Clemson Tiger tennis

Tough one. I feel like it was lost at 6-5 with Miyoshi serving. Vukadin had a look there and was surprised on two points by stronger than expected 2nd serves.

But huge fight from him to come back from a break down to win 3 straight games after he missed to break chance at 3-2 40-40. I liked that he was the more aggressive player throughout the last set despite the hostile crowd.
 
chic said:
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
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Good jinx! No jk, you were right it did look better because at one point it looked like Illinois was going to take all 6 1st sets. Mesarovic coming back from 3-5 to steal the 1st 7-5 was huge.

But at the point you posted that it did look like a Clemson win. If it was at home I think Smith, Vukadin cruise through their 3rd sets and Gales likely would have closed out the 2nd and forced a 3rd as well. But that’s the difference between road and home. Good for the team to get these experiences.
 
Clemson_tennis said:
Good jinx! No jk, you were right it did look better because at one point it looked like Illinois was going to take all 6 1st sets. Mesarovic coming back from 3-5 to steal the 1st 7-5 was huge.

But at the point you posted that it did look like a Clemson win. If it was at home I think Smith, Vukadin cruise through their 3rd sets and Gales likely would have closed out the 2nd and forced a 3rd as well. But that’s the difference between road and home. Good for the team to get these experiences.
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Yeah brutal end of match to watch but at least it's a team they can (probably) afford to lose to without hurting their ranking too much.

And I feel like, if I wanted it on any players racquets it's vukadin and Smith and they showed why. Smith in particular got handed some rough shakes in the final 4 games or so and kept his head screwed on.
 
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Clemson_tennis said:
Good jinx! No jk, you were right it did look better because at one point it looked like Illinois was going to take all 6 1st sets. Mesarovic coming back from 3-5 to steal the 1st 7-5 was huge.

But at the point you posted that it did look like a Clemson win. If it was at home I think Smith, Vukadin cruise through their 3rd sets and Gales likely would have closed out the 2nd and forced a 3rd as well. But that’s the difference between road and home. Good for the team to get these experiences.
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For the record I did literally go knock on wood after making that post :cry:
 
chic said:
Yeah brutal end of match to watch but at least it's a team they can (probably) afford to lose to without hurting their ranking too much.

And I feel like, if I wanted it on any players racquets it's vida in and Smith and they showed why. Smith in particular got handed some rough shakes in the final 4 games or so and kept his head screwed on.
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Yeah it won’t hurt too much. I saw Illinois beat Notre Dame in nearly the exact same way in the 2nd match of their doubleheader. Lost doubles, then rallied with four singles wins and clinched at 3-3 with court 2 being the decider this time.

One one hand it’s good Illinois beat ND to keep them higher and make that not as damaging of a loss. On the other hand, we play ND at home in a couple weeks snd would’ve given more ranking juice to that matchup.

I think the painful thing is going to be to see just how high we would have jumped with a win over Illinois when the 1st computer rankings come out this week. It would have been a huge jump with the 4 win formula resume of @ Illinois, MSU, SC and @ Memphis and no loss points. It’s still going to be a nice jump regardless but it’s the what could have been.
 
Clemson men come in at #31 in the first computer rankings of the year. While the women are #19.

#31 is not as high as I was expecting or hoping. I was thinking it would be in the 25-20 range. But it is because MSU has fallen (thanks to their loss to Boise State) and now SC is not even in the top 75 now, so that win is treated like a win over Furman or something right now. Thanks a lot Gamecocks lol.

Also Memphis and FAU are not top 75 either.

There's no quick way to improve the ranking right now with unranked UNCW, Furman, Louisville and #50 Notre Dame. #52 SMU, unranked BC and unranked UNC as the next 7 matches. Just have to take care of business and avoid bad losses, pull for MSU to get back on track and pull for the Gamecocks to get some SEC wins to boost themselves up the rankings.
 
Clemson_tennis said:
Clemson men come in at #31 in the first computer rankings of the year. While the women are #19.

#31 is not as high as I was expecting or hoping. I was thinking it would be in the 25-20 range. But it is because MSU has fallen (thanks to their loss to Boise State) and now SC is not even in the top 75 now, so that win is treated like a win over Furman or something right now. Thanks a lot Gamecocks lol.

