CARY, N.C. – In the second day of ITA Regionals, the Clemson Tigers impressed in their doubles performances as all three duos took down two rounds of opponents to advance them to the round of 16.
“We were in position in our singles matches today to take them but didn’t come up quite good enough in some important moments, but we will learn from it,” Head Coach Brandon Wagner said. “6-0 today in doubles, so definitely a great step in the right direction for this group from the first tournament of the fall. The guys are competing well and looking forward to the challenge tomorrow against some stiffer competition.”
The duo of Noa Vukadin and Maxwell Smith earned their first victory of the day against UNC Wilmington’s Gabriel Hurtado and Jordi Domeneche as they took down the pair 8-2. Vukadin and Smith then took on Campbell’s Lukas Steffen and Pol Otin in the round of 32, the pair defeated their opponents 8-3 to secure their spot in the round of 16.
Another successful pairing for the Tigers was in Stewart Aronson and Spencer Whitaker as they secured two victories against their respective opponents in the round of 64 and 32. The duo first defeated South Carolina State’s Mikalai Bankou and Novak Novakovic 8-3. The pair then went on to face Queen’s Universities Win Steveker and Connor Enslin, who they took down 8-4. Aronson and Whitaker will look to continue their success in the round of 16.
Marko Mesarovic and Matt Pitts were Clemson’s third and final pairing to garner doubles wins as two went undefeated on the day. Mesarovic and Pitts earned their first doubles victory against UNC Wilmington’s Jonathan Baron and Reece Falck (8-5). The duo then earned a tie-breaking win (8(7)-7(3)) over Coastal Carolina’s Ryuya Ata and Carlos Berna Ruiz to secure their place in the round of 16.
The Clemson Tigers will continue their doubles performance tomorrow, October 22nd starting with the round of 16 as they will look to earn a tournament title at the ITA Regionals.
For the most updated information on draws and results, visit the ITA tournament site here.
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