CARY, N.C. – The Clemson Tigers continued its strong play on Day 2 of ITA Regionals as Ryuhei Azuma, Teodor Giusca and Spencer Whitaker all won their singles matches on their respective courts, putting them in the round of 16. The three Tiger teams won five of their six doubles matches on the day. Jorge Plans Gonzalez put up a great fight on his court but ultimately dropped the match to highly ranked Taha Baadi. Whitaker continued playing well as he took down Salvestre, who was ranked as high as 58th in the world for players under 18 while Azuma beat Staeheli, the third ranked player on the 2021 newcomers list for college freshmen.
*Freshman Tiger Nini Dica was the fifth ranked player on the newcomers list.*
“It was another really good day for the program,” said Head Coach Robbie Weiss. “Spencer played another fantastic match pulling out a 6-4 win in the third over an NC State freshman who is one of the top recruits in the world. Ryuhei beat another top recruit from NC State playing excellent tennis while Teo dominated his opponent from Duke. Jorge lost a hard fought match against a player from Wake Forest. It is exciting to have three players in the round of 16 in singles. They all competed beautifully and are making some big strides with their games. We also won five of our six doubles matches today to close out a fantastic day at Regionals.”
SINGLES
Ryuhei Azuma (17-32) def. Luca Staeheli (5) (NC State) 6-4, 6-2
Teodor Giusca (13) def. Niroop Vallabhaneni (Duke) 6-2, 6-3
Spencer Whitaker def. Damien Salvestre (15) (NC State) 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
Taha Baadi (7) (Wake Forest) def. Jorge Plans Gonzalez (17-32) 6-1, 7-6 (3)
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