Clemson Participating in ITA Carolina Regional

Oct. 15, 2011

CHAPEL HILL, NC – The Clemson Men’s Tennis Team is in action in the ITA Carolina regional at Chapel Hill, NC. This tournament includes players from all over the ACC area and a variety of Southern Conference teams.

Two Tigers advanced to the third round. Sophomore Gerardo Meza pulled out two hard fought wins to reach the third round. Meza defeated ATP-ranked Swiss player Raphael Hemmeler of Duke 7-6(7) 4-6 6-3 in first round action. Meza defeated Leo Christofides of Coastal Carolina 6-7(4) 7-5 6-3 in the second round. He will face the #8 seed Dominic Hodgson of NC State in the third round.

Tiger Junior Yannick Maden reached the first round after a first round bye and a 6-0, 6-1 win over Thomas Rees of UNC-Asheville. He will play South Carolina freshman Andrew Adams in the third round.

“Meza survived the second round and I hope he will build on his success for tomorrow’s match against Hodgson,” said Clemson Head Coach Chuck McCuen. Yannick took care of business being the last match on after a long day of waiting. He looked sharp and will be tested against South Carolina freshman Adams,” said McCuen.

Two other Tigers also played in the 96-player draw in singles. Sophomore Dominique Maden won his first round match over Ben Barnette of South Carolina 6-4 7-5. He later fell in the second round to David Hopkins of Wake Forest 6-3 6-1.

Tiger Junior Zachary Rigsby advanced to the second round before suffering a defeat. He defeated Kosta Blank of UNC-Wilmington 5-7, 6-0, 6-4, before losing his second round match 6-4, 6-0, to Amogh Prabhakar of Wake Forest.

In the doubles tournament, the tandem of Yannick Maden and Zachary Rigsby are still alive and will compete in the round of 16 against the Duke team of Jason Tahir and David Holland.