Duke Heads to NCAA Second Round After Victory Over UNC Asheville

Friday, May 3

Durham, N.C.

4 p.m.

Duke University

UNC Asheville

Duke Heads to NCAA Second Round After Victory Over UNC Asheville

5/3/2024 10:31:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score Photo Gallery

DURHAM – No. 13 Duke opened the NCAA Team Championship with a 4-0 victory over UNC Asheville on Friday afternoon at Ambler Tennis Stadium.

The Blue Devils (19-9) next face No. 20 Alabama at 1 p.m. on Saturday in the NCAA Second Round at Ambler Tennis Stadium. UNC Asheville concludes its season at 16-8.

Friday's outcome marked Duke's third consecutive victory in the opening round of the nationally tournament and its 51st overall postseason win.

Senior Faris Khan earned his second match-clinching victory of the year after he bested Rafa Serra on court four in straight sets.

How It Happened

The Blue Devils began doubles play with a win by Khan and Teddy Truwit on court three. The duo recorded a 6-4 victory over Cian Ingles and Bruno Serra for their sixth dual win of the year. The graduate student pairing of Michael Heller and Andrew Zhang then clinched the doubles point for the home side following their 6-4 win over Sam Nicholson and Freddy Murray on court two. The match on court one between Garrett Johns and Pedro Rodenas against Jon Brann Reid and Rafa Serra went unfinished with the Blue Devils leading 5-4 and serving for match point when the contest was halted.
Duke quickly extended its lead to 3-0 in singles action when No. 43 Rodenas and Connor Krug tallied wins on court two and four, respectively. Rodenas notched 6-2, 6-2 victories over Nicholson, while Krug posted a 6-1, 6-2 straight set victory over Bruno Serra.
Khan then clinched the overall match for the Blue Devils on court five, besting Rara Serra 6-0, 6-3 for his fourth dual win of the year.
The matches on court one, three, and six all went unfinished with the Blue Devils leading 1-0 in each after the first set.

Notes

Duke won its fourth-straight home match and its 28th home match in the NCAA Tournament.
The Blue Devils improve to 51-30 overall at the national event.
With the win, Duke is 13-2 at home this season.
In addition, the Blue Devils have now won eight of their last 10 matches.
Duke won all six opening sets in single action
Khan posted his seventh career match-clinching win.
Rodenas earned his team-leading 17th dual victory of the year.
Heller and Zhang secured their 11th doubles win.

Quotes
"First, I want to say a big congratulations to Matt Frost and his staff. Amazing effort in his first year to take his team to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. In terms of doubles, I think we came out with a little rust or some nerves and weren't really sharp. I think they were. They came out playing extremely well. We got down in court three but then we did a good job of winning some deuce points and flipped the momentum. That helped us play better in the second half of the doubles point."– Duke head coach Ramsey Smith on his thoughts about doubles play

"It's going to be huge. Connor [Krug] was fantastic. We've been working on him playing freer and releasing and going after it. He started off just a touch tight but then got it going. He just played unbelievable tennis today. It's going to be really important for us to have the bottom half of the lineup controlling matches like they did today. I liked [Alexander] Visser at six. He was at match point there at the end, but Faris [Khan] played a little too quickly and was able to clinch for us. Faris is playing the best tennis of his career right now. It's definitely going to be very important moving forward." – Duke head coach Ramsey Smith on the bottom of his lineup having an impact

"They're a tough SEC team and they compete really well. They pulled out a tough match against a really good Charlotte team today. We're just going to have to make sure we're prepared and a little bit sharper. It's a win or go home deal so we're just excited for tomorrow." – Duke head coach Ramsey Smith on Saturday's NCAA Tournament second-round matchup with Alabama

"Teddy and I have great chemistry right now. Today we started a little slow, but we raised our energy and got it done at the end." – Duke senior Faris Khan on playing with sophomore Teddy Truwit in doubles

"It feels good. [Alexander] Visser is a rookie, so he'll have his time to clinch. I wanted to get that win today and I'm happy I was able to get it done." – Duke senior Faris Khan on clinching the match

"We'll take care of our bodies tonight and then tomorrow we'll just need to come out with great energy. Today we could have been better in that regard, especially in the beginning. We were a little flat. I think if we raise the energy, and we take it to them aggressively at the beginning, we'll make it competitive." – Duke senior Faris Khan on Saturday's match with Alabama

Next Match
No. 13 Duke will next face No. 20 Alabama in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday at 1 p.m., at Ambler Tennis Stadium. The Crimson Tide advanced earlier in the day following a 4-1 win over No. 46 Charlotte.

To stay up to date with Blue Devils men's tennis, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeMTEN".

Results
Doubles (3,2*)
1. #1 Garrett Johns/Pedro Rodenas (DU) vs. Jon Brann Reid/Rafa Serra (AVLMTEN) 5-4, unfinished
2. Michael Heller/Andrew Zhang (DU) def. Freddy Murray/Sam Nicholson (AVLMTEN) 6-4
3. Faris Khan/Teddy Truwit (DU) def. Cian Ingles/Bruno Serra (AVLMTEN) 6-4

Singles (2,4,5*)
1. #21 Garrett Johns (DU) vs. Freddy Murray (AVLMTEN) 6-4, 0-4, unfinished
2. #43 Pedro Rodenas (DU) def. Sam Nicholson (AVLMTEN) 6-2, 6-2
3. Andrew Zhang (DU) vs. Jon Brann Reid (AVLMTEN) 6-3, 3-2, unfinished
4. Connor Krug (DU) def. Bruno Serra (AVLMTEN) 6-1, 6-2
5. Faris Khan (DU) def. Rafa Serra (AVLMTEN) 6-0, 6-3
6. Alexander Visser (DU) vs. Cian Ingles (AVLMTEN) 6-2, 5-4, unfinished

To stay up to date with Blue Devils men's tennis, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeMTEN".

Duke Centennial
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