No. 6 Duke Falls 5-2 at No. 16 North Carolina

Thursday, April 9

Chapel Hill, N.C.

3:00 PM

Duke University

North Carolina

No. 6 Duke Falls 5-2 at No. 16 North Carolina

4/9/2015 7:47:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – In an annual matchup that often goes down to the wire, it was No. 16 North Carolina coming away with a 5-2 victory against No. 6 Duke on Thursday at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center. The Tar Heels (17-8, 6-3 ACC) took the doubles point and captured the clinching point on court two with a three-set victory.

Duke falls to 19-4 overall, tied for the third-best start in program history. The Blue Devils are now 6-3 in the ACC, tied with North Carolina for third in the league.

Senior Raphael Hemmeler earned a win in singles on court three to give him 113 career victories, the fourth most in Duke history. He also owns 31 ACC singles triumphs, tied with Marko Cerenko (1998-2001) for the third most by a Blue Devil.

In a very closely contested doubles point, UNC came away with two victories, on courts two and three. The Tar Heels won the first doubles match as Jack Murray and Ronnie Schneider downed Hemmeler and junior Josh Levine, 8-4, on court two. With the set tied 3-3, UNC went on a three-game run to take control. No. 88 Hemmeler and Levine cut it to 6-4, but lost the next two games to end the match. It was the first loss of the year for Hemmeler and Levine, who fell to 4-1 overall and 1-1 in ACC matches.

North Carolina captured the point on court three as Esben Hess-Olesen and Andrew Gores earned a hard-fought 8-5 victory against Blue Devil sophomore TJ Pura and junior Bruno Semenzato. Pura and Semenzato broke in the first game before UNC broke back. The two teams remained on serve for the next nine games with UNC owning a 6-5 lead. The Tar Heels then broke to go up 7-5 and Hess-Olesen served out for the victory. Semenzato and Pura fall to 3-3 overall and 2-2 in ACC matches.

On court one, Duke freshman Nicolas Alvarez and senior Jason Tahir led No. 59 Robert Kelly and Brett Clark, 7-6, when the action was halted.

In singles, the Blue Devils quickly evened the match at 1-1 with a retirement on court five. With redshirt senior Chris Mengel leading Hess-Olesen 5-2 in the opening set, Hess-Olesen retired. Mengel improves to 14-6 overall and is now 2-1 in league matches. Mengel's win was the 27th in ACC play of his career, tied for the ninth most in program history.

North Carolina regained the lead at 2-1 with a win on court six, where No. 109 Kelly downed Pura, 6-0, 6-1. Pura drops to 16-9 overall and 6-3 in ACC action.

UNC pushed it to a two-point lead at 3-1 on court one as No. 15 Brayden Schnur downed No. 11 Alvarez, 6-3, 6-4. In the opening set, the two were even at 3-3 before Schnur took the final three games. In the second set, the two were tied 2-2 when Schnur went on a run and took a 4-2 lead. Alvarez narrowed the gap to 5-4, but Schnur served out for the win. Alvarez is now 28-8 overall and 3-4 in ACC matches.

Duke made it a 3-2 contest on court three, where Hemmeler won his eighth straight match, defeating Clark, 7-5, 6-3. In the opening set, Hemmeler, ranked No. 58, held leads of 3-0 and 4-1 before No. 71 Clark answered with three straight victories to even the set at 4-4. Hemmeler then held his serve and broke Clark in the final game to take the set. Hemmeler got out to a 4-0 lead in the second set before Clark came back again, making it a 4-2 deficit. The two held serve on the final three games of the set for Hemmeler to win. Hemmeler improves to a team-best 32-7 and is 8-1 in league contests, winning the last eight matches. Hemmeler's 32 victories are two shy of entering the program's single-season wins chart.

It was a back-and-forth battle on court two that gave the match to North Carolina as No. 24 Schneider came back to top No. 42 Tahir, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2. Tahir got out to a 5-1 lead in the first set before closing out for the victory. It was Schneider taking the early lead in the second set, going up 4-2 and ending the set three games later. In the third set, Tahir was broken in the first game and fell behind 2-0 and then was broken again to go down 4-1 before Schneider ended the match. Tahir falls to 21-16 and 4-6 in league matches.

The final match of the night went to the Tar Heels as Murray downed Semenzato, 7-6 (5), 6-2, on court four. In the first-set battle, Murray led 3-1 and Semenzato rallied to even it at 3-3. The two were tied 4-4, 5-5 and 6-6 before going to the tiebreaker. There, Semenzato took a 5-3 lead, but Murray rallied for the final four points and won the set. In the second set, Semenzato fell down 2-0 before answering to tie it at 2-2. Murray then broke and won the final four games to end the match. Semenzato dips to 25-11 and 5-4 in the ACC.

Duke is back on the court Sunday, when it plays its final regular-season home match of the year at 12 p.m. ET, against No. 33 Florida State. Prior to the match, the Blue Devils will honor their four players who will complete their eligibility this spring – Hemmeler, Mengel, Semenzato and Tahir.

#GoDuke

#16 North Carolina 5 #6 Duke 2

April 9, 2015 at Chapel Hill, N.C. (Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center)

Singles competition
1. #15 Brayden Schnur (UNC) def. #11 Nicolas Alvarez (DU) 6-3, 6-4
2. #24 Ronnie Schneider (UNC) def. #42 Jason Tahir (DU) 2-6, 6-2, 6-2
3. #58 Raphael Hemmeler (DU) def. #71 Brett Clark (UNC) 7-5, 6-3
4. Jack Murray (UNC) def. Bruno Semenzato (DU) 7-6 (5), 6-2
5. Chris Mengel (DU) def. Esben Hess-Olesen (UNC) 5-2, retired
6. #109 Robert Kelly (UNC) def. TJ Pura (DU) 6-0, 6-1

Doubles competition
1. Nicolas Alvarez/Jason Tahir (DU) led #59 Robert Kelly/Brett Clark (UNC) 7-6
2. Jack Murray/Ronnie Schneider (UNC) def. #88 Raphael Hemmeler/Josh Levine (DU) 8-4
3. Esben Hess-Olesen/Andrew Gores (UNC) def. Bruno Semenato/TJ Pura (DU) 8-5

Match Notes
Duke 19-4, 6-3 ACC; National ranking #6
North Carolina 17-8, 6-3 ACC; National ranking #16
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (5,6,1,3,2,4)
T-3:55 A-541