The 2017 NCAA tennis season has hit its stride, as have the Clemson Tigers. Through their participation in several preseason tournaments during the fall, the Tigers were able to come together as a team and gear up for a potentially triumphant regular season.
With both the men’s and women’s programs performing well on the court during the first few weeks of the season, the outlook for the remainder of the season is already serving up plenty of promise for the Tigers.
The men’s team has gotten off to a spectacular start to the year, currently standing at 7-0 overall. First-year Head Coach John Boetsch has made quick work of developing his squad into an ACC championship contender and has the Hoke Sloan Tennis Center buzzing with aspirations for quite the special season.
A veteran-laden bunch, the men’s team has been poised in every match thus far, recently dominating the Davidson Wildcats 6-1 and the Wofford Terriers 7-0. Led by Frenchmen Alex Favrot and Daffra Sanon, Clemson is quickly establishing itself as a force to be reckoned with. The men’s team is looking to reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014.
On the women’s side, the Tigers are 2-2, but on the rise. Clemson cruised to a 2-0 start for this season by beating the Charlotte 49ers and the Charleston Southern Buccaneers with scores of 7-0 and 6-1, respectively, as part of the Duckworth Doubleheader at Hoke Sloan. The Tigers then dropped two matches at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend, but will look to right the ship with home games against the South Carolina Gamecocks and the Georgia Bulldogs later this week.
Sporting only one upperclassman on the eight-woman roster, Clemson is remarkably young and still settling into a rhythm. Even so, the roster is dynamic and has plenty of talent. Sophomores Ayan Broomfield and Marie-Alexandre Leduc, both of whom hail from Canada, are nationally ranked and primed to lead the women’s team through what should be an exciting season.
With 20 seasons at the helm of the Clemson program under her belt, Head Coach Nancy Harris should certainly be expected to have the women’s team on track to earning a spot in the NCAA Tournament rather quickly. The team is looking to win their first conference title in three years.
The typical collegiate tennis contest consists of six singles matches and three doubles matches. Fortunately for Clemson’s sake, both the men’s and women’s teams are well-rounded and diverse enough in terms of player skill sets that the Tigers should be able to advance far into the postseason.
As one of the ACC’s premier tennis programs, Clemson is among the best in the conference on the men’s and women’s sides in 2017 and could very well compete for the league title in both.
