was also erratic. He either made his ambitious shot or missed it. Maden was more solid. This 3rd set was going on simueltaneously with court 2. Great atmosphere with the fans getting into every point. Jones served huges in the 3rd and led 4-3. But Maden dug in and forced Jones to hit too many errors. This but momentum fully on Clemson's side.

2: 104 Ivan Machado def Gerardo Meza 5-7 7-6(0) 7-6(2)
This match was the definition of a hard fought college tennis match. Mahcado led 5-2 in the first but Meza dug in just like he did vs Spir of GT and took the set. Machado didnt let it phase him and kept plugging away. This wa san interesting clash of styles. Meza preferred to play baseline rallies where he ran his ooponent side to side with his flat shots. Machado preferred to play crafty points around the net. He almost always hit a backhand slice. In the 2nd set Meza served for the match at 6-5 but got broken and then played a terrible tiebreak to hand Machado the set. The 3rd set was side by side with court 1's 3rd set. This match got really heated. Machado tried to pull several fast ones. Wanting to call a let after getting bested on an overhead because "people were talking behind him". The assisstant coach for SC stalled for time several times in crucial moments. They were the head game kings. The end of the 3rd set was almost a carbon copy of the 2nd set. Meza served for it at 6-5, got broken at 15-40 then played a poor tiebreak. Machado took it more than Meza gave it though. At 1-2 in the tiebreak Machado double faulted but the ump overruled Meza's call and gave the point to Machado making it 3-1 rather than 2-2. It was a terrible call. The Gamecocks stormed the court and mobbed Machado when he won. Big clinch for the senior and a crushing loss for Meza.

This would have been a massive win.
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Throwback Thursday back to 2012 ^. I really went into depth on that one.
 
About the match today.

Last year we gave SC a tight match in Columbia with a better SC team and a worse Clemson team, was 4-2 and about to be 4-3. Sarr clinched in three sets vs Mesarovic. But many of the SC players have wins over Clemson players from the fall.

Clemson vs SC matchups from fall ITA events:

Karahan def Markov 6-2 6-2
Daryabeigi def Markov 6-1 6-4
Daryabeigi def Abderrahman 7-5 7-6(2)
Hoole def Abderrahman 6-4 7-6(5) (Abderrahman beat Hoole in last year's dual match)
Da Silva def Gales 6-2 7-5
Da Silva def Mesarovic 6-4 6-3

Markov def Sarr 7-5 2-6 6-4
Smith def Avram 6-4 6-3
Mesarovic def Stenzer 6-2 6-3


SC had the edge here but none of those matchups are going to be repeated today with how the lineups are. The teams are very familiar with each other and it'll be interesting how teammates give tips to one other on the players they've faced. I am going to assume Thomson is healthy (not sure about Sarr).
 
Watching the #1s online - great tennis so far.
Vukadin really on fire after getting broken at 3 all or there about. Crowd is huge and pretty loud (for a college tennis match lol)!
 
Any idea where Lignerie has been?

Seemed like an exciting pickup based on UTR and the above thread.
Just needing development to hang in the college environment? Injured? Something else?

Don't know if there are redshirt rules for tennis but I imagine he wouldn't qualify since he's played already?
 
chic said:
Any idea where Lignerie has been?

Seemed like an exciting pickup based on UTR and the above thread.
Just needing development to hang in the college environment? Injured? Something else?

Don't know if there are redshirt rules for tennis but I imagine he wouldn't qualify since he's played already?
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No he's not injured. He was warming up today. I think he's just getting more accustomed to the college environment as he just joined in January. He played #4 vs ETSU and Citadel, ahead of Mesarovic and Smith but lost his match vs ETSU. So I don't believe he can redshirt anymore and he will probably be used in some of the easier matches coming up like UNC-Asheville, BC etc.

Right now he just does not have a place in the lineup with 4-6 playing so well. It is nice to still have him as a strong player to slide in though in case someone gets injured or goes into a slump.
 
I mean what can I say about this match. That was the most enjoyable and impressive Clemson tennis match in at least a decade, perhaps ever as far as my time around the program.

You better believe I’m making a full report for the 1st win over SC since 2014. Only the 2nd time I can brag about beating them since I started this thread 13 years ago.

The crowd was great. Great weather for a February day, like 72 degrees at start. Most of the stands packed, mix of local tennis club people, Clemson club tennis, Clemson local fans who don’t usually go to tennis and plenty of students, even rowdy frat guys who gave the Gamecocks hell all match which was good to see. And many stayed the entire match!

Doubles was high energy and the Vukadin/Smith pairing played great once again. Sarr for SC played outstanding in doubles as the lone bright spot for SC. 1 and 3 both served out their sets 6-4 to avoid any drama and go ahead and wrap up that doubles points.

