Duke men’s tennis is coming off two consecutive seasons reaching the Round of 16 in the NCAA tournament. But this close-knit bunch lost multiple veterans, including top singles player Garrett Johns and doubles tandem Andrew Zhang and Michael Heller, who all graduated after five years with the program. However, head coach Ramsey Smith reloaded in the transfer portal with a large, experienced and talented class.
“This special group of young men bring individual and unique strengths to our program, and collectively they are aligned with our bold vision for Duke tennis,” Smith said. They share a love of hard work which will create a fun and energetic practice environment and have already embraced our 'Team First' mindset. This is an exciting time for our program."
Here’s the full list of incoming transfers.
Sophomore Cooper Williams, Universal Tennis Rating* : 13.70
The biggest splash in this transfer portal class is Cooper Williams, the reigning ITA Freshman of the Year. Williams competed for Harvard in his first year, anchoring the No. 1 singles spot. He recorded a 17-10 overall singles record with a 25-13 ledger in doubles. The All-American led the Crimson to their highest ranking in program history, and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Individual Championship. Williams finished the season ranked No. 14 in singles and No. 21 in doubles, but cracked the top 10 in both during the year. The New York native also has experience in the Grand Slam junior tournaments, reaching the semifinals at Wimbledon. Williams comes to Duke as one of the most talented players in program history and will strengthen the top of the lineup for the Blue Devils.
Junior Sam Landau, UTR: 13.05
Coming in as arguably Duke’s second-best transfer, Landau excelled in his first two years at Indiana. The 6-foot Los Angeles native finished 11-7 in singles play across courts 1 and 2, enough for a 2024 first-team All-Big 10 berth. Additionally, Landau reached as high as No. 55 in ITA’s individual singles ranking. Expect Landau to provide depth in both singles and doubles, as the rising junior notched a 10-4 doubles record in his second year as a Hoosier. While junior Pedro Rodenas and Williams will likely file into the top two singles slots, Landau has an opportunity to grab the third position for this Blue Devils squad.
Junior Gerard Planelles Ripoll, UTR: 12.93
Planelles Ripoll is another high-echelon transfer set to make an impact for Duke this season. The 6-foot-4 junior earned a 21-14 overall singles record at Arkansas, with his most impressive victory coming 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 against No. 30 J.C. Roddick of Texas A&M, the nephew of former top American professional Andy Roddick. Planelles Ripoll ended his sophomore year ranked No. 96 in singles, earning a 2024 second-team All-SEC nod. Ripoll, raised in Alicante, Spain, could slot into Duke’s middle-tier singles positions come the spring.
Graduate Remy Dugardin, UTR: 12.67
Smith reached beyond American borders in the portal, as the Frenchman will join the Blue Devils as a graduate transfer. Dugardin attended Edhec Business School and competed under the French Tennis Federation. He is ranked within the French top 150. In 2023, Dugardin was the 2nd Series Regional Individual Champion and finished eighth in the French Roland-Garros 2nd Series Championships. He will complete a Master of Management at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business.
Graduate Theo Winegar, UTR: 12.57
With incoming graduate student Theo Winegar, Smith secured his doubles specialist. Listed as 6-foot-3, Winegar has proven to utilize his length to excel on the doubles court, ending his senior year with a 22-8 record, enough to participate in the 2024 NCAA Doubles Championship with Columbia University teammate Michael Zheng. Alongside Zheng, Winegar earned the No. 1 rank doubles pair in ITA’s Northeast Region by the season’s end. Winegar will attend Duke’s Fuqua School of Business.
Graduate Oscar Brown, UTR: 12.53
Brown played for the University of Portland during his undergraduate years, and worked his way up to the top court in the 2023-24 season. At the No. 1 spot, he recorded a 12-13 overall singles record (8-8 in dual matches) and was 10-4 in doubles. Brown earned second-team All-WCC honors in 2024 and was also on the WCC All-Academic team. Originally from Sevenoaks, England, Brown will complete a Master of Management degree at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business.
Graduate Andreja Petrovic, UTR: 12.13
Petrovic is Smith’s lone intraconference transfer, joining the Blue Devils after competing at Florida State for three seasons. He has amassed 61 career singles wins, including a season at North Dakota. In 2023, he recorded a 19-8 singles record, with the majority of his matches on courts 3, 4 and 5. He also has experience in doubles with a 27-26 leger in his Seminole career. Petrovic was a 2022 third-team All-ACC selection as Florida State’s No. 2 singles player. His UTR dropped after not competing last season, but was as high as 13.19. The Oslo, Norway native has represented his home country in the 2022 ATP Cup and the United Cup in 2023 and 2024.
This seven-member transfer class will join incoming freshman Saahith Jayaraman on Duke's 2024-25 roster. Jayaraman is currently the No. 14 prospect in the country.
* Note: The Universal Tennis Rating, or UTR, is a global tennis rating system that rates every tennis player — from juniors to professionals — on a scale from 1.00 to 16.50. UTR takes into account match results, strength of opponent, date of contest and more. Read about the ranking system here.
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Ranjan Jindal is a Trinity junior and sports editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.