Also Memphis and FAU are not top 75 either.

There's no quick way to improve the ranking right now with unranked UNCW, Furman, Louisville and #50 Notre Dame. #52 SMU, unranked BC and unranked UNC as the next 7 matches. Just have to take care of business and avoid bad losses, pull for MSU to get back on track and pull for the Gamecocks to get some SEC wins to boost themselves up the rankings.
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Your women are top 20. Interesting first computer ranking of the year for us on both sides. Have a lot of work to do.
 
SavvyStringer said:
Your women are top 20. Interesting first computer ranking of the year for us on both sides. Have a lot of work to do.
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Yep, the women's team always seems to be a little bit higher no matter what the year is at Clemson (for as long as I can recall). I absolutely pull for the women and like our players this year, each of them has a good style to watch. But when I try to garner attention to the men's team to general Clemson sports fans, it does kinda hurt their spotlight if the women are always a smidge higher lol.

You guys do have work to do. I think it starts this weekend with a win over #35 Auburn at the very least. That's a must win. If you also manage to beat #19 Alabama then things are fully up and running again.

Also need Thompson to start getting the big wins again, so Vukadin's win over him a strong one of the rankings.
 
Decent effort for the women @ #2 Virginia. Should have had the doubles points after a 6-1 win on #1 and having a 4-1 lead at #2.

Smejkalova got double bageled at #1 but every other court had close moments even despite dropping the 1st set on all courts. Aslanisvili was leading in the 2nd to almost be the 4th tiger to force a 3rd set but couldn’t hold that lead
 
Clemson_tennis said:
Decent effort for the women @ #2 Virginia. Should have had the doubles points after a 6-1 win on #1 and having a 4-1 lead at #2.

Smejkalova got double bageled at #1 but every other court had close moments even despite dropping the 1st set on all courts. Aslanisvili was leading in the 2nd to almost be the 4th tiger to force a 3rd set but couldn’t hold that lead
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Very good match. I was there and everyone was hitting the ball well and it looked like two top teams on most courts.

UVA needs to get healthy. Elaine Chervinsky (#1 doubles and NCAA champion with Mélodie Collard; top 3 singles) and Karolina Kozakova (#4 or #5 singles) missed the match, as they also did against Tennessee and Georgia in the NTI. Martina Genis Salas had to serve underhanded and still helped clinch the doubles point and got the clincher in singles.
 
Men playing UNCW and Furman tomorrow. I’m out of town next two weeks so won’t see these matches or the Louisville/ND ones. Will follow scores/streams.

A sign of how much things have improved recently for the men… I looked back at the 2023 box score vs UNCW to remind myself what happened last time we played the Seahawks. Matt Pitts played #2 that day for Clemson. #2!! This year he is solidly in the #9 role as a senior.
 
LOL at Furman pulling out the gamesmanship to get their guy on the board with a ranked win. Furman #1 was up 6-3 5-2 on Vukadin on the changeover when it was 3-0 Clemson and Mesarovic is ready to serve out the win at #4 leading 6-4 5-2. So both are close to going back on court and Vukadin gets his leg looked at briefly by a Clemson trainer. Ok maybe some gamesmanship there but it was a very brief look.

So the Furman #3 guy, right when he is already in receiving position for the serve, does the most fake limp in the world over the bench and calls a medical timeout. Mesarovic had almost started his serve motion.

At this point Vukadin is already going out back on court to serve. The Furman #3 dude takes a SUPER long timeout, while Vukadin holds for 5-3. Furman #1 guy serves it out 6-3 6-3 right as Mesarovic was up 30-0 after the #3 finally waddled back on to the court and Marko finishes it off seconds later to make it officially 4-1.

The Furman guys celebrated like they had clinched the dual match. I guess it'll be the thrill of their season. I remember they used to be a solid Southern conference program, but they are a far cry from that in recent years.
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So overall, wins over UNCW and Furman today. Not the most convincing day, but they are bound to have a sluggish day here and there. Gales was not in the lineup and from what I could tell on stream I didn't see him watching on court either, so maybe he had an illness and stayed home. Wonder why Ligniere didn't play today, thought it would've been a good day for him to get some match play in.

