Duke men’s tennis ends nonconference gauntlet with narrow loss at No. 2 Kentucky

Duke and Kentucky are two storied blue-blood packages, and after they sq. off on the basketball courtroom, it’s all the time primed to be electrical. Nevertheless, the Blue Devils and Wildcats had a thriller on a distinct courtroom Sunday. 

Each males’s tennis groups are suited to an excellent season, and the 2 groups competed onerous in a grueling match. The second-ranked Wildcats bested the Blue Devils 4-3 in Lexington, Ky., behind a wonderful singles efficiency by a few of Kentucky’s prime gamers. 

Duke snatched the momentum early, receiving the doubles level behind nice play from all three doubles pairings. It was the Blue Devils’ prime tandem of seniors Michael Heller and Andrew Zhang that clinched the victory, after senior Garret Johns and freshman Pedro Rodenas have been victorious 6-3. 

“It was clearly our most full doubles level of the season,” stated head coach Ramsey Smith. “We performed very well on all three courts, all six guys performed phenomenal from begin to end.”

Nevertheless, this early lead evaporated within the singles rounds, as Kentucky’s prime 4 singles gamers all emerged victorious. These gamers are all ranked within the ITA top-125 singles rankings, so it was extraordinarily troublesome competitors for the Blue Devils (6-4). 

The primary victory of the day belonged to Kentucky’s Sixteenth-ranked junior Joshua Lapadat, who defeated No. 88 Rodenas 6-1, 6-2, handing the freshman his first singles lack of the dual-match season.  

Following this, No. 45 senior Liam Draxl defeated Zhang (7-5, 6-1), No. 66 Alafia Ayeni bested Johns (7-5, 6-3), and No. 115 Taha Baadi edged out Blue Satan sophomore Connor Krug (6-4, 7-6) to safe the victory for the Wildcats (10-0). 

“The highest of their lineup is their power, and we had some tight first units that might have gone both method,” stated Smith. “They actually bought momentum and performed very well in a few of the second units.”

Within the doubles rounds, Krug and freshman Teddy Truwit received 6-2, and Johns and Rodenas clinched the doubles level by profitable 6-3. This was Truwit’s first dual-match competitors of the season, because the Darien, Conn., native was recovering from a again damage. 

“[Truwit] labored actually onerous and bought to the purpose the place he was taking part in some nice tennis,” stated Smith. “He was doing so nicely that we determined to insert him into doubles and it definitely paid off.”

In singles competitors, Duke didn’t drop a set throughout this entire match. Johns, Rodenas and Krug participated in each doubles and singles. Dale, Heller and Zhang have been victorious as nicely for the Blue Devils. 

After taking part in for 4 consecutive weeks towards robust nonconference opponents, the Blue Devils may have some much-needed relaxation this week earlier than beginning ACC play towards Boston Faculty Feb. 24.