Following the release of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s updated rankings last week, Clemson’s Max Smith and Noa Vukadin soared from a No. 32 ranking in the spring to the No. 5 doubles team in the nation. Their No.5 ranking is the highest preseason rank for any men’s doubles team in Clemson history.
The duo finished last season with a 16-11 record, but towards the end of the spring season, it was clear that they had found their groove. Vukadin and Smith picked up momentum when they beat the No. 14 doubles team, Antoine Chauvin and Joshua Karpenschif of Florida State, in late March.
Following their upset, Vukadin and Smith came out on top in three of their next four matches before earning a crucial win over the No. 8 duo, Sebastian Dominko and Jean-Marc Malkowski, in a huge first-round triumph over Notre Dame in the ACC Championship.
Beyond Vukadin and Smith, this week was big for Clemson doubles in another way. On Thursday, Aug. 29, former Clemson player Luke Johnson played in the first round of the U.S Open men’s doubles tournament with Uruguayan teammate Ariel Behar in New York City.
However, Clemson’s success in doubles goes back further than this. Alumna Gigi Fernandez won All-American honors in singles and doubles in the 1982-83 season, eventually going on to reach No. 1 in the world in doubles. She won 69 career doubles titles, including 17 Grand Slams and two gold medals.
Before Vukadin and Smith’s top-five rank, Kent Kinnear and Vincent Van Gelderen held the record for the highest preseason doubles rank at No. 7. After his time at Clemson, Kinnear won four doubles titles on tour and ranked as high as No. 24 in doubles.
Smith and Vukadin’s strength as a doubles team will set Clemson up for an exciting year, but the Tigers are also a force to be reckoned with in singles play. Recent rankings put Clemson’s Wissam Abderrahman at No. 51, jumping over 50 spots from his No. 102 rank in the spring.
Vukadin’s versatility will be valuable for Clemson this season. In the ACC playoffs last year, he was the only Tiger to win his singles match against Notre Dame and No. 2 Virginia. Meanwhile, sophomores Marko Mesarovic and Stewart Aronson look to build on their freshman seasons.
The Tigers are back on the court for the Southern Intercollegiates in Athens, Georgia, on Sept. 13.
