After back-to-back Round of 16 appearances, Duke men’s tennis is back. The Blue Devils have eight newcomers — seven from the transfer portal — so the cast of characters is very new for head coach Ramsey Smith.
At the ITA Regional Championships in Cary, N.C., the Blue Devils faced some of the best players from the region to qualify for the NCAA Individual Championships in November.
Junior Pedro Rodenas — the No. 2 seed — did just that, working through a tough singles draw to advance to the finals for the best result of his season. The finals match was canceled as both Rodenas and N.C. State’s Martin Borisiok automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships.
“Pedro was amazing. Just a huge bright spot for the program this weekend and he just made such good progression week to week,” Smith said. “He's working really, really hard on the mental side, and [Sunday] he was tested about as much as you can be.
In the semifinals Sunday, Rodenas was down 6-2, 3-0 to Dhakshineswar Suresh, the big-serving No. 3 seed from Wake Forest. However, the Spaniard showcased his mental fortitude, finishing the second set 6-4 and winning a contentious third set 7-6.
Rodenas didn’t just perform well in singles; he teamed up with fellow countryman Gerard Planelles Ripoll in the doubles draw. They rolled their way to a semifinals, but faced the No. 1 seed Noa Vukadin and Maxwell Smith of Clemson.
The Tigers were aggressive at the start, winning the first set 6-3. Rodenas and Planelles Ripoll settled in and jumped out to a 4-1 second-set lead, but Vukadin and Smith’s showed why they were the top seed. The tandem broke the Blue Devils twice and took the second set 6-4 with firepower and exquisite shot making.
On the adjacent court, transfers Theo Winegar (Columbia) and Sam Landau (Indiana) worked their way to the semifinals on the other side of the draw. Landau’s elite groundstrokes and Winegar’s strong hands at the net made for an exciting pair.
Duke’s 11th-seeded team won the first set 7-5, but fifth-seed Luciano Tacci and Luca Pow of Wake Forest stormed back to a 6-3 second-set win. The match would come down to a 10-point tiebreak.
Tacci and Pow led 6-2, but the Blue Devils won back-to-back points to make it 6-4. With the Demon Deacons up 9-6, Landau hit two big serves to cut the lead to 9-8, but a volley from Pow won the match.
“Getting two teams in the semifinals of this event with this level is really good,” Smith said. “We didn't play our best, but I thought Clemson and Wake [Forest] played really, really good, and it just came down to a couple points here and there.”
Elsewhere in singles, Harvard transfer Cooper Williams earned the top overall seed in the event, but after two routine victories, fell in the Round of 16 to Borisiouk 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.
Sophomore Alexander Visser got a win against No. 6-seed Casey Hoole from South Carolina, and freshman Saahith Jayaraman made his Duke debut with two impressive main-draw victories against South Carolina State’s Mikalai Bankou and No. 15 Jelani Sarr of South Carolina.
“Visser had a great win against [Hoole], who won this tournament two years ago … he played extremely well, and [Saahith Jayaraman] just keeps getting better and better,” Smith said. “He won some big matches and took advantage of his wild card and was really, really consistent.”
The Krug twins — now in their senior year with the program — both had successful weekends. Connor opened the main draw with a 6-4, 6-1 upset against No. 5 Fons Van Sambeek from N.C. State. He carried this momentum with another win before falling in the Round of 16.
Jake worked through qualifying with two straight-set wins to advance to the main draw. While he got a set on No. 14 seed Ioannis Xilas, he could not emerge victorious in the tough matchup.
“Overall, I thought we made big improvements from Tulsa, and I’m looking forward to build on that for these next couple tournaments of the fall,” Smith said.
Duke has two more fall events before the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships, with the Wake Forest Invitational next up Nov. 1.
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Ranjan Jindal is a Trinity junior and sports editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.