Not a good day for Vukadin, losing a set to Huens of UNCW and then to the Furman guy. Maybe good to get that out of the system now before ACC play starts.
 
Ok I found a scenario where Clemson jumps up to as high as #14 next week.

- Clemson wins vs Louisville and Notre Dame
- Memphis upsets Harvard
- SC beats Kentucky
- Notre Dame and Louisville beat GT

Even without the unlikely one of Memphis beating Harvard, Clemson could go up as high as #17 and even without any outside help, a jump to at least #21 just by sweeping the weekend. The match vs Notre Dame is crucial. A win could set the team up very nicely for the rest of the year and could start talks of an outside chance of hosting.
 
Dominant doubles display vs Louisville followed by three routine straight set wins from Abderrahman, Smith and get easy 6-0 6-1 and 6-1 6-2 wins. while Mesarovic clinched 6-4 6-2 after trailing 3-0 in the 1st set. Vukadin and Gales were trailing in their matches when it was called and Markov had just split sets.

Abderrahman is playing great atm. Only one loss so far this year and Mesarovic is still unbeaten.

Only worry coming from this match is Vukadin's sudden dip in form. After winning the 1st set vs UNCW last week his last five sets are now, 2-6 3-6 3-6 2-6 4-5, all against unranked players. So not sure what's going on there. The lefty Dominko for ND is going to be tough for him on Sunday.

GT kinda surprisingly beat ND 4-1 so that may discourage the Irish some for Sunday's match. That's going to be a vital one.
 
Clemson_tennis said:
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.
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Any update thoughts here based on the season thus far?
 
Woooo
Not the cleanest but some good signs.

Vukadin looking solid in doubles and was in his match more than the recent uncharacteristic losses (or near losses.) not out of the woods but signs of better things at least to my eye.

Markov got a lucky call set three 4-4 40-40 on what his opponent (and I watching virtually) thought was an ace.

Wissam and Max losing early leads in deciding sets but clawing them back.

Didn't watch much of Gales' match but he was fighting after losing the first set and the team down after doubles.
 
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chic said:
Woooo
Not the cleanest but some good signs.

Vukadin looking solid in doubles and was in his match more than the recent uncharacteristic losses (or near losses.) not out of the woods but signs of better things at least to my eye.

Markov got a lucky call set three 4-4 40-40 on what his opponent (and I watching virtually) thought was an ace.

Wissam and Max losing early leads in deciding sets but clawing them back.

Didn't watch much of Gales' match but he was fighting after losing the first set and the team down after doubles.
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Yes great comeback win! It played out pretty much exactly how I expected it to. Clemson favored on 2,5 and 6 and ND at 1 with 3 and 4 being toss ups. ND winnings doubled was a surprise.

What I like about this team this year is how they close the door promptly when they are given the chance. Immediately after Markov clinched, Wissam was given a match point to 5-4 40-40 (after being down 40-15) to break and win it right there without extending the match. And he rose up, ripped a great return to clinch it. Great response from him to the doubles point where his easy missed forehand at 5-6 in the deciding breaker lost the doubles point.

Great comeback from Markov. I do agree that 40-40 call was questionable but he had been overruled just a few games before that, so the umpire was probably hesitant to do it again there.

Marko and Max continue to be slayers at 5 and 6. Marko still yet to lose a match this year.

Vukadin/Smith are unplayable at #1 doubles right now.

But Vukadin’s singles skid continues. Not too perturbed about the loss to Dominko because he is very good and I think that’s a bad matchup for Noa. But then he followed it up with a loss to Gardner-Webb’s #1 6-1 6-4. So don’t know what’s going on. Hope his confidence wasn't shaken by losing the clincher to Illinois because he played his heart out and was great that match despite the loss.
 
chic said:
Any update thoughts here based on the season thus far?
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Ok so now to answer this.

Yes things have now changed. Already have two wins over teams that were expected to be losses. SC and MSU.

Duke, Wake, NC State and @ Virginia are still most likely losses because of how good those teams are, even with 3 of them being at home.

if Clemson can find away to upset one of them then hosting is absolutely on the table. But just assuming those are 4 losses, if we win the rest of the matches outside of those… should still get chose to hosting. Considering those losses won’t hurt much in the formula and it’ll mean stacking more ranked wins. Could def be top 16.

