Duke Advances to Second Round of NCAA Championship Following 4-1 Win

Friday, May 6

Knoxville, Tenn.

10 a.m.

Duke University

[42] Memphis

Andrew Zhang focuses on hitting the ball during Duke's NCAA Championship match with South Florida

Duke Advances to Second Round of NCAA Championship Following 4-1 Win

5/6/2022 3:27:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

DURHAM – No. 21 Duke opened the NCAA Team Championship with a 4-1 victory over No. 42 Memphis on Friday afternoon inside Goodfriend Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Tennessee.

The Blue Devils captured the doubles point and received singles victories from sophomore Andrew Dale as well as juniors Garrett Johns and Andrew Zhang. Friday's outcome marked Duke's first victory in the opening round of the nation-wide tournament since 2015, and its first road or neutral site win at the event since 2009 when the Blue Devils bested Radford in Knoxville, Tenn.

Duke improves to 17-8 overall with the victory and advances to Saturday's second round where it will take on No. 6 Tennessee, who bested Tennessee Tech 4-0 in the opening round. Saturday's contest is set for 1 p.m. at Barksdale Stadium.

"It was a great team effort, and I am really proud of the guys," Duke head coach Ramsey Smith said. "Memphis is a very good team, especially indoors. We had a very good start and finish in doubles. It was key to grab the momentum of the match with that first point. In singles, we competed great up and down the line, and each guy handled adversity well when it came their way. Our guys are locked in, and we are excited for a big opportunity tomorrow."

The Blue Devils registered the doubles point to take an early 1-0 edge in the match. The sophomore tandem of Faris Khan and Niroop Vallabhaneni dropped a 6-2 decision to No. 31 David Stevenson and Jeremy Taylor on the top court for the first results of the day. Fortunately, the Blue Devils strung together wins on court two and three to snag the doubles point. Senior Sean Sculley and Zhang bested Patrick Sydow and Pau Fanlo 6-4 on court three to begin the rally. Johns and Michael Heller then finished things off with a 6-3 triumph over Oscar Cutting and Pablo Alemany Malea on court two to register the overall point.

Duke continued that momentum in singles play with sophomore Andrew Dale earning its second point. The Leesburg, Va., native posted 6-2, 6-4 wins on court six to hand the Blue Devils the 2-0 advantage.

Memphis cut the deficit to 2-1 after Alemany Malea bested Khan 6-4, 6-3 on court four.

No. 49 Johns quickly answered for the Blue Devils on court one following his 6-3, 7-5 victory over Stevenson.

A few minutes later, Zhang clinched the overall match for Duke to keep its season alive. The Bloomfield Hills, Mich., native registered a gritty 7-6 (4) tiebreak win in the opening set before claiming a 6-1 victory in the second.

Two matches went unfinished on court three and five. Rookie Connor Krug won his opening set against Cutting 6-4 and was tied at 6-6 in the second but was leading the tiebreak 4-1. Senior Edu Güell dropped his opening frame to Fanlo 6-4 but rebounded with a 7-6 (2) victory in the second. The third set had not started yet when the overall match was clinched by Duke.

The Blue Devils will face No. 6 Tennessee (22-7) at 1 p.m. on Saturday. The winner of that match will advance to the NCAA Team Championship super regional round.

RESULTS
Singles (6,4,1,2*)
1. #49 Garrett Johns (DU) def. David Stevenson (MEM) 6-3, 7-5
2. Andrew Zhang (DU) def. Jeremy Taylor (MEM) 7-6 (7-4), 6-1
3. Connor Krug (DU) vs. Oscar Cutting (MEM) 6-4, 6-6 (4-1), unfinished
4. Pablo Alemany Malea (MEM) def. Faris Khan (DU) 6-4, 6-3
5. Edu Güell (DU) vs. Pau Fanlo (MEM) 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), unfinished
6. Andrew Dale (DU) def. Harry Rock (MEM) 6-2, 6-4

Doubles (1,3,2*)
1. #31 David Stevenson/Jeremy Taylor (MEM) def. Niroop Vallabhaneni/Faris Khan (DU) 6-2
2. Garrett Johns/Michael Heller (DU) def. Oscar Cutting/Pablo Alemany Malea (MEM) 6-3
3. Andrew Zhang/Sean Sculley (DU) def. Patrick Sydow/Pau Fanlo (MEM) 6-4

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