North Carolina
Duke men’s tennis picks up top-20 win in thrilling road finale at North Carolina
CHAPEL HILL—On an uncharacteristically gloomy April afternoon, the power of a Duke-North Carolina showdown was a heat welcome, because the bleachers and chairs weren’t ample to seat a packed crowd inside Cone-Kenfield Tennis Middle.
The Tar Heels and Blue Devils every boast top-20 males’s tennis applications, and Saturday’s match actually lived as much as expectations. In the long run, No. 16 Duke bested No. 13 North Carolina in a nail-biter 5-2.
“It feels nice … positively feels candy to get a giant win on the highway like this,” mentioned head coach Ramsey Smith. “I’ve been so happy with how constant we have been popping out, match in and match out, with our power, depth and psychological toughness.”
The Blue Devils (16-5, 9-1 within the ACC) got here out robust from the start, leaping out to leads in all three doubles matches. Specifically, the No. 3 doubles tandem of freshman Teddy Truwit and sophomore Connor Krug performed robust. They instantly broke serve on the primary sport of the set and by no means regarded again, rising victorious 6-1 and setting the tone for the match.
“Teddy and Connor have been superior,” mentioned Smith. “I really feel like they elevate their stage for the larger matches and I’m simply excited to see the extent that they introduced as we speak.”
The opposite two doubles matches went all the way down to the wire, and every was tied 5-5. Seniors Andrew Zhang and Michael Heller have been up 5-2, however North Carolina’s second-seeded doubles crew of Will Jansen and Karl Poling fought again, incomes two breaks to tie the match up.
As well as, Duke’s prime pairing of senior Garrett Johns and freshman Pedro Rodenas was in a battle with the 14th-ranked tandem of Ryan Seggerman and Casey Kania.
Nevertheless, instantly after this, Zhang and Heller broke again, and a volley into the online by the Tar Heels (15-7, 7-3) gave the Blue Devils the doubles level. Zhang and Heller emerged victorious 7-5, and Duke took a 1-0 lead within the match.
“I believed we performed very well in any respect three double spots, I felt like we outplayed among the best groups within the nation,” mentioned Smith. “I believed we did a extremely good job of utilizing the momentum and actually dialing in for singles matches.”
The singles slate was equally electrical, and it was anyone’s sport within the tightly contested match.
The star of the present continues to be Rodenas, who constructed on his elite convention play with a victory in opposition to Seggerman. The reigning ACC Participant of the Week was the primary Blue Satan to win the primary set. The lefty used his elite forehand and artful shotmaking to propel previous Seggerman, simply profitable the match 6-2, 6-2 and growing the Duke result in 2-0.
“It is onerous to essentially clarify how essential he has been for us,” mentioned Smith of Rodenas. “He is been so constant, he embraces the crew setting, he steps up within the larger moments. … To beat [Seggerman] 6-2, 6-2 indoors at UNC, I am probably not fairly certain how he did that.”
One other left-handed participant, junior Andrew Dale, was red-hot coming into the competition, having received 10 out of his previous 11 singles matches. Dale took the primary set from Tar Heel sophomore Chris Li 6-4.
Johns broke early within the match and used this to propel himself to a 7-5 first-set victory, and 4 Blue Devils received their first units. Simply because it appeared as if it was Duke’s match to lose, North Carolina utterly flipped the momentum.
Will Jansen made fast work of Zhang 6-1, 6-2, and after dropping the primary set, Poling took the second from Connor Krug 6-2. Jake Krug misplaced in No. 6 singles to Benjamin Kittlay 6-4, 6-4. Impulsively, the match was tangled up at 2-2, and followers walked anxiously from court docket to court docket to witness what can be an thrilling end.
In the meantime, on court docket one, Johns and Brian Cernoch have been tangled up 3-3 within the second set, however Duke’s prime participant earned a vital break to take a 4-3 lead. Johns’ strong groundstrokes have been on full show, and at 5-4, the Atlanta native eyed a match level at deuce. An elite serve pressured an error from Cernoch, and Duke took a 3-2 lead, needing only one extra victory to clinch the match.
“[Johns] has actually recommitted to his psychological sport. He is had nice apply and when he has nice apply, he has nice matches,” mentioned Smith. “Everytime [Cernoch] made a transfer or broke again, there is not any panic. Garrett simply went again to work and he is such an essential a part of our crew and he is such a frontrunner for us.”
Li opened the second set 2-0 in opposition to Dale, however a fiery backhand return adopted by an emotional celebration gave Dale a key break of serve. However, Li persevered and received 6-3 in that set. Each this match and Connor Krug’s in opposition to Poling have been headed to 3rd units.
Poling shortly jumped forward 5-2, however Krug was decided to come back again. The massive-serving sophomore fought his manner again and received three video games in a row. At 6-5 with Krug returning, the sport went to deuce, that means the next level was a match level for Duke.
In a becoming ending, a Poling backhand missed the road by inches and Krug was swarmed by fellow Blue Devils, marking the top of an admirable victory in opposition to a prime crew. After this concluded, Dale took the third set from Li 6-2 to complete the match.
“I really feel actually good about the place we’re as a crew,” mentioned Smith. “The entire focus has been to be enjoying our greatest tennis on the finish of the season, which we’re clearly getting in the direction of that time.”
Duke will conclude its ACC slate subsequent week with respective house dates Friday and Sunday in opposition to Miami and Florida State.
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