Blue Devils Drop 5-2 Decision to No. 29 Louisville

Sunday, March 27

Durham, N.C.

12 p.m.

Duke University

[29] Louisville

Blue Devils Drop 5-2 Decision to No. 29 Louisville

3/27/2022 5:58:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

DURHAM – No. 17 Duke men's tennis fell short Sunday afternoon, dropping a 5-2 decision to No. 29 Louisville at Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center.

The two teams needed all three doubles matches to determine a winner of the doubles point, while in singles play, four of the six matches went to three sets. The Blue Devils dip to 13-5 overall and 6-2 in ACC play, while the Cardinals improve to 14-6 and 6-2, respectively. The loss halted Duke's winning streak at six consecutive matches.

"Congrats to Louisville," Duke head coach Ramsey Smith said. "I thought they did a great job today. They came out with a lot of urgency and hunger, and they really grabbed the momentum from the beginning. We weren't as hungry as Louisville. We've been winning a few matches and I'm not sure if we overlooked them a little bit but they're a very good team and played extremely well today. They deserved to win."

Louisville grinded out the doubles point after breaking a 1-1 tie with the clinching victory on court two. The visitors started the day with a 6-2 win by Matthew Fung and Alex Wesbrooks over Andrew Dale and Arturo Kam on court three. Duke rallied back after Faris Khan and Niroop Vallabhaneni defeated Tin Chen and Etienne Donnet 6-3 to knot things up at one match apiece. Unfortunately, Sergio Hernandez and Natan Rodrigues outlasted Garrett Johns and Sean Sculley, 7-5, on court two to secure the doubles point for the Cardinals.

Louisville continued its momentum in singles play and quickly extended its edge to 3-0 after wins on court one and two. No. 117 Donnet bested No. 64 Johns 6-1, 7-5, on the main court, before Josh Howard-Tripp registered 7-6 (6), 6-3 victories over Andrew Zhang on court two.

The Cardinals added two additional wins, including the match clinching victory on court five by Rodrigues to ultimately secure their sixth ACC win of the season. In Rodrigues' match, he battled back to record the come-from-behind 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 three-set victory over Edu Güell. The next court to finish was six, where Dale rallied for a 6-2 win in the second set over David Mizrahi after dropping his opening frame, 6-4. Unfortunately, Mizrahi claimed the final set 6-4 to register the win.

Duke earned its lone points in the contest during the final two matches after wins by Connor Krug and Khan. On court three, Krug fell 6-4 in the opening set to Chen before posting a 6-3 victory in the second. The rookie then outlasted Chen 7-6 (5) in the final frame for his 10th victory of the year. Khan closed things out on court four with a three-set come-from-behind win over Hernandez. After dropping the first set 6-2, Khan secured 6-4, 7-6 (11) victories in the final two frames for the win.

"Solid finishes by Connor (Krug) and Faris (Khan)," Smith added. "They competed great at the end and found a way to win. It was a bright spot despite the team loss."

The Blue Devils host Georgia Tech, Clemson, and North Carolina A&T next weekend. Duke welcomes the Yellow Jackets on Friday at 4 p.m., followed by a doubleheader with the Tigers and Aggies on Sunday at 12 p.m. and 5 p.m., respectively. All matches are scheduled to be played at Ambler Tennis Stadium. Live stats and video will be available for each contest.

"We just need to get back to work and do the things that we've been doing to get us to this point," Smith said. "We need to regain that hunger. This loss stings, it doesn't feel good. It's a different feeling than we've had lately so I know the guys are going to come back motivated and work extremely hard. Georgia Tech on Friday is extremely under-ranked. They're a very talented team that's just come up on the wrong side of some really close matches. We're really excited about the upcoming opportunity."

RESULTS
Singles (1,2,5*,6,3,4)
1. #117 Etienne Donnet (LOU-MT) def. #64 Garrett Johns (DU) 6-1, 7-5
2. Josh Howard-Tripp (LOU-MT) def. Andrew Zhang (DU) 7-6 (8-6), 6-3
3. Connor Krug (DU) def. Tin Chen (LOU-MT) 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5)
4. Faris Khan (DU) def. Sergio Hernandez (LOU-MT) 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (13-11)
5. Natan Rodrigues (LOU-MT) def. Edu Güell (DU) 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
6. David Mizrahi (LOU-MT) def. Andrew Dale (DU) 6-4, 2-6, 6-4

Doubles (3,1,2*)
1. Faris Khan/Niroop Vallabhaneni (DU) def. Etienne Donnet/Tin Chen (LOU-MT) 6-3
2. Natan Rodrigues/Sergio Hernandez (LOU-MT) def. Garrett Johns/Sean Sculley (DU) 7-5
3. Matthew Fung/Alex Wesbrooks (LOU-MT) def. Andrew Dale/Arturo Kam (DU) 6-2

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