Clemson, S.C. For the first time since 2014, the Clemson men’s tennis team (5-3, 1-0 ACC) downed Florida State (3-4, 0-1 ACC) in a 4-3 thriller in the conference opener on Friday night. Freshman Ryuhei Azuma earned his first career win over a ranked opponent in his first match of the kind.
After falling to the Seminoles on Court 3 in doubles, Yizhou Liu and Teodor Giusca picked up a win on Court 1, 6-4. Spencer Whitaker and Azuma followed with a 7-5 win at line two to clinch the point for Clemson. Carlos Kelaidis earned the first singles victory of the match for Tigers, a 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 4. Azuma followed closely behind defeating No. 77 Alex Knaff on Court 2, 6-3, 6-1. Despite Clemson picking up three-straight points, Florida State rallied to tie the match at three-all. However, Whitaker sealed the Tiger victory fending off Andreja Petrovic 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 on Court 6.