Of course ita going to be hard to do that because with a higher ranking comes a bigger target. @ SMU, UNC, @ Miami, GT are danger zone matches where those teams will be pumped up to try and get an upset win. If I had to predict I wouid say we drop one of those, just cause it’s hard to bring it every single match all year.

@ FSU is going to end up being the swing match. Getting a win there wouid probably be a huge point getter and could put the team into the top 16. Lose it and that’s probably not likely with that chance gone.

This is not taking into account the ACC tourney which should be fun. Kinda hope Clemson gets a crack at Cal in Cary since they aren’t on the schedule.
 
Time for the big travel weekend. ACC paired SMU/BC as travel partners by default so Clemson at GT are the first teams to have to do the Boston/Dallas in one weekend combo.

It’s worse for Clemson because the SMU match comes second after having to come straight from Boston after the waste of time match vs BC on Friday.

I’m quite worried about the SMU match on Sunday. Svadja will be back more than likely, it’s a match SMU must win for tournament chances and they’ll be pumped up at home. Clemson will be coming off a long trip from Boston… it just has all the signs of an upset.
 
Was hoping to go watch this one in person but fighting through to the south of the city is just a bit much on a Friday.

Originally thought this was a Saturday match - was pretty excited to see Clemson beat up on BC
 
chic said:
Was hoping to go watch this one in person but fighting through to the south of the city is just a bit much on a Friday.

Originally thought this was a Saturday match - was pretty excited to see Clemson beat up on BC
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I’ve only been to Boston once for like two days and it was the only ACC location I didn’t go to as manager, so I don’t know it well.

It says the match is in Weymouth, which is of course not Chesnut Hill. So does BC play at a public tennis club or something?
 
Clemson_tennis said:
I’ve only been to Boston once for like two days and it was the only ACC location I didn’t go to as manager, so I don’t know it well.

It says the match is in Weymouth, which is of course not Chesnut Hill. So does BC play at a public tennis club or something?
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Moved here during COVID and there are better teams to watch than BC around so I haven't been there yet. But my understanding is that they only have 3 indoor courts on campus so spring matches are at clubs until outdoors can start. (BU only has four, tuft's only has 3, MIT bubble I think had 5).

Not 100% sure and was unable to find more details about Weymouth but I know USTA social leagues get canceled in Winchester some weekends because the colleges have the courts.
 
Glad Noa finished his match after a bit longer of a first set.
Hopefully he's gaining some confidence back.
 
Women lose 4-2. Artemis went from leading 6-1 4-0 at #4 to losing the match 6-1 5-7 1-6. That ended up being the clincher and th key match. #3 was poised to go a 3rd set.
 
chic said:
Glad Noa finished his match after a bit longer of a first set.
Hopefully he's gaining some confidence back.
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I was wondering if they were going to flip Wissam and Noa with their opposite trends in form at the moment. I assume that’ll hold for the SMU match Sunday.

Mesarovic was slated to jump into 4 and Gales moved down to 5 but Mesarovic was then removed from the lineup and Ligniere slid in with a nice win on #6.

SMU match was really worrying me and it still is. But SMU did just lose to GT sooo they could be down in morale heading into Sunday.
 
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Watching a bit more of Gales' match today as I often neglect him and he's often off court pretty quick.

Maybe it's just today, but he's calling some of the most honest lines I've seen in college tennis. Maybe we need to have Diaz Freire come back and give him some tips.

Despite this, Cloud throwing a fit about a close call (seemed correct rewound at 0.5 speed) to break back at 40-40. Maybe just trying to bias the umpire a little for the next one.

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College tennis really needs some sort of high speed camera challenge system, at least on the serve. Even if it was only 70% accurate on line balls it would probably be better than the umpires (no shade, just a lot of good, close, shots.)
 
Good showing!
Got to sit down and watch the matches on my phone and laptop today with tabs open so I could switch around. Nice midday treat between chores.

It's real nice to watch a team than can win at any line against (so far) any opponent. Having the doubles point most matches really sets the tone and we can survive in individual ups and downs because it's a fight on every court.

