May 26, 2016
TULSA, Okla. – Senior Rhys Johnson and freshman Cameron Klinger bowed out of the NCAA doubles tournament Thursday afternoon, falling to a strong buckeye duo in a third set 10-point tiebreaker.
With the loss the Commodore dup wrap up a phenomenal season together where they earned a career-high ranking of No. 7 in the nation. Playing in the No. 1 doubles position all season, Johnson/Klinger earned an 18-9 record against the toughest competitors in the country and knocked off six top-25 doubles teams
“It was a tough one,” said head coach Ian Duvenhage, “We played one bad game in the first set and that cost us the first set. We played a good match; they’re a really good team. I know the guys are disappointed and they competed really well, but we just came up one or two points short.”
No. 7 Rhys Johnson and Cameron Klinger were challenged early in the 2016 NCAA Doubles tournament, as the seeded squad were paired against Ohio State’s 22nd-ranked Herkko Pollanen and Mikael Torpegaard in the first round of play.
Both squads opened the match holding serve, but after a bad service game the Buckeyes broke to take the 3-1 lead. Pollanen and Torpegaard took the first set lead, 6-3, but the Commodores came out strong in the second set to rally.
Up a break, Vanderbilt held serve for the 4-3 advantage. Johnson/Klinger strung together several quality decisions to later take the deuce point and break, 6-4, which forced a third set tiebreaker.
After earning a 5-1 Ohio State lead, the Commodores again rose in the decisive ten-point breaker. The automatic All-Americans battled relentlessly saving several match points, hoping to advance to the second round of play. But the Buckeyes took the tiebreaker and match off an overrule, 6-3, 4-6, 1-0(9).
While Klinger will return to Vanderbilt next season as the youngest tennis player to earn All-American prestige, Johnson will return to Perth, Australia a two-time All-American who’s been ranked No. 1 in the nation, and in the ITA top-10 with two separate partners.
“Rhys is one of those guys that when we as coaches look back we count a guy like him among our great success stories. He’s grown so much and has matured so much… he’s become someone that we’re very proud of and we know he’ll go into the world and make a difference in a positive way. I’m very proud of him… I’m very fond of him and I’m going to miss him.”
“It’s kind of tough, most of our kids move on, but they’re somewhere relatively near by and you’re sure you’re going to see them again soon. But with him, I may never see him again, so it’s tough, but he played really well today. I think he served something like 32 of 35 first serves. He did a great job, and unfortunately we came up a little short, and that happens.”
