T_I_P's Clemson men's tennis 2025 season preview

Jan 6, 2025, 1:27 PM

Ok so the season is pretty close now, starting this Saturday January 11. I think this should be an NCAA tournament team. Let's take a look.

Schedule:

https://x.com/clemsonmtennis/status/1853563948030693578?s=46

- The schedule is pretty similar to last season. The big non-conference tilts are with Memphis, Michigan State, SC, Northwestern, just with the locations flipped from last year. Memphis away while MSU/NW and SC at home. No ITA kickoff weekend.

- The important 76-100 ranked matches will likely be against ETSU, FAU and UNCW. Good to have some more of those type of matches this year since that's what ended up costing ranking points last season.

- ACC wise, Clemson does not play the Cal/Stanford rotation, which I'm a little disappointed by. I wanted to see matches against the ACC new boys.

Lineup:

Im excited to see this because this is going to be the most unpredictable lineup in years for me. Most years I have a pretty solid idea of where each player will play before the year starts but this year its harder to pin.

It will be interesting to see where the newcomers are slotted.
- Victor Markov has the highest UTR on the team currently and had a fall win over Corey Craig of FSU who ended up in the ITA #10 after the fall season.
- The spring addition, Edoardo Cherie Ligniere has the 3rd highest UTR but will have zero college tennis experience to start the season.
- Abderrahman didn't have a great fall and you have to wonder how that affects his spring performance or lineup spot.
- Max Smith has an excellent fall but has never played higher than #6 in a big match before, so how high will he be in the lineup?

My guess is something like this:
1. Noa Vukadin - So. Zagreb,Croatia
2. Wissam Abderrahman - So. Paris,France/Tunisia
3. Max Smith - Sr. Daniel Island,SV
4. Viktor Markov - Fr. Sofia,Bulgaria
5. Edoardo Cherie Ligniere - Fr. Veneto,Italy
6. Romain Gales - Jr. Quimper,France / Transfer from VCU
7. Marko Mesarovic - So. Austin,TX
Depth: Stewart Aronson, Matt Pitts

Vukadin likely solidifies himself at #1 after a big improvement from last year. Abderrahman at #2 after playing #1 for a lot of last year. I would be surprised to see him put lower in the lineup for now. Smith/Markov could flip between 3 and 4 a lot and maybe either one could slide up to #2 if they hit good form. Not exactly sure where to put Ligniere but #5 seems about right. Hard to imagine Mesarovic out of the lineup after playing 3/4 last year but I think Gales would get the slight nod at #6.

Doubles should be pretty good with Smith/Vukadin being one of the top combos in the country at #1. Other combos I will wait to see.

Overall season expectations and outlook:

- According to the Collegetennisranks UTR team totals, Clemson is 38th in the nation but that is without Ligniere added in and with Abderrahman having a lowered UTR thanks to the fall. With those adjustments, Clemson is around 33-35 in terms of UTR ratings.

- This should be and absolutely needs to be an NCAA tournament team this season. The non-con matches vs MSU and SC will be tough to win, even at home. Although I would not say SC at home is impossible to win based on how tight the match was last year in Columbia. The others like Memphis and FAU are must wins. The ACC slate will be tough as always but I think this team should be middle of the league, rather than toward the bottom like in recent years.

- Mesarovic was 3/4 last year and likewise Gales played 3/4 for a top 30 VCU team last year and both will be fighting for this lineup which shows the team as a whole is stronger this year. The depth and middle of the lineup will be solid. I do still wonder about the #1 and #2 spots. Vukadin will be much improved but will he be able to get consistent wins over some of the top players in the nation playing at #1? Many ACC teams will have higher powered top end spots in the lineup so will have to overcome that in some of the tougher matches.

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