Tigers Improve to 4-0 with Wins Over Appalachian State & Coastal Carolina Saturday

CLEMSON, S.C. – The Clemson men’s tennis team defeated Appalachian State 6-1 and Coastal Carolina 4-1 on Saturday at the Duckworth Family Tennis Facility. With the win, the Tigers improved to 4-0 on the young season, while the Mountaineers dropped to 1-3 and the Chanticleers to 0-1 with their respective losses.

Clemson 6, Appalachian State 1
The Tigers won the doubles point with wins by Mike Agee and Pierre-Louis Dodens at No. 3 (6-3) and Simon Baudry and Yizhou Liu at No. 1 (6-2). In singles play, the first four Clemson players won in straight sets, Dodens at No. 5, Teodor Giusca at No. 2, Baudry at No. 1 and Liu at No. 3, in that order. Carlos Kelaidis provided the sixth point of the match for the Tigers, winning 6-7(5), 6-3, 1-0(10-7).

Photos by Emily Goad:

Clemson 4, Coastal Carolina 1
Doubles play was highly competitive between the two teams, with two of the three courts reaching tiebreaks. Ultimately, the Tigers prevailed, as Giusca and Kelaidis defeated their Chanticleer opponent 7-6(2) at No. 2, and then Agee and Dodens clinching the doubles point with a 7-6(6) win at No. 3. Clemson won three of the first four singles matches to clinch the victory. Kelaidis (6-3, 6-2 at No. 5), Dodens (6-1, 6-2 at No. 4) and Giusca (7-5, 6-3 at No. 3) each earned singles wins in the contest.

Photos by Melina Alberti:

“What an atmosphere tonight! We are thankful to our Clemson Family who came out big for our matches today. We are proud of the whole team for how they competed together all day, whether playing or supporting. I loved our energy in doubles versus Coastal Carolina, and how Teo, Carlos, Pierre and Mike stayed composed in their tiebreakers. Pierre had a complete day and really helped our team gain and keep momentum in both matches. Teo showed his grit coming back to win the first set after being down 1-5. We are excited to play Elon Tuesday and hope to have another big crowd for that match.”

OF NOTE

• Two Tigers, freshman Teodor Giusca and junior Carlos Kelaidis, are now 4-0 in singles play through the first four matches.
• Juniors Pierre-Louis Dodens and Yizhou Liu are also undefeated in singles play, at 3-0.
• The duo of Dodens and freshman Mike Agee is 4-0 at No. 3 doubles, while Giusca and Kelaidis are also undefeated, at 3-0, at No. 2 doubles on the season.
• The Tigers are 19-3 overall in singles matches on the young season, and 10-1 in doubles matches.
• Clemson is 4-0 to start the season for the first time since 2017. That year, the team opened the season at 7-0.

UP NEXT
The Tigers host Elon on Tuesday, Jan. 29 at 5 p.m. at the Duckworth Family Tennis Facility. It will be the team’s fifth-straight home match to open the season, and also their final home match until March 1, as the team will be on the road for seven matches during the month of February.