Wissam got a set off Svajda where I assume he was a massive underdog (i don't follow rankings closely though could be wrong.) I like how simple most of his mechanics are but his serve could be polished if he's going to compete at 1.

Vukadin with a nice win after a slow start. His dropoff since that close (Illinois?) match has been tough to watch but it looks like he'll find his form/confidence. This was a good test as he and Gales' finished within a min or two of each other to clinch the match. Some good 'the team needs me' pressure with the safety net of smith (and gales if he lost set 2) playing on.

Markov super efficient today. That early 2-0 lead probably 30min before anyone else was close to done really helping the momentum in what could have been a closer match. Nice to have some bang boom tennis on the team.

Mesarovic probably should have had set 2. Got a bit sloppy but still a respectable scoreline. Could have done without SMU getting to 2 all for my heart rate at home.

Gales, as above, played well. Could afford to call dirtier lines but he got it done once again. Really weird to watch a lefty who seems so adverse to hitting their forehand lol. Don't prefer his game viewing wise but love his results.

On 6 Smith put on a show as always. Seemed to have momentum in the 3rd after a bit of a loose second set.
If a match has to come down to anyone right now, I want it to be him. But, he seemed to struggle a bit with the focus today and I'm glad we didn't put it to the test. Love watching his game though, lots of variety and big serving.


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Let the stream run past time, does anyone know why there is a kangaroo bouncing around the court after the match? Maybe 10min after the match ended I have the screen paused on court 1 and there's a joey mid screen???¿??
 
chic said:
Watching a bit more of Gales' match today as I often neglect him and he's often off court pretty quick.

Maybe it's just today, but he's calling some of the most honest lines I've seen in college tennis. Maybe we need to have Diaz Freire come back and give him some tips.

Despite this, Cloud throwing a fit about a close call (seemed correct rewound at 0.5 speed) to break back at 40-40. Maybe just trying to bias the umpire a little for the next one.

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College tennis really needs some sort of high speed camera challenge system, at least on the serve. Even if it was only 70% accurate on line balls it would probably be better than the umpires (no shade, just a lot of good, close, shots.)
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This was an ironic thing to post because I was watching the ESPN court cast during the tiebreak. And at 5-6 in the tiebreak, Cloud hit a shot down the line that he did a big celebration on but was called out by Gales and the umpire agreed to make it 6-6.

Chris Halioris of college tennis ranks was announcing and he sounded adamant it was in. I was watching on my phone riding in a car and it was one of 3 courts pulled up so I’ll have to go back and watch it to really see.
 
Clemson_tennis said:
This was an ironic thing to post because I was watching the ESPN court cast during the tiebreak. And at 5-6 in the tiebreak, Cloud hit a shot down the line that he did a big celebration on but was called out by Gales and the umpire agreed to make it 6-6.

Chris Halioris of college tennis ranks was announcing and he sounded adamant it was in. I was watching on my phone riding in a car and it was one of 3 courts pulled up so I’ll have to go back and watch it to really see.
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Yeah I did go back and watch that on half speed and it's hard to tell but afaict it was out. Frame rate/resolution were such that I can't make any strong claim on that particular shot.

But Cloud (and the crowd) threw quite a few ... tantrums? fits? over points that were pretty clearly out in replay. Meanwhile Gales' called in quite a few line balls that were on the far side from the umpire I'm fairly certain he could have gotten away with (one or two I think we're even out.)

I'm not bored enough to actually go look, but I wonder if he's just 'like that' normally as a player...
 
chic said:
Good showing!
Got to sit down and watch the matches on my phone and laptop today with tabs open so I could switch around. Nice midday treat between chores.

It's real nice to watch a team than can win at any line against (so far) any opponent. Having the doubles point most matches really sets the tone and we can survive in individual ups and downs because it's a fight on every court.

Wissam got a set off Svajda where I assume he was a massive underdog (i don't follow rankings closely though could be wrong.) I like how simple most of his mechanics are but his serve could be polished if he's going to compete at 1.

