CARY, N.C. – Sophomore Simon Baudry earned a top-25 upset at No. 1 singles, and the Clemson men’s tennis team made it difficult for 29th-ranked Duke, but the Blue Devils hung on for a 4-2 victory over the Tigers in the second round of the ACC Championships on Thursday evening at the Cary Tennis Park in Cary, N.C.
The Blue Devils opened doubles play with a 6-3 win at No. 3, while play was extremely tight on Courts 2 and 3. At No. 2, Carlos Kelaidis and Yizhou Liutraded points with Duke’s Sculley and Stachowiak until the score was 5-5, before the Blue Devil duo won the next two points to claim the team doubles point. At No. 1 doubles, Clemson’s 67th-ranked pair of Simon Baudry and Alex Favrot were in a battle against 37th-ranked Alvarez and Mateas of Duke, and were tied 6-6, trailing 2-5 in the tiebreak, when play was abandoned.
Duke won in straight sets at No. 4 and No. 6 singles, in that order, to take a quick 3-0 lead in the team score. Baudry, who was facing the nation’s 17th-ranked singles player Carlos Alvarez at No. 1 singles, pulled of a tremendous upset, winning 6-3, 6-2. It was Baudry’s first-ever win over a top-25 player in the ITA rankings. Sam Edwards brought the Tigers to within one point, a 2-3 deficit, with a 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 5 singles. With play ongoing at No. 2 and No. 3 singles, the Tigers needed to win both matches, while the Blue Devils needed just one win, which they got at No. 3, in three sets. Favrot was tied 7-6(4), 3-6 and heading to a third-set at No. 2 singles when play was abandoned.
With the loss, the Tigers concluded their 2018 campaign at 10-13. The Blue Devils improved to 16-12, and advance to Friday’s ACC Quarterfinals to face No. 3-seed Florida State.
