ELON – The Elon men's tennis team (3-6) will play two matches this week, hosting Coastal Carolina (8-5) on Friday at 2:30 p.m. at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center before traveling to face No. 34 Clemson (5-9) on Sunday at 4 p.m.
 
Elon vs. Coastal Carolina Briefing  
Match Details: March 13, 2026 | Elon, N.C. | Jimmy Powell Tennis Center | 2:30 p.m.  
Admission: Free  
Live Scoring: StatBroadcast
Elon Links: News | Roster | Schedule | Stats   
Coastal Carolina Links: News | Roster | Schedule | Stats   
 
Elon vs. No. 34 Clemson Briefing  
Match Details: March 15, 2026 | Clemson, S.C. | Duckworth Family Tennis Facility | 4 p.m.  
Admission: Free  
Live Scoring: IonSport
Stream: Click here
Elon Links: News | Roster | Schedule | Stats   
Clemson Links: News | Roster | Schedule | Stats
 
The Matchups  

• Friday marks the 13th all-time meeting between Elon and Coastal Carolina, with the Phoenix leading the series, 11-1.
• Elon's most recent win over the Chanticleers came last season in a 5-2 road victory. The Phoenix are 6-1 all-time against Coastal Carolina at home.
• Sunday will be the fifth all-time meeting between Elon and Clemson, with the Tigers up 3-1 the series.
• The teams last met in 2022, when Clemson defeated the Phoenix 6-1 in a road match for Elon.
• Elon's lone win in the series came in 2019 with a 5-2 victory at Clemson. The win handed Clemson its first-ever loss at the Duckworth Family Tennis Facility, which opened in 2019.

 
   
Last Time Out  

• Elon dropped a 6-1 decision to South Carolina State on March 8.
• South Carolina State claimed the doubles point with victories at the Nos. 1 and 2 positions.
• At the No. 1 spot, Mikalai Bankou and Novak Novakovic defeated Veljko Krstic and Nikola Parichkov, 6-1.
• On Court 3, Nick Fisk and Charles Pilet defeated Hoang Anh Pham and Bastian Zamora, 6-3. The victory marked Fisk and Pilet's second win together as a doubles pair after also winning against Florida Gulf Coast on Feb. 27.
• The doubles point was clinched on Court 2, with Jack Curtis and Rafael Ymer falling to Iliyas Muratuly and Andrii Borodatiuk, 6-4.
• The Bulldogs took a 3-0 lead with singles victories at the Nos. 1 and 5 spots.
• With four singles matches remaining, three of which were in final sets, rain showers forced play to stop. The match was then moved indoors to Greensboro.
• South Carolina State won on Court 3 at Piedmont to secure the match.
• Alonso Roca notched Elon's lone point, winning 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 against Cagan Efe Tufekci. It was Roca's second victory this spring.

 
About The Phoenix   

• Senior Veljko Krstic returned to the Phoenix after earning All-CAA honors in both singles and doubles a season ago. He went 10-6 playing the No. 1 position for the Phoenix and added seven doubles victories.
• Rafael Ymer and Jack Curtis also picked up All-CAA recognition in both singles and doubles. Ymer led the Phoenix as a freshman with 11 singles victories and tied for a team-best 10 doubles wins. Curtis also reached double figures in both singles (10) and doubles (10) victories. 
• Oskar Antinheimo rounded out Elon's postseason honorees last spring, landing on the All-CAA Second Team in doubles. 
• Elon returns three more players from last season – Luke Forester, Charles Pilet and Alonso Roca. 
• The Phoenix welcomed two newcomers in 2025-26. Nick Fisk joined Elon as a freshman, while sophomore Nikola Parichkov came to Elon after being a part of Wake Forest's national championship team last spring. 
• Elon has appeared in four consecutive CAA championship matches, falling to UNCW in all four.   
• Maciek Sykut is in his second year at the helm of the Phoenix.   

 
Rafa Rising  

• Ymer leads the Phoenix with five singles victories this spring, all coming at the No. 2 position. He owns a 6-2 overall record and was on a five-match winning streak prior to the South Carolina State contest.    
• The sophomore picked up a ranked singles win on Jan. 21 against No. 11 Texas A&M, defeating Alexander Frusina, who was ranked No. 73 by the ITA in singles. He later added another singles victory on the road at No. 23 NC State.   
• Ymer captured his second career CAA Player of the Week honor on Jan. 27, highlighted in the season's first CAA weekly men's tennis awards.  
• Primarily competing at No. 2 doubles, he holds a 5-2 doubles record, and his five victories lead the team.

     
Regionals Run   

• Krstic made a historic run at ITA Carolina Regionals in October, placing third in the main singles draw.     
• The senior advanced to the semifinals in the event, becoming the first Elon player to make the final four in singles at Regionals since Cameron Silverman in 2013.    
• Krstic delivered four victories to reach the semifinals, defeating players from North Carolina, Charlotte, Clemson and South Carolina along the way.    
• In his semifinal against Wake Forest's Luca Pow, Krstic won the second set, 6-2, after dropping the opener in a tiebreak. He pushed Pow to the end, ultimately falling 4-6 in the deciding frame.    
• Krstic finished the fall with a team-best 10 singles victories. He also had six doubles wins.    
• Krstic rose to No. 60 in the first ITA singles rankings of the spring, which were released on Feb. 4. He is the second Elon individual to reach the top 60 in the rankings and is currently ranked No. 94.   
• Krstic is up to 40 career dual singles victories. An All-CAA First Team honoree in singles a season ago, Krstic has posted double-digit singles wins in all three seasons with the Phoenix.    