1: Vukadin def Thomson 7-5 2-6 6-1
You can see the confidence of Vukadin growing every match. Thomson has spent most of his career as a top 10 player but Vukadin felt like the one in control. Even after Thomson won the 2nd set it felt as though Vukadin just needed to reset. This ended up being the last match to finish and complete the sweep. Thomson got pretty whiny about the crowd toward the end after the dual result had been clinched.

2: Abderrahman def Hoole 1-6 6-4 6-1
3rd career matchup between these two (1-1 H2H). Hoole played out of his mind in the 1st set, hitting crazy passing shots and keeping Wissam on a string. But early in the 2nd set at 1-1 40-40, Hoole mishit a soft 2nd serve return and I feel like that ended up being a big point cause Wissam dug in and made the 2nd set a fight. He pulled it out and then went on cruise control in the 3rd, doing a reverse of the 1st where he was the one playing out of his mind. This was the clincher and Wissam got mobbed after he closed it out.

3: Markov def Da Silva 6-3 3-6 6-3
Back to winning ways for Markov after two lopsided losses at #2 in the last two matches. He was able to out-hit the fellow big hitter for a lot of this match. This was the court where the frat guys and most of the students were sitting behind, they erupted each time Markov smacked a winner, which was pretty often. Da Silva fought back in the 2nd set as expected, dude is actually great in hostile environments (like last year when he came back from 2-5 down to clinch in front of a crazy UGA crowd in Athens). But Markov regained control in the 3rd as his shots were just as powerful as Da Silva’s but also had more navigation to them, finding the corners and moving the Brazilian around.

4: Gales def Daryabeigi 7-5 3-6 6-2
This was the crafty match of the day. It seemed like every time I looked over at court 4, Gales was doing a drop shot. And they worked more often than not, several of them being clean dropper winners. Gales blew a 5-2 1st set lead but broke at 5-5 and the served it out for 4 1st sets for the Tigers. Daryabeigi fought back and it looked like this was going to be the Gamecock push with rallies on courts 1,3,4. But just like on 1 and 3, it was the Clemson Tiger who regained control early in the 3rd and never looked back.

5: Mesarovic def Sarr 6-4 6-1
The court 5 terminator continued to be the team pacesetter with another comprehensive straight set win. Jumped out to a 3-0 lead, went down 3-4 but then won 3 straight games to win it 6-4 then cruised it home in the 2nd set. Impressive win for Mesarovic over the player who beat him to clinch the match in Columbia last year. The same battle one year later for the two sophomores shows the improvement for Mesarovic.

6: Smith def Karahan 3-6 6-3 6-1
A similar pattern to the MSU match where Smith gets off to a slow start before dialing it in and gaining confidence and the opponent being unable to do anything about it.


Memorable evening for the Clemson program and hopefully the start of big things.
 
And the great Clemson weekend continues basketball takes down Duke in Littlejohn. Always sweet.

Tomorrow 11 am vs Northwestern. After the big time SC win, this match becomes the ultimate trap game with the quick turn around.

NW is not that good this year but we did lose to them last year in Evanston with many of the same players, which ended up being a ranking point destroying loss all year. Also they have given Harvard and Vandy fairly tough battles this year, so they are not incapable. They will be hoping to catch us looking flat.

Clemson needs to be ready to bring their own energy also as I expect the crowd to be a comedown from Friday’s highs.
 
Watched some doubles, walked to whole foods to grab a baguette for buffalo chicken dip later. s
Singles was over by the time I sat down to put it on.
Nice quick win there and up on 6/7 courts.
 
chic said:
Watched some doubles, walked to whole foods to grab a baguette for buffalo chicken dip later. s
Singles was over by the time I sat down to put it on.
Nice quick win there and up on 6/7 courts.
Click to expand...
I understand why they wouldn't play it out on a double header day but woulda been cool to see another strong sweep if they pulled it off.

I wonder if any of the bench will get into the evening lineup
 
chic said:
I understand why they wouldn't play it out on a double header day but woulda been cool to see another strong sweep if they pulled it off.

I wonder if any of the bench will get into the evening lineup
Click to expand...
Indeed a nice efficient win over NW. On its way to 6-1 or 7-0. Marko was the only one who dropped the 1st set, his first slow start of the year (maybe because he played doubles today and is used to coming out fresh in singles). But he was starting to get his teeth into the match before it was called. His opponent was basically just a pusher and Marko was finding the range in the 2nd set.

Yeah I’m hoping Lignerie, Aronson, Pitts get some action against Asheville. No need to exhaust energy for the starters with Illinois on the horizon now.
 