Vukadin with a nice win after a slow start. His dropoff since that close (Illinois?) match has been tough to watch but it looks like he'll find his form/confidence. This was a good test as he and Gales' finished within a min or two of each other to clinch the match. Some good 'the team needs me' pressure with the safety net of smith (and gales if he lost set 2) playing on.

Markov super efficient today. That early 2-0 lead probably 30min before anyone else was close to done really helping the momentum in what could have been a closer match. Nice to have some bang boom tennis on the team.

Mesarovic probably should have had set 2. Got a bit sloppy but still a respectable scoreline. Could have done without SMU getting to 2 all for my heart rate at home.

Gales, as above, played well. Could afford to call dirtier lines but he got it done once again. Really weird to watch a lefty who seems so adverse to hitting their forehand lol. Don't prefer his game viewing wise but love his results.

On 6 Smith put on a show as always. Seemed to have momentum in the 3rd after a bit of a loose second set.
If a match has to come down to anyone right now, I want it to be him. But, he seemed to struggle a bit with the focus today and I'm glad we didn't put it to the test. Love watching his game though, lots of variety and big serving.


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Let the stream run past time, does anyone know why there is a kangaroo bouncing around the court after the match? Maybe 10min after the match ended I have the screen paused on court 1 and there's a joey mid screen???¿??
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Yes the good thing about today’s match was we got the W even when the guys who have been sure wins (Wissam and Marko) lost. So Markov, Vukadin and Gales picked up the slack.

I love seeing the back to back clinch. Vukadin was down 30-40 serving for it and Gales was down 5-6 in the breaker at the same time. And the BOTH fought back to clinch within a minute of each other. Much like the Michigan State, Notre Dame, SC matches with the “cascade clinch.”

Yes Svadja was a big favorite on 1, however he did lose to Azuma last year in Clemson in a match where he barely showed any fire. He’s also lost some head scratchers this year like 6-1 6-3 to Wisconsin’s #1. So in theory he should be tearing up college tennis but he just isn’t. I’m not sure he’s giving his all in dual matches tbh. Although he did comeback nicely today.

What do you make of the switches at 1/2 and 4/5? It ended up being 2-2 split with the wins on 2 and 5.

Mesarovic lost his first match of the year. At court #5 he is almost always the more aggressive and more powerful player, dictating play. I noticed in this match though on some of the points I watched on that court, Shimakov was being the aggressor in several points and it seems to catch Marko off guard some. Shimakov has played as high as #2 for SMU this year so he has talent.

And yeah Smith’s matches are always a fun ride. He has dips but he almost always pulls it back and balances it out with peaks.

Markov’s straight set win was impressive. He was hitting all his spots in the points I watched.

Vukadin gets MVP today for coming back and pulling out a tight match after the form he’s been in. Hopefully this will return his earlier season form.

So that’s a major banana skin match avoided and a big road win to keep the ranking in place. It’ll start improving soon with SC and MSU rising again
 
Clemson_tennis said:
Yes the good thing about today’s match was we got the W even when the guys who have been sure wins (Wissam and Marko) lost. So Markov, Vukadin and Gales picked up the slack.

I love seeing the back to back clinch. Vukadin was down 30-40 serving for it and Gales was down 5-6 in the breaker at the same time. And the BOTH fought back to clinch within a minute of each other. Much like the Michigan State, Notre Dame, SC matches with the “cascade clinch.”

Yes Svadja was a big favorite on 1, however he did lose to Azuma last year in Clemson in a match where he barely showed any fire. He’s also lost some head scratchers this year like 6-1 6-3 to Wisconsin’s #1. So in theory he should be tearing up college tennis but he just isn’t. I’m not sure he’s giving his all in dual matches tbh. Although he did comeback nicely today.

What do you make of the switches at 1/2 and 4/5? It ended up being 2-2 split with the wins on 2 and 5.

Mesarovic lost his first match of the year. At court #5 he is almost always the more aggressive and more powerful player, dictating play. I noticed in this match though on some of the points I watched on that court, Shimakov was being the aggressor in several points and it seems to catch Marko off guard some. Shimakov has played as high as #2 for SMU this year so he has talent.

And yeah Smith’s matches are always a fun ride. He has dips but he almost always pulls it back and balances it out with peaks.

Markov’s straight set win was impressive. He was hitting all his spots in the points I watched.

