Yannick Maden becomes first Tiger in two decades to reach ITA men's singles main draw

Clemson junior Yannick Maden's groundbreaking run in the ITA All American Tournament's main draw came to an end in the second round of play at Tulsa, OK.

Maden, ranked 74th nationally, fell to fellow qualifier and 70th-ranked Roy Kalmanovich of Illinois 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, in the second round.

Maden made it through the qualifying rounds and advanced to the main draw in singles. He became the first Clemson men’s player to reach the main draw in two decades. The last was Greg Seilkop in 1991.

During Maden's run to the second round, he defeated four players including No. 52 Maros Horny of Maryland and No. 29 Japie De Klerk of Tulsa.

"With this being Yannick's first fall tournament in his college career, we are real excited about how he competed during the week," said Clemson assistant coach John Boetsch. "He handled the conditions very well, and played with a great deal of poise all week.

“This was also a good experience for our team, and it was good to see what we will be up against this during the spring season. The guys learned from their matches and will continue to build on strengths and work on the areas that need it. The guys are excited for the upcoming fall events.”

Freshman Hunter Harrington advanced to the third round of the prequalifying tournament for the ITA All-American.

In third round action on Sunday, Jeremy Efferding of Texas A&M defeated Harrington 2-6, 7-6(6), 6-0. Harrington was the last Clemson player left in the prequalifying tournament.

After a first round bye, Harrington defeated Milo Hauk of St. John's 4-6, 7-6(6), 7-6(9) in the second round.

Clemson's other entries won in the first round but suffered defeats in the second round on Saturday. Zachary Rigsby defeated Pedro Zanotelli of Texas San Antonio, 6-0, 6-3. In the second round, Rifat Biktyakov of Oklahoma State defeated Rigsby 6-0, 6-3. In the second round, Alen Salibasic of Drake defeated Dominique Maden 7-5, 6-3.

"The guys were excited about starting the fall competition season and they competed pretty well," said Clemson Head Coach Chuck McCuen. "Dom showed a great deal of maturity being down two breaks of serve each set and fought back to win the match in the first round. Zachary played well this morning and lost a tough one in the afternoon.”

In other action involving Clemson tennis over the weekend, Gerardo Meza participated in the Georgia Tech Invitational. In the first round, Meza defeated Taylor Patrick of Tennessee 6-3, 6-4. In the round of 16, Albert Wagner of Louisville defeated Meza 7-6, 1-6, 6-4. Meza was the only Clemson entry.

The Tigers will be in action next at the ITA Regional Indoor in Chapel Hill, NC, on October 13th-16th.