Dude why are all the teams we beat spitting the bit now? Memphis hasn’t won since the UNC match, FAU lost to Stetson and then lost a big chance heartbreaker to UCF, MSU plays without Baris and loses to Boise State… and South Carolina has no wins that’ll be worth anything in the rankings so they will plummet in the computers.

Gonna have to actually pull for SC to grab some SEC wins.

But I think it is time to re-evaluate how good this Clemson team can be. Transitive property is never a great way to judge things, but if it becomes a pattern… beat SC more convincingly than Virginia or San Diego did, beat MSU more convincingly than Tennessee did, crushed NW when they had given Harvard a tough match.

Big road test at Illinois will tell us more
 
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The women take down South Carolina 4-1 today to complete the season sweep of @SavvyStringer ‘s Gamecocks.

This match was indoors and had pretty similar vibes to the men’s one on Friday. Where in the tight moments, Clemson was just the better team. With the exception of Sarah Hammer at #1, Clemson out-played SC all around.

Senior Sophia Hatton got the clincher at serving it out in 6-4 7-5, bouncing back after being broken while serving for it at 5-4.

The men were there cheering loudly, particularly on court 4 while Cisovka was making her comeback after being down a set and a break. She had a 4-0 3rd set lead on clinch as backup in case Hatton didn’t win the 2nd set.
 
Clemson_tennis said:
The women take down South Carolina 4-1 today to complete the season sweep of @SavvyStringer ‘s Gamecocks.

This match was indoors and had pretty similar vibes to the men’s one on Friday. Where in the tight moments, Clemson was just the better team. With the exception of Sarah Hammer at #1, Clemson out-played SC all around.

Senior Sophia Hatton got the clincher at serving it out in 6-4 7-5, bouncing back after being broken while serving for it at 5-4.

The men were there cheering loudly, particularly on court 4 while Cisovka was making her comeback after being down a set and a break. She had a 4-0 3rd set lead on clinch as backup in case Hatton didn’t win the 2nd set.
Click to expand...
Good week for both your teams. Outside of Connor and Sarah our teams are pretty inexperienced at the collegiate level. It'll be interesting to see where they go for the remainder of this year. Both for sure have the talent to be 15-20 teams if things go right but thus far they're both struggling to find wins in doubles which has quickly carried over to singles.
 
SavvyStringer said:
Good week for both your teams. Outside of Connor and Sarah our teams are pretty inexperienced at the collegiate level. It'll be interesting to see where they go for the remainder of this year. Both for sure have the talent to be 15-20 teams if things go right but thus far they're both struggling to find wins in doubles which has quickly carried over to singles.
Click to expand...
I know you guys aren’t going anywhere as a program. Just hoping we can make the rivalry more of a fight going forward now since it was mainly one way traffic for y’all for ages.

And yeah agree about doubles. In both matches it never really felt like Clemson was in danger of ever dropping the doubles point. Broke early on 2 courts and held the lead through the set.
 
@ Illinois tomorrow. It’s interesting how the roles in this match have flipped. When it was scheduled a few weeks ago, I thought of it as a clear Illinois favored match with Clemson having the chance at a good road test.

Now the pressure is kind of more on Illinois who needs to win more with a 2-2 record right now and needing a ranking win.

The tough crowd in Champaign will be a challenge for this team, that’s really gonna be the thing to monitor.

Illinois has been strangely pretty poor at doubles so far this year, so Clemson needs to grab that point to jump ahead going into singles. I’m probably gonna park the stream on Vukadin vs Miyoshi. That should be a fun one.

This would be a great win to grab heading into ACC soon and could significantly raise the ceiling for this season’s potential.
 
1-1 now but hard to see Clemson losing this with wissam and max winning their second sets. Max just one of those guys who comes through almost every match. Feels Wissam tends to lose that 1st set then gain momentum (gut feel I don't actually know how often this happens) and every remaining court is in play for the clinch
 
chic said:
1-1 now but hard to see Clemson losing this with wissam and max winning their second sets. Max just one of those guys who comes through almost every match. Feels Wissam tends to lose that 1st set then gain momentum (gut feel I don't actually know how often this happens) and every remaining court is in play for the clinch
Click to expand...
Knock on wood and all that, it's not over till they have 4 matches but looking in a great position vs when I hopped on the stream at 1-0 but only 2/6 first sets won
 
Clemson_tennis said:
Well I praised it and then of course technical difficulties on court 6, so they can’t show any points from one of the tight deciding courts
Click to expand...
Was back on for the end of the set.

Heartbreaker for Max Smith.
Breaks back down 5-4
Broken of what looked like a let serve the opponent barely handled but led to am awkward point.
Debru gets up 40-0, smith comes back to 40 all to lose on the golden point.

All down to the #1s now
 
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