Clemson men’s tennis faced No. 30 Miami on Saturday in its last home match of the season, ultimately falling to the Hurricanes 4-2.  

The Tigers took the initial doubles point, but fell to a 3-1 deficit after losing three consecutive singles’ matches. The match was then in the hands of Clemson’s Jorge Plans Gonzalez, Ryuhei Azuma and Teodor Giusca, who had to finish their singles’ matches.  

Down 3-1, the Tigers needed a clean sweep in the last three singles matches to defeat the Hurricanes.

On court three, Plans Gonzalez faced Miami’s Benjamin Hannestad, dictating play with his serve and return. He used his energetic style of play to take home the match in the third set. Plans Gonzalez hit all the right shots from the net and the back of the court, which allowed him to get the win, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3. 

Now down 3-2 to the Hurricanes, the Tigers looked to replicate the 3-1 comeback they staged against Florida State just two days prior.

Meanwhile, Clemson’s Ryuhei Azuma faced Miami’s Dan Martin on court one.  

Martin clinched the first set 6-3, however, Azuma’s consistent play from the baseline and precision kept the match close. Converting on key points and maintaining depth of shot wallowed Azuma to win the second set, 7-5. 

After splitting sets Azuma fell behind in the third set, down 2-3. Unable to recapture the lead, he eventually lost to Martin 3-6, 7-5, 4-6. After finding his serve, Martin was able to use pace to move Azuma and wear him down. 

Martin’s win gave the Hurricanes the victory over the Tigers, 4-2. 

This Miami victory ended Giusca’s match with Miami’s Bojan Jankulovski. Giusca showed amiable effort, as they were in the midst of a third set.  

With the loss to the Hurricanes, Clemson men’s tennis finished their regular season with an 11-13 record (2-10 ACC).