Miami Sweeps Clemson, 7-0
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The No. 35 University of Miami men’s tennis team wrapped up the weekend in dominant fashion, posting a 7-0 victory over Clemson Sunday afternoon at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center.
Following the victory, Miami (8-3, 2-0 ACC) ended a seven-match losing streak against the Tigers (6-6, 0-2 ACC), while also opening ACC action 2-0 for the first time since beginning conference play 3-0 during the 2011 season.
“Great effort by our guys to get back-to-back ACC victories,” head coach Aljosa Piric said. “It is always tough to win back-to-back games in the ACC and for our guys to come out today and win the doubles point and then go out and win six singles matches, two days after beating Georgia Tech, just shows that our guys are ready to compete. Looking forward to seeing what these guys are capable of doing moving forward. We will take a couple days off before returning to practice in order to get ready for College Match Day against UCF, up in Orlando.”
The Hurricanes jumped out to the early lead through doubles action and never looked back.
Competing at No. 3 doubles, freshman Franco Aubone and Francisco Bastias posted a 6-4 victory over Teodor Giusca and Carlos Kelaidis.
Moments later, redshirt junior Dane Dunlap and junior Stephen Madonia defeated Yizhou Liu and Simon Baudry, 6-4, to clinch the doubles point for Miami.
Competing on court 1, sophomores Adria Soriano Barrera and Tatsuki Shimamoto held a 5-4 advantage over Pierre-Louis Dodens and Jacob Jahn before play was halted.
In singles, the Hurricanes continued to cruise winning the opening set on all six courts.
Competing at No. 2 singles, Bastias blew past Giusca, 6-1, 6-1, to double Miami’s lead. Moments later, on court 6, William Grattan-Smith improved to 7-0 this spring, topping Jahn, 6-3, 6-2.
Playing at the top singles position, No. 24 Soriano Barrera defeated Baudry, 6-4, 6-2, to secure the victory for Miami.
The remaining three matches were played out with Miami eyeing a sweep.
After dropping three of the opening four games on court 3, sophomore Bojan Jankulovski, ranked No. 75 on the ITA/Oracle singles rankings, claimed 11 of the final 15 games to take down Liu, 6-4, 6-3.
On court 5, Aubone cruised through the opening set, 6-3, before dropping the second set against Kelaidis, 5-7. Playing a 10-point third set tiebreaker, the freshman picked up a 10-7 triumph to push Miami’s lead to six.
In the final match to conclude, Dunlap edged Dodens, 7-6 (7-2), 3-6, 1-0 (10-5), to preserve the sweep.
Up next, Miami will travel to Orlando on Sunday, March 3 to take part in Tennis Channel College Match Day against UCF at 10 a.m.
To keep up with the University of Miami men’s tennis team on social media, follow @CanesMensTennis on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
