Bulldogs take down Duke 4-1 in NCAA Championship Round of 16

The Blue Devils faced two opponents on the tennis court last Thursday: sixth-seeded Georgia and food poisoning.

While the team overcame the latter just to make it to the venue, they were no match for the Bulldogs in their weakened state.

Eleventh-seeded Duke started out energized, though, producing a tightly-contested battle for the doubles point. The two teams split the first two doubles matches, leaving the point to be decided by two top-10 pairs. When the Blue Devils’ No. 7-ranked duo of Reid Carleton and Henrique Cunha narrowly fell to Georgia’s No. 6-ranked tandem of Javier Garrapiz and Hernus Pieters 9-7, conceding the doubles point, the match was all but over.

Chris Mengel was the only Duke player to win a singles match, taking down Sadio Doumbia 6-2, 6-4. The Blue Devils were not without their chances, though, as they won the first set in three of the four singles matches they lost.

Carleton and Cunha will now compete in the NCAA singles and doubles championships, which started yesterday.