North Carolina Slips Past Duke, 4-3

Friday, April 24

Cary, N.C.

12:00 PM

Duke University

North Carolina (Quarterfinals)

North Carolina Slips Past Duke, 4-3

4/24/2015 6:43:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

CARY, N.C. – In an ACC Championship quarterfinal that had all the intensity of a title tilt, No. 16 North Carolina edged past No. 9 Duke, 4-3 on Friday at Cary Tennis Park. The fourth-seeded Tar Heels fell behind 2-0 to the fifth-seeded Blue Devils but came back to take a 3-2 lead. A three-set win on court two from Duke senior Raphael Hemmeler evened the match at 3-3, but UNC earned the final point with a three-set victory on court four from Jack Murray.

“It was a really high-level match from start to finish,” head coach Ramsey Smith said. “It was two teams leaving everything they had out there. Doubles was close and singles were close. There were a couple momentum swings, but it came down to a point or two here or there. I am proud of my guys. We fought so hard. We certainly put ourselves in a position to win, but just couldn't quite finish off a very good UNC team.”

Earlier this month during the regular season, North Carolina captured a 5-2 victory against Duke. The Tar Heels (21-9) won the doubles point and four of the six singles matches. The tournament match had the Blue Devils (22-6) take the doubles point and two singles matches to UNC's four. The singles matches on the first four courts all went into the third set.

On Friday, Duke used wins on courts one and two to take the doubles point and get out to an early 1-0 lead. It was actually North Carolina that captured the first doubles match, however, with an 8-5 victory on court three, where Murray and Ronnie Schneider defeated Hemmeler and junior Daniel McCall. With the set tied 1-1, Schneider and Murray broke to go up 3-1, but Hemmeler and McCall broke right back to make it a 3-2 deficit. From there, North Carolina went on a three game winning streak to open a 6-2 advantage. Duke narrowed the gap to 6-4 and 7-5, but got no closer as UNC served out for the match. Hemmeler and McCall are 1-1 in doubles this year.

Duke started its comeback with a lengthy battle on court one between UNC's Brayden Schnur and Esben Hess-Olesen and the Blue Devils' senior Jason Tahir and junior Josh Levine, who won 8-7 (3). With the two teams on serve and tied 3-3, Duke held, broke and held to go up 6-3. The Tar Heels then returned the favor with a hold, break and hold to even the set at 6-6. Facing a pair of break points, Tahir and Levine fought off both opportunities and held to take a 7-6 lead. The Tar Heels also held their serve, sending the match to the tiebreaker. After a 1-1 tie, Duke edged out to a 3-2 advantage and went on a three point run to go up 6-2. North Carolina got a point back, but could not finish it off as Duke took the tiebreaker, 7-3. Tahir and Levine improved to 18-5 this year and 15-5 in dual matches. The duo is 5-1 when playing on court one.

The last decision went to the Blue Devils on court two, where sophomore TJ Pura and junior Bruno Semenzato topped the No. 39 team of Brett Clark and Robert Kelly, 8-6. After a 2-2 tie, Duke broke and went up 4-2. North Carolina got it down to a 5-4 deficit before Pura and Semenzato held and broke to take a 7-4 lead. UNC responded with consecutive wins to make it a 7-6 Blue Devil advantage, but Semenzato served out for the victory and gave Duke the doubles point. Pura and Semenzato lifted their overall record to 6-4 and earned their first victory of the year against a ranked foe.

“The doubles was very impressive because UNC is so good in doubles,” Smith added. “To slide our No 2 and No. 3 teams up and have a new team with Hemmeler and McCall showed incredible effort. Our energy was great and we found a way.”

In singles, the Blue Devils extended their lead to 2-0 with a quick 6-0, 6-1 victory against Andrew Gores by Pura on court six. Pura won the first nine games of the match before suffering his only setback of the contest. Pura improved to 20-10 and 15-5 in dual matches. He is 10-4 when playing on court six this year. Pura is now 3-1 in ACC Championship singles action.

North Carolina got its first point on court five, where Kelly downed Levine 7-6 (6), 6-3. In the first set, the two were even at 3-3 before Kelly broke and held to take a 5-3 advantage. Levine responded with a break and hold to even the set at 5-5. Both players held on their serves to push the set to the tiebreaker. There, Kelly won narrowly, 8-6. In the second set, Kelly jumped out to a 3-0 advantage and led 5-2. Levine cut the deficit to 5-3, but Kelly won the last game to end the match. Levine fell to 18-14 and 12-9 in dual matches.