Vukadin gets MVP today for coming back and pulling out a tight match after the form he’s been in. Hopefully this will return his earlier season form.

So that’s a major banana skin match avoided and a big road win to keep the ranking in place. It’ll start improving soon with SC and MSU rising again
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To my eye the 1/2 switch was necessary, but IMO Vukadin is still the team's leader and Wissam is stepping up in a slump. Maybe I'm just a hater but I haven't seen the level for him to challenge the top tier players when they're on. Love Wissam's game but Vukadin has shown a different type of peak and has not lost when it matters outside the one match (even if the dips have been really low.)

Hard to assess further without knowing if he did something physical, mental, confidence wise, etc to drop like a rock the last few weeks.


4/5 harder to assess, as they're the lines I least watch.
Quick read is that they should scope the opponent and play Marko when he can overpower them and Gales when consistency will be the decider at 5.

In terms of absolute level we seem pretty tightly clustered as a team (and iirc UTR reflects this.) is Max reeeaaaalllyy #6? Or is he just a steady senior who knows how to win points and doesn't mind that position to help the team - I can't tell watching.

1-2 seem interchangeable and with the type of game hit hits Markov could be in that mix - hard to gauge big hitters never coulda guessed Isner would be a steady top 15 ATP player coming out of his Georgia days.

Then 3-7 also could probably hop around without anyone being obviously out of position. And if you told me any of the 4-6 guys had a winning record on Markov id believe it.
 
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chic said:
To my eye the 1/2 switch was necessary, but IMO Vukadin is still the team's leader and Wissam is stepping up in a slump. Maybe I'm just a hater but I haven't seen the level for him to challenge the top tier players when they're on. Love Wissam's game but Vukadin has shown a different type of peak and has not lost when it matters outside the one match (even if the dips have been really low.)

Hard to assess further without knowing if he did something physical, mental, confidence wise, etc to drop like a rock the last few weeks.


4/5 harder to assess, as they're the lines I least watch.
Quick read is that they should scope the opponent and play Marko when he can overpower them and Gales when consistency will be the decider at 5.

In terms of absolute level we seem pretty tightly clustered as a team (and iirc UTR reflects this.) is Max reeeaaaalllyy #6? Or is he just a steady senior who knows how to win points and doesn't mind that position to help the team - I can't tell watching.

1-2 seem interchangeable and with the type of game hit hits Markov could be in that mix - hard to gauge big hitters never coulda guessed Isner would be a steady top 15 ATP player coming out of his Georgia days.

Then 3-7 also could probably hop around without anyone being obviously out of position. And if you told me any of the 4-6 guys had a winning record on Markov id believe it.
Click to expand...

I feel as though Vukadin and Abderrahman are kinda like joint team leaders. They are both Sophomores and have traded spots a lot early in their careers. I do agree Vukadin kinda leads more with his game but Wissam is more engaging with teammates and the crowd. He plays up the college tennis elements more, often pumping up the crowd, doing poses after big shots etc. kinda Monfils-esque. Vukadin is def not quiet as he yells a lot and gets loud after big points but his is more inwardly focused to himself. They both fill different but equally important team leader roles IMO.

Of course Smith is also a vocal team leader as a senior, getting animated on court and setting the pace in doubles for the whole team. Your question about Smith at 6... if you remember I actually predicted Smith would be playing #3 this year at the start due to experience over Markov and then maybe go to 4 as the year went on. So I was surprised to see him at 6. He had good fall results with wins over good lineup players for top 20 teams Oklahoma and Miss State and also pushed Will Jansen of Ohio State. I remember the first match of the year a few of us regulars in the crowd were like "Max still at 6?" raising our eyebrows. But I think it's where he should be now based on results. He is winning a lot at 6 but he is also not completely dominating. He has dropped sets and a match there as well.

Markov is in a good spot at 3. I think he should stay there pretty much no matter what this year. He's one of those players that should be 3 because he can win there, but being lower would not drastically change his win % because he could lose to a 4 or 5 player when he is off just as much as he could lose to a 3 player. So may as well play him higher where his upper level can get wins. Unlike some players who are more "capped" at a certain slot. This is shown by his fall results where he beat FSU's #1 Corey Craig, who is a national top 15 player, but also lost 6-2 6-2 to Karahan of SC who plays #6 for them and who Max beat.

