CARY, N.C. – The No. 5 preseason ranked duo of Max Smith and Noa Vukadin impressed at the ITA Carolina Regionals as they completed their doubles run on Monday as they were tabbed runner-up’s in the final round of the main doubles draw.
Starting the tournament off strong, Smith and Vukadin dominated in the round of 64 earning a 8-3 win over UNC Asheville’s Freddy Murray and Cian Ingles. The Clemson duo continued to prevail as they picked up wins in the round of 32 and the round of 16 to give them a spot in the quarterfinals.
In the quarterfinals, Smith and Vukadin defeated the Wake Forest duo of Dhakshineswar Suresh and Ioannis Xilas, 8-3 to advance to the semifinals. Smith and Vukadin tabbed their fifth win in-a-row as they took down the No. 28 preseason ranked Duke pairing of Pedro Rodenas and Gerard Planelles Ripoll in an impressive 6-3, 6-4 victory which secured their spot in the doubles finals.
In the finals, Clemson was set to take on Luciano Tacchi and Luca Pow from Wake Forest. Despite winning the first set 6-3, Smith and Vukadin dropped the second set 1-6 and headed to the super tie-breaker. The Demon Deacon duo took the tie-breaker 11-9 and took the victory over the Tigers.
Smith and Vukadin still have the opportunity to secure a spot in the NCAA Championships as they will prepare to compete in NCAA Sectionals starting on November 7.
In singles, Vukadin also impressed as he secured three wins in-a-row to advance to the quarterfinals of the main draw. Marko Mesarovic and Wissam Abderrahman advanced through the round of 16.
For complete coverage of the Clemson men’s tennis team, follow @ClemsonMTennis on Twitter and Instagram.
FULL RESULTS
Doubles
Round of 64
- Smith/Vukadin (CU) def. Murray/Ingles (UNC Asheville), 8-3
- Damm/Markov (CU) def. Dias/Lemieux-Monette (Gardner-Webb), 8-5
- M. Pitts/N. Pitts (CU) def. Rojas/Gaedechens, 8-4
- Abderrahman/Gales (CU) def. Avram/Henceroth (South Carolina), 8(8)-7(6)
- Aronson/Mesarovic (CU) def. Novakovic/Benchakroun (SC State), 8-6
Round of 32
- Smith/Vukadin (CU) def. Brown/Jayaraman (Duke), 8-5
- Damm/Markov (CU) def. Mangiapane/Zu (UNC), 8-6
- M. Pitts/N. Pitts (CU) def. J.Krug/C. Krug (Duke), 8-5
- Mazev/Shalmi (Wake Forest) def. Abderrahman/Gales (CU), 8-5
- Winegar/Landau (Duke) def. Aronson/Mesarovic (CU
Round of 16
- Smith/Vukadin (CU) def. Zapp/Wright (UNC), 8-3
- Damm/Markov (CU) def. Andrade/Sarr (South Carolina), 8-6
- Tacchi/Pow (Wake Forest) def. M. Pitts/N. Pitts (CU) 8-2
Quarterfinals
- Smith/Vukadin (CU) def. Suresh/Xilas (Wake…