A select few Clemson tennis players received invitations to the Mercer Gridiron Classic this weekend — an invitation Stewart Aronson and Nathan Pitts were determined to make the most of.
Both players reached the championship match of their respective singles draw, with Aronson earning a victory after a near-perfect weekend. Pitts capped off a strong weekend when his final came down to a nail-biting, winner-takes-all third set.
In Flight A1, the tournament’s most challenging draw, Stewart Aronson brought his A game. Aronson coasted through his first three matches without even coming close to dropping a set. Through his first six sets of tennis, Aronson had accumulated an overall game score of 36-12 over his opponents.
Aronson’s impressive display saw him serving in the final against Mercer University’s Hod’Abalo Isak Padio. With a 6-4 score in the first set, Isak Padio became the first person to take a set from Aronson all weekend. But the match was far from over — Aronson came back, winning the following two sets 7-5 and 6-4 and proving himself worthy of his No. 1 rank in the draw.
Meanwhile, Nathan Pitts was active in Flight A2. The freshman battled through three matches for a chance at the championship — a journey that included a second-round comeback from one set down. The racquet of Mercer University’s Amen Prince Gandonou greeted Pitts in the final, where Pitts came out of the gates strong to win the first set 6-3. Gandonou would rally to win the second set 7-5, forcing a deciding third set.
The tension was tangible as Pitts searched for momentum, eventually falling in a 7-5 third-set thriller to Gandonou.
Other Clemson invitees, Kaetan Mehta and Max Damm, lost in the second and first rounds, respectively, but reunited with Pitts and Aronson to compete in the Flight A doubles draw.
Aronson and Damm were listed as the No. 1 doubles team in the draw, and it quickly became evident why. Aronson and Damm won their first two matches with a score of 6-4 in each to find themselves in the semifinals. When the duo looked across the other side of the draw, their teammates had also fought their way to the semifinals.
As the squad competed for an all-Clemson final, Pitts and Mehta went to a tiebreak against Jacksonville State’s Alin Fatu and Marko Milosavljevic, eventually losing 7-5.
Aronson and Damm convincingly took down Fatu and Milosavljevic 6-2 in the doubles championship match. The win concluded a successful weekend for the Tigers, but hardly anyone was happier than Aronson. Winning eight out of nine sets of singles and four out of four sets of doubles, Aronson returned from Georgia undefeated with a singles and doubles title under his belt.
Head coach Brandon Wagner has hope that his team can retain as much of the weekend’s momentum as they head into a busy week. With the start of the Louisville $25K Futures event on Monday, Oct. 7, and the upcoming ITA Regionals in Cary, North Carolina, on Oct. 10, the Tigers have their hands full.
