Tigers Earn 4-2 Victory Over No. 11 Duke

CLEMSON, S.C. – The No. 24 Clemson Tigers (17-1, 6-0) top the No. 11 Duke Blue Devils, 4-2 in a thrilling Sunday afternoon match at the Duckworth Family Tennis Facility. Clemson officially handed Duke (12-4, 5-1) their first conference loss of the season as the Tigers increase their ACC record to 6-0. 

In doubles, Max Smith and Noa Vukadin opened up the scoring for the Tigers with an impressive 6-3 victory over the No. 30 ranked doubles team Theo Winegar and Pedro Rodenas. In a thrilling tie break, Max Damm and Victor Markov defeated the No. 71 ranked duo Cooper Williams and Andreja Petrovic 7-6 (7-5) to secure the doubles point for Clemson.

Wissam Abderrahman and Romain Gales were leading their match 6-6 (3-0) against Remy Dugardin and Gerard Planelles Ripoll in a tie break on court three. 

In singles, Abderrahman and Vukadin dropped their matches to bring the score to 2-1 for the Blue Devils. To even the score, Max Smith defeated Saahith Jayaraman 7-5, 6-3. 

Marko Mesarovic successfully mounted a comeback on court four against Conner Krug and won 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. Seconds after, Viktor Markov clinched the match for the Tigers in another comeback win over Andreja Petrovic with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory.

With the win, Clemson is one of two NCAA Division I teams to have fewer than two losses this season. Duke becomes the third top 25 ranked team that Clemson has defeated as they also toppled then-No. 16 Michigan State and then-No. 17 South Carolina.

Up next, the No. 24 Tigers hit the road to take on Florida State on Friday, March 21 at 5:00 pm EST. For complete coverage of the Clemson men’s tennis team, follow @ClemsonMTennis on X and Instagram.

RESULTS: 

No. 24 Clemson (17-1), 4 vs No. 11 Duke (12-4), 2

Doubles

1. No. 56 Smith/Vukadin (CU) def. No. 30 Winegar/Rodenas (DU), 6-3
2. Damm/Markov (CU) def. No 71 Williams/Petrovic (DU), 7-6 (7-5)
3. Abderrahman/Gales (CU) vs. Dugardin/Ripoll (DU), 6-6 (3-0)

Order of Finish: 1, 2

Singles

1. No. 35 Pedro Rodenas (DU) def. No. 84 Wissam Abderrahman (CU), 6-3, 6-1
2. No. 66 Cooper Williams (DU) def. No. 58 Noa Vukadin (CU), 6-4, 6-1
3. Viktor Markov (CU) def. Andreja Petrovic (DU), 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
4. Marko Mesarovic (CU) def. Conner Krug (DU), 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
5. Romain Gales (CU) vs. Remy Dugardin (DU), 6-3, 3-6, 5-5 uf
6. Max Smith (CU) def. Saahith Jayaraman (DU), 7-5, 6-3

Order of Finish: 1, 2, 6, 4, 3