Duke Adds Sixth ACC Win After Victory Over No. 23 Notre Dame

Friday, March 25

Durham, N.C.

4 p.m.

Duke University

[23] Notre Dame

Arturo Kam and Andrew Dale compete against Notre Dame in doubles play

Duke Adds Sixth ACC Win After Victory Over No. 23 Notre Dame

3/25/2022 8:47:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

DURHAM – No. 17 Duke claimed its sixth ACC victory of the year Friday afternoon after it bested No. 23 Notre Dame, 5-2, at Ambler Tennis Stadium.

The Blue Devils improve to 13-4 overall and 6-1 in conference play, while the Fighting Irish dip to 14-7 and 4-3, respectively. Friday's victory also marked Duke's sixth consecutive win, with four of those coming against top-25 competition.

"It was a great start for us, winning the doubles point today," Duke head coach Ramsey Smith said. "We changed some things in doubles because we needed to, since we haven't been winning that point consistently. Overall, I thought we did a really good job on all three courts. We had three players play doubles that didn't play singles, so we got nine guys involved. We need to clean up the beginning of singles play though. We've kind of been used to losing doubles points and coming out with real urgency, but today we felt a little bit relaxed. They grabbed some early momentum in the first sets, but then we dug in and got things going and really took care of business on a couple courts. By the two-hour mark we had clinched, which was nice."

Senior Edu Güell clinched the overall match for Duke on court five following his 6-3, 6-4 victory over Peter Conklin. Güell improves to 10-2 in dual singles action and is currently riding a four-match winning streak.

"I've been having the most fun of all my years this season," Güell said. "Regardless of how I'm playing, I think the team chemistry is amazing. We're having fun and that leads to good chemistry which leads to wins. That's very important."

Smith added that Güell's really found his rhythm in the last few matches.

"Edu's been great," Smith added. "It's been a process for him as he's dealt with some injuries and some adversity, but the whole goal was to really get him going for this spring. He's had some ups and downs and could have really gotten discouraged at different times, but I have so much confidence in him. I just know how hard he's going to compete out there. He's in a really nice rhythm at the moment."

The Blue Devils secured the doubles point after wins by Garrett Johns and Sean Sculley as well as Andrew Dale and Arturo Kam. Johns and Sculley were the first to finish on court two after they defeated Conklin and Matthew Halpin, 6-1. Dale and Kam then followed suit by beating Connor Fu and Jean-Marc Malkowski, 6-4, on court three. The match on court one between Faris Khan and Niroop Vallabhaneni against No. 41 Matthew Che and Axel Nefve went unfished with the Blue Devils leading 5-4.

No. 64 Johns extended Duke's lead to 2-0 early in singles play following his win by retirement over No. 53 Nefve. The Irish claimed the 6-3 victory in the first set, but Johns was leading 1-0 in the second when the match was halted due to Nefve's injury.

Dale continued the momentum and earned his 10th singles win of the year after he bested Malkowski 6-4, 6-0 on court six.

Güell's match-clinching victory was the next to finish before Notre Dame finally earned its first points in the contest. The Fighting Irish registered consecutive wins on court three and four following victories by Aditya Vashistha and Fu, respectively. Vashistha defeated Connor Krug 6-4, 7-5, while Fu outlasted Khan in a three-set match 2-6, 6-4, 10-4.

Junior Andrew Zhang closed things out for Duke on court two by beating Che 6-4, 6-4. The Bloomfield Hills, Mich., native joins Dale, Güell and Johns with 10 wins on the year.

The Blue Devils next welcome No. 29 Louisville on Sunday for a 12 p.m. matchup at Ambler Tennis Stadium. The contest will be a Royal Blue match and parking is available in the Blue Zone. Live stats and video will also be available.

"Tennis is a great sport, but one of the things you have to learn is that the satisfaction that you have from winning only lasts a short time," Güell said. "My mindset and the team's mindset are that when we have a win like this, we enjoy ourselves for a little bit and then tomorrow we reset and prepare for our next match, which in this case is Sunday."

"The guys know how to handle it by now," Smith added when asked about the quick turnaround of Sunday's match against No. 29 Louisville. "Obviously, today was a great team win for us, but it's all about how you finish the weekend and the season. We preach that all the time. So, we'll enjoy this tonight, take care of our bodies, and make sure we're ready to go for Sunday. Louisville is awfully tough and they're on a role, so it should be another great opportunity for us to show how tough we are."

RESULTS
Singles (1,6,5*,3,4,2)
1. #64 Garrett Johns (DU) def. #53 Axel Nefve (ND-M) 3-6, 1-0, retired
2. Andrew Zhang (DU) def. Matthew Che (ND-M) 6-4, 6-4
3. Aditya Vashistha (ND-M) def. Connor Krug (DU) 6-4, 7-5
4. Connor Fu (ND-M) def. Faris Khan (DU) 2-6, 6-4, 10-4
5. Edu Güell (DU) def. Peter Conklin (ND-M) 6-3, 6-4
6. Andrew Dale (DU) def. Jean-Marc Malkowski (ND-M) 6-4, 6-0

Doubles (2,3*)
1. Faris Khan/Niroop Vallabhaneni (DU) vs. #41 Matthew Che/Axel Nefve (ND-M) 5-4, unfinished
2. Garrett Johns/Sean Sculley (DU) def. Peter Conklin/Matthew Halpin (ND-M) 6-1
3. Andrew Dale/Arturo Kam (DU) def. Connor Fu/Jean-Marc Malkowski (ND-M) 6-4

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