CLEMSON, S.C. – The Clemson men’s tennis team (10-7, 1-4 ACC) forced tiebreakers in all three doubles matches and pushed in singles but ultimately came up short against No. 15 Duke (12-5, 5-1 ACC) on Friday night, 7-0.
Despite the Blue Devils having two ranked doubles pairs, the Tigers played great tennis, pushing every court to a tiebreaker as Courts 1 and 2 ultimately fell to give Duke the doubles point. Trey Stinchcomb and Max Smith were down 5-2 on Court 2 and extended the match to 6-6 before it went unfinished.
Duke took its momentum into singles play, winning matches on Courts 5, 3, 6 and 2 before Jorge Plans Gonzalez forced a third set for a battle on Court 2. Despite his best efforts he was unable to secure the victory. Ryuhei Azuma impressed on Court 1, pushing No. 17 Garrett Johns to a 10 point tiebreak after two hard-fought sets, losing a heartbreaker, 13-11 to give Duke the 7-0 win.
Up next, the Tigers will host No. 11 North Carolina on Sunday at noon at the Duckworth Family Tennis Facility.
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