Last week, in the final event of the fall season, only two Tigers received invitations to play in the ITA Sectionals draw in Chapel Hill, North Carolina — Noa Vukadin and Maxwell Smith — and they were determined to make the most of it.
Vukadin and Smith’s weekend in North Carolina proved to be a testament to their character. In the main doubles draw, the Tigers lost a heartbreaker as the ranked Wake Forest team of Dhakshineswar Suresh and Ioannis Xilas won 10-7 in a third-set tiebreak.
Despite the loss, Vukadin and Smith were unphased and level-headed following the defeat.
“We believed in ourselves as a team,” Smith said in an interview with The Tiger. “There was no doubt that we could win the next matches.”
And he was right. The Clemson pairing won its next three matches without dropping a set on the duo’s way to becoming champions of the doubles consolation draw.
“When we get on the court, we know it’s business time for both of us,” Vukadin said. “We try to have high energy and try to maintain that, and I feel like that gets us through a lot of matches.”
On their travels to the trophy, the Tigers took down the No. 28-ranked doubles team in the semifinals and the No. 24-ranked doubles team in the final. In the preseason in August, Vukadin and Smith were ranked No. 5 in the country in doubles.
“It felt really good, and we were really confident,” Vukadin said, “but at the same time, it’s a different kind of pressure being four or five in the country.”
Only the top 32 singles players and the top 16 doubles teams in the section receive invitations at sectionals. While Vukadin and Smith admitted they missed traveling with the team, there was much to learn from playing with the best of the best.
“To know that your level is there with them, that you are a part of that high-level group and just to keep working,” Smith said. “It’s really motivating to see yourself there and want to keep that level.”
In a competition featuring many familiar ACC opponents, Smith and Vukadin got a glimpse of what the Tigers’ spring campaign has in store. But as a senior amid his last dance, the chemistry that Smith has found on the court with Vukadin couldn’t have come at a better time.
“Our games fit together like a perfect puzzle piece for doubles,” Smith said. It’s been a good year and a half so far, we are looking to make the most of this last little bit,”
“I really can’t picture myself playing with anyone else,” Vukadin said. “It’s gonna be tough when he leaves.”
After a dominant fall season, the Tigers have head coach Brandon Wagner and assistant coaches Austin Rapp and Sander Koning to thank for their success.
“The three best coaches I have ever worked with,” Smith said. “Having them on the court with us is just as important as me and Vukadin showing up to play our matches.”
Yet, as Vukadin, Smith and the rest of the team began preparing for the fall, there was just one message Clemson’s top doubles team wanted everyone to hear: come out to Duckworth Tennis Facility and support this spring!