   
Back In Maroon And Gold   

• Joining Krstic as a senior this year is Antinheimo, who has a combined 70 dual victories (36 in singles, 34 in doubles) in four years with the Phoenix. Antinheimo has been an All-CAA Second Team selection in both singles (2024) and doubles (2025) during his Elon career.    
• Curtis is in his third spring campaign with Elon after earning All-CAA recognition in both singles and doubles as a sophomore. He has won four doubles matches this season alongside Ymer. 
• Sophomores Pilet and Ymer both returned after productive freshman seasons. Pilet has a pair of victories in both doubles and singles this spring.
• Roca and Forester also returned for the Phoenix this spring. Roca is 2-1 playing Nos. 5-6 singles this spring and is coming off a win against South Carolina State.      

 
Doubles Success

• The Phoenix has won five of nine doubles points this spring and has taken the opening point in four of its last six matches.
• Curtis and Ymer have been Elon's most successful pairing, winning four matches at the No. 2 spot. They have helped the Phoenix clinch all four of its doubles points in the last six outings.
• Krstic and Parichkov took home the first CAA Doubles Team of the Week honor on Jan. 27 after beating a ranked duo from Saint Joseph's. Elon's top tandem also clinched the doubles point for the Phoenix against Charlotte with a clutch tiebreak win. 
• Six different doubles duos have won a match this spring for the Phoenix. 

   
Four In A Row   

• Elon has advanced to four straight CAA championship matches, a streak that began in 2022.    
• Last season, the Phoenix hosted the event at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center and defeated Monmouth in the semifinals to reach the final against top-seeded UNCW.    
• The Phoenix and Seahawks have met in each of the last four conference title matches, with UNCW winning all four.    
• In the last four CAA Tournaments, Elon is 7-0 in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds. The Phoenix's last loss prior to the championship match came in 2021.    

   
Scouting Coastal Carolina 

• Coastal Carolina will play at Campbell on March 12 before facing the Phoenix the following day. The Chanticleers are 2-4 on the road this spring.
• Eric Tripathi and Curzio Manucci each hold a 7-2 singles record this spring. Most of Tripathi's victories have come at the No. 3 position, while Manucci's wins are split between the No. 5 and No. 6 spots.
• Pilet defeated Manucci last season in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4.
• Juan Cruz Collardin has the second-most singles wins for Coastal with a 6-4 record, competing across the No. 2 through No. 4 positions. Christopher Norlin holds a .500 record at No. 1 singles this season, with his five wins ranking third on the team.
• Krstic defeated Collardin at No. 1 singles last season, 7-5, 7-5.
• Ymer also holds two wins over Norlin, defeating him last spring and again at the Elon Invitational this fall. Norlin won the first set in both matches before Ymer rallied to win.
• In doubles play, Iannis Fernandes and Rivers Cahill lead the team with six dual-match wins apiece. Fernandes primarily pairs with Norlin at No. 1 doubles, while Cahill typically teams with Collardin at No. 3.
• Antinheimo and Krstic defeated Fernandes and Norlin at No. 1 doubles last season, 6-3.
• Coastal Carolina is led by head coach Chris Powers, who is in his 25th season with the program.

  
Scouting No. 34 Clemson 

• Clemson will play two matches before facing the Phoenix on Sunday, hosting No. 53 Florida State on Friday and No. 66 Miami on Sunday at 11 a.m. before the 4 p.m. matchup with Elon.
• The Tigers are currently 1-2 at home this spring, with their lone home win coming in a 5-2 victory over No. 58 Charlotte, a team that defeated Elon 4-3 on Feb. 19.
• Clemson's best win came against No. 14 South Carolina on Jan. 22 at the ITA Kickoff Weekend, where the Tigers prevailed 4-2. Other wins include No. 42 Louisville and No. 47 Harvard.
• All nine of Clemson's losses have come against ranked opponents currently inside the ITA top 22, including No. 2 Virginia, No. 4 Wake Forest and No. 6 LSU. Clemson also fell to NC State 4-3 in Raleigh on March 1, a team that defeated Elon 6-1 on Feb. 21.
• The Tigers have faced just one opponent this season who is not currently ranked by the ITA, South Florida, whom they defeated 4-3. That means 13 of Clemson's 14 matches this season have been against ranked opponents, with two more scheduled before Sunday's match with Elon.
• Clemson has three ranked singles players: No. 47 Romain Gales, No. 48 Viktor Markov, and No. 121 Edoardo Cherie Ligniere. The Tigers also have one ranked doubles pair, No. 67 Markov and Henrik Bladelius.
• The Tigers are led by third-year head coach Brandon Wagner.

 
Stay Posted      
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