The Tar Heels evened the match at 2-2 overall with a three-set comeback from Schnur against Tahir on court one. Schnur, ranked No. 12, defeated No. 46 Tahir 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-3. After the two were even at 2-2 in the first set, Schnur earned a break and took a 5-2 lead. Tahir answered immediately with a hold, break and hold to tie the set at 5-5. The two went into the tiebreaker and were even at every point until 6-6, when Tahir took the final two points with a wide Schnur return and Tahir winner as Schnur slipped and fell. The second set was also tied 2-2 when Schnur went on his run. Schnur broke and went up 4-2 before Tahir cut it to 4-3. Scnhur then held on his serve and broke Tahir to take the set. Schnur took an early 4-1 lead in the third set. Tahir cut it to 4-2 and 5-3, but Schnur served out for the win. Tahir dropped his overall record to 24-16 and 12-12 in dual matches.

North Carolina took its first lead of the match at 3-2 when Clark came back to top Semenzato, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5, on court three. Semenzato was cruising through the first set with a 5-0 advantage before No. 68 Clark started his rally. Clark won three of the final four games as Semenzato took the first set. In the second set, Clark jumped ahead 2-0 but Semenzato clawed back with four straight wins to go up 4-2. From there, Clark rallied with two breaks to win the final four contests to force a third set. There, the two remained on serve until the last game, when Semenzato was broken to end the match. Semenzato is now 29-12 overall and 15-6 in dual matches. It was his first career loss in the ACC Championship.

Duke evened the overall match score at 3-3 with a Hemmeler three-set win on court two, where he defeated No. 23 Schneider, 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-0. Hemmeler turned a 1-1 first-set tie into a 4-1 lead, only to have Schneider win the final five games. In the second set, the two were on serve until No. 70 Hemmeler was broken to trail 6-5. Hemmeler answered immediately and broke back to force the tiebreaker. He jumped out to a 3-1 and 5-2 lead, but Schneider rallied and cut the deficit to 6-4 and then evened it at 6-6. From there, Hemmeler captured the final two points to force the final set, which he swept through. Hemmeler improved to 34-9 and 20-5 in dual matches. He picked up his seventh win against a ranked foe, and his second against a top-25 opponent. The 34 wins are tied for the 10th most in a single season in Duke history and one shy of his career high, set as a sophomore. Hemmeler owns 115 career singles victories, three behind Smith for the third most by a Blue Devil.

The deciding match was won by No. 117 Murray on court four, where he defeated Duke redshirt senior Chris Mengel, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5. The first set had Murray win four straight games after a 2-2 tie. Mengel answered quickly in the second set, going ahead 4-0 and 5-1. Murray rallied to win three straight games and cut the deficit to 5-4, but Mengel held on his serve and extended the match to a third set. The two were on serve in the third set until Mengel was broken and fell behind 5-3. He broke right back and held his serve to tie the set at 5-5. Murray held on his serve and took a 40-30 lead in Mengel's service game. Mengel bounced back, fought through two match points and forced three deuce points before succumbing to Murray. Mengel is now 16-7 overall and 13-3 in dual matches.

Duke will wait to hear its 2015 NCAA Championship competition on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. ET. NCAA play begins May 8-10 with the first and second rounds. The NCAA Championship finals will be held in Waco, Texas, May 14-19.

#GoDuke

#16 North Carolina 4 #9 Duke 3
April 24, 2015 at Cary, N.C. (Cary Tennis Park)

Singles competition
1. #12 Brayden Schnur (UNC) def. #46 Jason Tahir (DU) 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-3
2. #70 Raphael Hemmeler (DU) def. #23 Ronnie Schneider (UNC) 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-0
3. #68 Brett Clark (UNC) def. Bruno Semenzato (DU) 3-6, 6-4, 7-5
4. #117 Jack Murray (UNC) def. Chris Mengel (DU) 6-2, 4-6, 7-5
5. Robert Kelly (UNC) def. Josh Levine (DU) 7-6 (6), 6-3
6. TJ Pura (DU) def. Andrew Gores (UNC) 6-0, 6-1

Doubles competition
1. Jason Tahir/Josh Levine (DU) def. Brayden Schnur/Esben Hess Olesen 8-7 (3)
2. Bruno Semenzato/TJ Pura (DU) def. #39 Brett Clark/Robert Kelly (UNC) 8-6
3. Jack Murray/Ronnie Schneider (UNC) def. Raphael Hemmeler/Daniel McCall (DU) 8-5

Match Notes
Duke 22-6; National ranking #9
North Carolina 21-9; National ranking #16
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (6,5,1,3,2,4)
ACC Championship Quarterfinals