For the first time since 2014, the Clemson men’s tennis team took down the No. 17-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks on home court. The match, which took place on Friday, Feb. 7, was the team’s second 7-0 sweep of the season.
To kick off the night, doubles partners Max Damm and Viktor Markov faced Jelani Sarr and Atakan Karahan of South Carolina, where the Tigers fell short 6-2. This wasn’t the end, though, as Clemson’s Wissam Abderrahman and Romain Gales took down Casey Hoole and Sean Daryabeigi 6-3 to even the playing field.
The first team point was now reliant on the matchup of Lucas da Silva and Connor Thomson against Noa Vukadin and Max Smith of Clemson, who were able to come out on top with a 6-4 win over their competitors. After doubles, the Tigers were up 1-0.
Marko Mesarovic opened up singles by pouncing on South Carolina’s Sarr, winning 6-4, 6-1 to start the Tigers off with a roar. Over on court No. 6, Smith started off slow with a first-set score of down 6-3 against Karahan. However, without letting up, the Tiger was able to take the next two sets confidently, 6-3 and 6-1, continuing the sweep.
The next win was brought by Abderrahman, who defeated Hoole 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, marking another strong comeback for the Tigers. Following this, Gales went head-to-head against then-No. 66-ranked Daryabeigi, winning the first set 7-5. The Gamecock took the second set 6-3, but Gales’ grit was able to secure a win in the third set, 6-2.
Court No. 3 held a matchup between the orange-and-purple-donned Markov and South Carolina’s da Silva. Markov added to Clemson’s score by gaining a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win, pushing the Tigers further to the opportunity to sweep South Carolina for the first time since 1995.
Once again facing each other, Vukadin battled Thomson in singles this time. As the final match of the night, Vukadin did not let up on bringing the heat to the Gamecock athlete. Proudly representing the Tigers, Vukadin was able to take his competitor down 7-5, 2-6, 6-1 to secure an undeniable defeat over South Carolina.
By the end of the night, the Tigers had secured seven points in comparison to South Carolina’s zero, making it the first time in 30 years that the Tigers swept the Gamecocks.