Mesarovic and Gales are such different styles of player but pretty similar level as far as results at 4/5. So I feel like your assessment of moving them back and forth based on opponent matchups is right.


The Duke match on Sunday is the biggest home match since at least 2014. I wonder what's going on with them since Williams, Rodenas and Landau (their 1,2 and 4) were all missing against Louisville. But we can't look past UNC at Friday who is actually off to a 3-1 start in the ACC. They will be chomping at the bit for a big ranking win over Clemson to get them into the NCAA tournament range.
 
Clemson_tennis said:
I feel as though Vukadin and Abderrahman are kinda like joint team leaders. They are both Sophomores and have traded spots a lot early in their careers. I do agree Vukadin kinda leads more with his game but Wissam is more engaging with teammates and the crowd. He plays up the college tennis elements more, often pumping up the crowd, doing poses after big shots etc. kinda Monfils-esque. Vukadin is def not quiet as he yells a lot and gets loud after big points but his is more inwardly focused to himself. They both fill different but equally important team leader roles IMO.
Click to expand...
Definitely agree here with team leader status and role/personality. I just mean that Vukadin *feels* more like he's still the #1 even if he's put in the 2 position for a bit.

Wissam is holding steady at 1 while the team needs him to but it feels like Noa's spot still.
But hey, I'm open to Wissam getting some big wins and Clemson having two top 15ish players or something like that :D
 
Clemson_tennis said:
Of course Smith is also a vocal team leader as a senior, getting animated on court and setting the pace in doubles for the whole team. Your question about Smith at 6... if you remember I actually predicted Smith would be playing #3 this year at the start due to experience over Markov and then maybe go to 4 as the year went on. So I was surprised to see him at 6. He had good fall results with wins over good lineup players for top 20 teams Oklahoma and Miss State and also pushed Will Jansen of Ohio State. I remember the first match of the year a few of us regulars in the crowd were like "Max still at 6?" raising our eyebrows. But I think it's where he should be now based on results. He is winning a lot at 6 but he is also not completely dominating. He has dropped sets and a match there as well.
Click to expand...
Yeah I think Max's game is also more volatile, bigger serve and lots of net approach. But if we follow the same logic you used for Markov he should be at 3 or 4 and we let Gales mop up at 6, his consistency he'd be untouchable there.

But I imagine he's at the end of college and probably feels comfortable with his level and aspirations. The remainder of the team is entering ATP events and are mostly younger with more chance to improve over time.

I can see a world where, as a coach, you ask a senior with the skill level to be 3 or 4 to ride out as 6 since you can get away with it UTR wise. Focus on the #1 doubles line and being the most reliable win in tough matches
 
chic said:
Viktor gunning for that #1 slot with straight sets matches vs the most important opponents :cool:
Click to expand...

Nvm not in straights must have seen something from an earlier match or something like that.

Are we headed for some weird world where the team is a top 16 team with no players making the individual tournament? Idk how this stuff works.

RESULTS:

No. 24 Clemson (17-1), 4 vs No. 11 Duke (12-4), 2

Doubles

No. 56 Smith/Vukadin (CU) def. No. 30 Winegar/Rodenas (DU), 6-3
Damm/Markov (CU) def. No 71 Williams/Petrovic (DU), 7-6 (7-5)
Abderrahman/Gales (CU) vs. Dugardin/Ripoll (DU), 6-6 (3-0)
Order of Finish: 1, 2

Singles

No. 35 Pedro Rodenas (DU) def. No. 84 Wissam Abderrahman (CU), 6-3, 6-1
No. 66 Cooper Williams (DU) def. No. 58 Noa Vukadin (CU), 6-4, 6-1
Viktor Markov (CU) def. Andreja Petrovic (DU), 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
Marko Mesarovic (CU) def. Conner Krug (DU), 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
Romain Gales (CU) vs. Remy Dugardin (DU), 6-3, 3-6, 5-5 uf
Max Smith (CU) def. Saahith Jayaraman (DU), 7-5, 6-3
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 6, 4, 3
 
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