Giusca/Liu Pick Up First Ranked Doubles Win as Tigers Fall to Duke

Box Score

Clemson, S.C. — The Clemson men’s tennis team (5-6, 1-3 ACC) dropped a 4-3 decision to Duke (6-4, 2-0 ACC) on Sunday afternoon. In the match, Teodor Giusca and Yizhou Liu defeated their first ranked doubles pair.

Giusca and Liu topped No. 55 Sean Scully and Garrett Johns, 6-2, on center-court to put the Tigers up 1-0 in doubles. A loss at No. 3 gave promise to Duke, however, Spencer Whitaker and Ryuhei Azuma held on to clinch the point for Clemson, 7-6 (7-4), at line two. 

Despite taking doubles, the Tigers dropped four-straight singles matches to seal the Blue Devil victory. Azuma picked up a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 victory on Court 2 and Jorge Plans Gonzalez held on to defeat his opponent at No. 6, 5-7, 7-5, 10-6. 

Of Note:

• Teodor Giusca and Yizhou Liu defeat their first ranked doubles team to improve to 1-2 this season
• Spencer Whitaker and Ryuhei Azuma remain undefeated as a doubles pair (3-0)
• Jorge Plans Gonzalez and Ryuhei Azuma each snap two-match losing streaks in singles
• The Tigers fall to 33-46 all-time against Duke

Up Next:

The Tigers are back in action next weekend at The Duckworth Family Tennis Facility when they host Georgia Tech on Friday at 5 p.m.