CLEMSON, S.C. – Elon University men’s tennis took an early advantage winning the doubles point and Jacob Bicknell clinched the match with a win at No. 6 singles as the Phoenix knocked off Clemson 5-2 on Tuesday, Jan. 29, at the brand-new Duckworth Family Tennis Facility.
With its victory over Clemson (4-1), Elon (3-1) earns its first victory over an ACC opponent since Jan. 17, 2014 when the Phoenix defeated then-No. 7 Duke, 4-3. With the loss, the Tigers suffer its first-ever defeat inside its brand-new Duckworth Family Tennis Facility.
Felipe Sarrasague was the highlight of the match earning a double point-clinching win at No. 1 with Taylor Foote to give Elon the early 1-0 lead. He then completed his perfect day with a 6-2, 6-7 (3), 1-0 (5) victory over Simon Baudry at the No. 1 singles position. Additionally, Kyle Frankel also finished a perfect 2-0 on the afternoon with doubles and singles victories. Bicknell clinched the match with his victory on court six for the Phoenix and Taylor Foote earned two winning points in doubles to give Elon a 1-0 lead.
“This is a great moment for us to beat a top-quality team like Clemson, especially for our seniors,” said head coach Michael Leonard. “Our seniors really stepped up as Taylor [Foote] cinched the doubles points with his last two volleys in his match and Felipe [Osses-Konig] was a rock for us. Kyle [Frankel] also played very well in singles and double and Jacob [Bicknell] clinched the win for us with a gutsy performance on court six. We faced some nervy moments throughout the match, but I’m proud of the way our guys were able to come together and earn this win after our close loss to Duke a few weeks ago. Clemson is a class group of guys and this is not an easy loss for them. Overall, I’m happy for our team and this is big step for our group as we continue to build throughout the season.”
HIGHLIGHTS
The Phoenix took the early 1-0 lead after winning the doubles point. Frankel and Ponce picked up the first win on court two, cruising to a 6-2 victory over
Teodor Giusca and Carlos Kelaidis. After the Tigers bounced back with a 7-5 victory on court three to tie up the point, the No. 1 match went to a tiebreaker tied a 6-all. Trailing 3-2 in the tiebreaker, Sarrasague and Foote battled back to earn the 7-5 win in the tiebreak. Foote came up with the final two points in the tiebreaker and the duo’s 7-6 (5) win clinched the doubles point for Elon.
At the start of singles play, Elon extended its lead to 2-0 after Felipe Osses-Konig picked up an impressive 6-2, 6-2 win on court three with Yizhou Liu. The Tigers narrowed the deficit after a victory at No. 2, but Frankel gave the Phoenix a 3-1 lead after his 6-2, 6-1 win at the No. 4 position against Carlos Kelaidis.
Pierre-Louis Dodens brought Clemson within one again, 3-2, after earning a 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 5, leaving singles matches at No. 6 and No. 1 to decide the match.
After Bicknell battled in the first set to earn a tiebreaker win 7-6 (1), he then clinched the match with a 6-4 win in the second set at No. 6 against Mike Agee, putting the Phoenix ahead 4-2 in the match. Sarrasague finished off the Phoenix victory with a 6-2, 6-7 (3), 1-0 (5) over Baudry at the No. 1 position.
UP NEXT
The Phoenix returns to the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center on Tuesday, Feb. 5, to face off against Campbell. The match is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.