In a weekend that marked the halfway point of the regular season, Clemson men’s tennis went 3-0 in matches against Louisville, Notre Dame and Gardner-Webb. Friday’s match against Louisville was the Tigers’ ACC opener, while Sunday’s victory over Notre Dame built a 2-0 start in conference play.
The word of the weekend for the Tigers was domination. A 4-0 sweep over Louisville was just the prequel at Duckworth Family Tennis Facility. The sequel was Tiger Tennis Fest, a Sunday doubleheader that saw the Tigers manhandle the Fighting Irish 4-2 in the early afternoon before dismantling Gardner-Webb 4-1.
However, for the pairing of Noa Vukadin and Maxwell Smith, the word of the weekend was consistency. The No. 44-ranked duo guarded doubles court No. 1 with their lives, winning with a score of 6-1 against all of their weekend opponents.
“Everything is clicking for us right now, and it’s not forced. Just flowing together as a team and feeling so confident,” Smith said.
Vukadin and Smith’s 6-1 trifecta ultimately led the Tigers to the doubles point on two out of three occasions, with Notre Dame as the sole outlier. The No. 35-ranked Fighting Irish, a squad surely fueled by last year’s loss to Clemson in the first round of the ACC Tournament, took the doubles point and were quickly up 2-0 after No. 39-ranked Sebastian Dominko beat Vukadin in singles in straight sets.
However, Brandon Wagner’s team wasn’t slow to respond. Marko Mesarovic and Smith evened the score with a straight-set singles victory each. A Viktor Markov comeback win from one set down put the Tigers up 3-2 before Wissam Abderrahman clinched the win and killed the fight in the Fighting Irish.
“Everything is clear in my mind. I know my gameplan, I know what to do on court, especially in the important moments,” Abderrahman said.
The French sophomore had a weekend to remember. No. 90-ranked Abderrahman won six of six singles sets, winning a combined 37 games to his opponent’s 13. Abderrahman wasn’t the only Tiger to impress in singles, though. Mesarovic, Smith, Markov and Romain Gales all joined Abderrahman in the weekend’s prestigious undefeated singles club.
As the perfect ending to the Tigers’ happy tale, Italian freshman Edoardo Chérié Lignière stepped onto the court for the first time in the spring season in the Tigers’ final match against Gardner-Webb. As a substitute for Markov, Chérié Lignière earned his first clinch as a Tiger with a 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 victory on Court No. 6 over Boyd Schreiber.
“It’s great to see him on the court playing — one of my favorite guys. He has a great head on his shoulders, works hard and is another guy on the team that you want to see play well and succeed. You trust him when he’s on the court,” Smith said about his teammate.
This past weekend, the Tigers were introduced to two things: ACC opponents and the month of March. The Tigers have 12 matches remaining in the regular season, and 11 come against ACC opponents. Further, in the month of March alone, the Tigers are tasked with No. 1 Wake Forest, No. 10 NC State, No. 15 Duke, No. 27 FSU, No. 30 Miami and No. 63 SMU.
“The preparation started when we got on campus in August. It’s just a constant reiteration of belief within ourselves and in each other that we are working hard enough and playing well enough,” Smith said.
Now, the Tigers take to the road as they are set to square off with Boston College on Friday and SMU on Sunday.
“Just staying in the present, match by match. Prepare well every week, practicing well, staying mentally tough and just let the work speak for itself,” Abderrahman said.
