The Clemson Tigers suffered their first loss of the season at the hands of Illinois on Saturday as the Fighting Illini (3-2) took a 4-3 win at Atkins Tennis Center in Urbana, Illinois.
After starting 8-0 for the first time since 2010, the Tigers moved to 8-1 following the defeat.
The Tigers earned the doubles point behind two rapid-fire victories on courts No. 1 and No. 2. Noa Vukadin and Maxwell Smith, ranked No. 36, held on to a break to take down Mathis Debru and Kenta Miyoshi, 6-4. Shortly after, Max Damm and Viktor Markov followed suit with a 6-4 victory of their own.
Despite their doubles dominance, the Tigers fell victim to a deep Illinois singles rotation. Markov lost 6-4, 6-4 to Jeremy Zhang, while Marko Mesarovic earned the Tigers’ second point of the afternoon in a straight-set victory. After dropping the first set against No. 79 ranked Tyler Bowers, Romain Gales forced a second-set tiebreak. Bowers needed 10 points to overcome Gales in the tiebreak as he earned the Illini’s second point, evening the score 2-2.
On the three remaining singles courts, Smith, Vukadin and Wissam Abderrahman shared the spoils in the first two sets with their respective opponents. Of the three singles matches that required a third set, Abderrahman was the first to get off the court — and he did so with a victory. Despite losing the first set 6-4, Abderrahman found another gear as he won two straight sets to complete a comeback over No. 42-ranked William Mroz.
The last two players on the court were Vukadin and Smith, the same pairing that took down Debru and Miyoshi in doubles earlier in the day. In an almost comical coincidence, Smith squared off with Debru while Vukadin duked it out with Miyoshi. Debru got the last laugh over Smith as a late break proved fatal. Debru’s 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 win evened the score at 3-3 with court No. 1 amidst the deciding set.
After Vukadin stole the first set 7-5, No. 13-ranked Miyoshi caught fire. The Japanese junior took the second set 6-4 before he ultimately took the deciding third set to a high-stakes tiebreak. With the match on his racquet, Miyoshi proved worthy of his rank as he completed the comeback over No. 51-ranked Vukadin and put a nail in Clemson’s coffin.
Despite the loss, the Tigers sit at a formidable 8-1 in a season that has been nothing short of historic thus far. The Tigers will be back at the Duckworth Family Tennis Facility for a Sunday doubleheader against UNC Wilmington and next-door neighbor Furman.
