Clemson men’s tennis continued its streak of dominance this Sunday, defending their home courts with a win over Eastern Tennessee State. Although the 6-1 box score may not indicate so, the match was hard-fought from beginning to end.
Clemson head coach Robbie Weiss had high praise for the Buccaneers.
“They’re very good, they came in here and beat us a couple years ago,” he said after the match. “They can play as you can see the match was tight.”
This is Clemson’s first 3-0 start under Weiss who is “not surprised” by the Tigers’ early success.
“I sort of expected us to be 3-0 at this point, but with Eastern Tennessee State you never know,” he said.
The match kicked off with Clemson victories on doubles’ courts one and three. Ryuhei Azuma and Spencer Whitaker (6-3) took care of business on court one. Meanwhile, Jorge Plans Gonzales and Max Smith (7-5) had a grueling win on court three.
Teodor Giusca, Clemson’s nationally-ranked senior, returned to singles action for the first time this season, defeating his opponent (6-4, 6-4) on court one.
“It’s nice having Teo in the lineup, no question.” Weiss aid. “You can always rely on Teo being a tough out for opponents. Would rather have him in than out with an injury.”
Giusca, Azuma (6-4, 6-2), and Maxwell Smith (6-2, 6-1) had no troubles on the singles’ courts. On the other side of things, Jorge Plans Gonzales (6-2, 7-5) and Spencer Whitaker (6-3, 7-5) flirted with tiebreakers, while Matt Pitts (6-4, 2-6, 6-10) suffered his first defeat of the season in a tiebreaker.
Although the team had success, Weiss knows that the team has a few things to work on.
“The last two matches we’ve had struggles with some mental dips: starting off strong, getting sloppy early in the second set,” he said. “We definitely have to clean that up. I was hoping we’d do a better job today, but it was the same pattern we’ve seen.”
This was Clemson’s fifth-ever matchup with ETSU and its fourth win.
Clemson’s men’s team will now embark on a month-long road trip, travelling to Waco, Texas, for the ITA Kickoff Weekend. There, they will face the University of Miami and with a win, they have the opportunity to play No. 2 Baylor.
Clemson’s next home match will be Feb. 13, where they’ll face off against North Florida.
