Freshmen Maden brothers lead Tigers past USC-Upstate in ITA first-round match

Freshman Yannick Maden made his collegiate debut in the No. 1 singles spot with a straight-set victory and led the Clemson men’s tennis team to a 6-1 victory over USC-Upstate on Friday in the opening round of the ITA Team Indoor Championship at Knoxville, TN.

Clemson, which came into the tournament seeded third in its bracket, claimed the doubles point and then went on to win five of six singles matches against the second-seeded Spartans.

The victory improved Clemson’s record to 5-1 and earned the Tigers a second-round shot at Tennessee, the nation’s No. 3 team, on Saturday at the Vols’ home courts. Tennessee advanced with a 6-1 win over fourth-seeded San Diego.

The teams will play at 3 p.m., with the winner advancing to the Final 16 of the tournament at Seattle in mid-February.

The Tigers won four singles matches in straight sets, including victories by Yannick Maden at No. 1, Derek DiFazio at No. 2, Dominique Maden at No. 5 and Robert Pietrucha at No. 6.

The teams split a pair of three-set matches, with Kevin Galloway winning at No. 3 and Cal Hilsman losing at No. 4.

Singles

1. Yannick Maden (CU) d. Gonzalo Blanco (USCU) 6-1, 6-4

2. Derek DiFazio (CU) d. Edgar Rodriquez (USCU) 6-4, 7-6

3. Kevin Galloway (CU) d. Ramiro Blanco (USCU) 3-6, 6-1, 6-2

4. Matias Di Pasquale (USCU) d. Cal Hilsman (CU) d. 6-2, 4-6, 7-5

5. Dominique Maden (CU) d. Gianluca Paino (USCU) 6-0, 6-1

6. Robert Pietrucha, (CU) d. Marco Linconir (USCU) 6-0, 6-3

(Order of finish: 5, 1, 6, 2, 3, 4)

Doubles

1. Derek DiFazio/Kevin Galloway (CU) Gonzalo Blanco/Matias Di Pasquale

(USCU) 8-3

2. Ramiro Blanco/Edgar Rodriguez (USCU) vs. Juan Bolona/Dominique Maden (CU), DNF

3. Yannick Maden/Zachary Rigsby (CU) d. Marco Linconir/Andres Sanchez (USCU) 8-1

(Order of finish: 1, 3)