No one wants to play Duke or the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in March. But for Clemson, it was just another day at the office.
Clemson served up a 4-0 trouncing of UNC on Friday, March 14, before taking down No. 13 Duke 4-2 on Sunday, March 16. At 17-1 (6-0 ACC), Clemson men’s tennis has its best season since 1969. Everything’s coming up Clemson, yet Brandon Wagner’s squad is unphased and levelheaded — the goal is glory.
One thing was abundantly clear this past weekend: the team’s doubles identity. No. 31-ranked Noa Vukadin and Maxwell Smith won both of their doubles sets, propelling Clemson to the doubles point on both occasions. When Clemson’s No. 1 doubles line caught fire, the energy became contagious.
“There’s guys on the team that are more energetic than others and let it out more than others. But it 100% helps each and every one (of us) to feed off of what’s going well on the other courts,” Smith said.
As a bonafide leader and energizer, Smith boiled his doubles style down to three words: aggressive, creative and athletic. Against Duke, Smith sought refuge at the net. A few of his reflex volleys even surprised himself, Smith added with a laugh.
Luckily for Smith and Vukadin, they are accompanied by the best cleanup crew in the ACC. Against UNC, it was Wissam Abderrahman and Romain Gales with the clinch. Against Duke, Max Damm and Viktor Markov closed the door on the Blue Devils, in a tiebreak no less.
“A lot of the guys want the matches to come down to them, so I was happy. I wanted it to come down to me. I wanted to be the one winning it, and I think my teammates trust me a lot, and I trust them a lot,” Damm said after his clutch win.
Damm described his doubles style as aggressive, fast and energetic, yet another ode to the high pace that tennis head coach Brandon Wagner is fostering.
Against UNC, sizzling straight-set singles victories from Marko Mesarovic, Smith and Markov saw the Tigers rapidly capitalize on the doubles point. But against the Blue Devils, the dealings weren’t so straightforward.
Four of six Tigers lost their first set in singles. Abderrahman and Vukadin both suffered quick, straight-set defeats as Duke pulled back two points. Smith was the only Tiger to earn a straight-set victory.
“Play aggressive in the big moments, and the rest will take care of itself,” Damm said.
And when it mattered most, orange and purple reigned supreme. Mesarovic and Markov both clawed back after losing the first set. Mesarovic and Markov, playing on separate courts, mirrored each other’s success by winning their second and third sets with identical 6-4, 6-3 scores.
“If we show up and compete as a team, it’s more than enough to get the job done,” Smith said. “And for us, showing up and competing for each other is the easy part.”
With every passing week, Clemson’s season becomes more historical than the previous week. This past week, the Tigers’ dominant 4-0 victory over UNC marked their first sweep of the Tar Heels since 1997, snapping a decades-long drought emphatically. However, historical may not be the word to fully encompass the team’s accomplishments so far, but magical is more fitting.
With its pair of wins this weekend, the team is sitting on a nine-match win streak, a feat bolstered by the fact that weekend opponents UNC and Duke are both nationally ranked No. 58 and No. 13, respectively. Further, the Tigers are currently one of only two NCAA teams with less than two losses — and they sit among elite company: No. 1 Wake Forest (23-0).
But above records and rankings, the Tigers find respite in their loyal fans. Even during Clemson’s spring break, the bleachers were rowdy.
“Getting a good crowd was amazing. They were supportive and loud. It’s always good to be home and protect the house,” Smith said.
Next week, the Tigers are taking something of a spring break themselves as they head down to Florida. A Friday matchup against No. 37 Florida State in Tallahassee precedes a Sunday matchup against No. 34 Miami. With the Tiger’s No. 16 ranking, nine-game win streak and elite 17-1 record, there is a lot to be already proud of.
But Smith made the team’s agenda clear.
“We want more.”
