May 23, 2018
NCAA Singles Bracket | Doubles Bracket
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. –The tandem of Cameron Klinger and Daniel Valent of the Vanderbilt men’s tennis began 2018 NCAA singles tournament action Wednesday morning from the Wake Forest Tennis Center. VU went 1-1 on the day, as senior Valent capped his illustrious career as a Commodore in the individual tournament.
No. 31 Valent fell in the NCAA round of 64 to Texas Christian’s 65th-ranked Trevor Johnson in an absolute battle. In what would be his final collegiate match, the Zurich, Switzerland native gave his all in both sets nearly taking the opening set against the Horned Frog and was close to forcing a third set. Johnson took the match and secured his place in the NCAA round of 32 with a 7-5, 7-6(3) victory over the Commodore.
Valent caps a phenomenal four years at Vanderbilt and leaves his mark on the program as a record holder. Named the Ohio Valley’s Senior Player of the Year and members of the SEC’s first-team, second-team and all-freshman team’s, Valent tied the all-time career singles record with 107 Commodore victories this past April. The record came in Southeastern Conference semifinals, as the Dore defeated Shane Monroe 6-0, 6-4.
26th-ranked Klinger will contend in tomorrow’s round of 32. In his NCAA singles debut, the junior handed the tournament draw an upset as he defeated 9-16th seed Alex Knight of Michigan in straight sets. Battling back-and-fourth throughout the opening set, Klinger escaped with a 6-4 lead. Cam handled business to ensure his place in the next round, not allowing Knight a single game for the 6-4, 6-0 victory.
Klinger will continue his tournament journey tomorrow, facing No. 29 Mitch Harper of Virginia Tech at 8:30 a.m. CT.
No. 11 Klinger and Billy Rowe will begin the NCAA doubles tournament tomorrow as well. The duo make their NCAA doubles debut as a tandem at 2:30 p.m. CT versus UCLA’s 16th-ranked Austin Rapp and Keegan Smith.
For tournament updates, follow @NCAATennis and @VandyMTennis on Twitter.