Thomas Laurent and Cormac Clissold have put together quite the resume in doubles action over the past two seasons.
It appears that they haven’t skipped a beat going into year three. On Monday, the duo won the doubles title in the ITA Northwest Regional Championships.
Over the weekend, Laurent and Clissold won three matches to advance to the championship match on Monday morning against Cal’s J.T. Nishimura and Billy Griffith, the No. 1-ranked team in the field of 64.
The Ducks’ top pair started strong, storming to an early lead with a 6-2 advantage in the first set. Fittingly, it would not be that easy the rest of the match. Nishimura and Griffith forced a tiebreaker in the second set, yet it was Laurent and Clissold edging them out for 6-2, 7-6(7) victory.
With the win, Laurent and Clissold earn a bid to the ITA Fall Nationals, beginning Nov. 1. Laurent’s impressive start to the season continues, as the junior now has automatic bids in both the singles and doubles bracket in the tournament.
The pair’s performance in the ITA Northwest Regionals appears to be just the beginning of what can be a very special season, the last in which Laurent and Clissold will play alongside one another. Laurent and Clissold sport a 49-8 career record in doubles, and look poised to shatter Robin Cambier and Jeff Mullen’s program record of 57 doubles wins.
Follow Cole Kundich on Twitter @ckundich