Tigers' rally falls short in NCAA Tournament to No. 8 Lions

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NEW YORK, N.Y. - The Clemson Tigers men's tennis team (22-8) ended their postseason run as they dropped their NCAA Tournament second round matchup 4-2 to No. 8 seed Columbia (19-5) on Saturday afternoon. Freshman Viktor Markov and senior Max Smith secured points for the Tigers.

The Lions started off strong in doubles as the No. 41 ranked duo of Michael Zheng and Nicolas Kotzen took down the No. 28 ranked pairing of Noa Vukadin and Smith, 6-2. Clinching the doubles point for Columbia was the duo of Hugo Hashimoto and Jayden Templeman as they secured a close 7(7)-6(5) win over Markov and Matt Pitts on court three.

In singles, Markov was first to secure a win as the Tigers dropped the matches on court one and three. Markov defeated Columbia's No. 52 Kotzen in a three-set victory as he tabbed the first point for Clemson. Smith was next to record a win as he took down Sachin Palta to secure the second point for Clemson and his final singles win in a Tiger uniform.

Sophomore Marko Mesarovic, who was close to securing a comeback win for the Tigers was narrowly defeated by Columbia's Hashimoto as the 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 7-5 win clinched the victory for the Lions.

RESULTS

#8 Columbia 4 vs. #23 Clemson 2

Singles

1. #2 Michael Zheng (COL) def. #56 Noah Vukadin (CLEM) 6-4, 6-4

2. Viktor Markov (CLEM) def. #52 Nicolas Kotzen (COL) 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-1

3. Max Westphal (COL) def. Romain Gales (CLEM) 5-7, 6-3, 6-1

4. #81 Hugo Hashimoto (COL) def. Marko Mesarovic (CLEM) 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 7-5

5. Max Smith (CLEM) def. Sachin Palta (COL) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3

6. Thanaphat Boosarawongse (COL) vs. Edoardo Cherie Ligniere (CLEM) 7-6 (7-2), 5-7, 4-5 unfinished

Doubles

1. #41 Michael Zheng/Nicholas Kotzen (COL) def. #28 Noah Vukadin/Max Smith (CLEM) 6-2

2. #86 Max Westphal/Sachin Palta (COL) vs. #42 Romain Gales/Max Damm (CLEM) 6-6 (3-3) unfinished

3. Hugo Hashimoto/Jayden Templeman (COL) def. Viktor Markov/Matt Pitts (CLEM) 7-6 (7-5)

Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (1, 3, 2, 5, 4)

Proud of this group and everything they have accomplished in a historic season for the program 🐅 pic.twitter.com/xMBiyr4J4q

— Clemson Men's Tennis (@ClemsonMTennis) May 3, 2025

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