Overview
After two years of continuity, Duke men’s tennis looks very different. Head coach Ramsey Smith took full advantage of the transfer portal to retool his roster with hopes to lead the Blue Devils deep in the NCAA Tournament once again. Seven transfers plus one freshman join a small group of elite returners in this year’s iteration of the team.
The Blue Devils started the season ranked No. 12 in the country, but after strong wins against then-No. 21 Harvard and N.C. Central, Smith's squad stepped up to No. 11. Because the full individual season was moved to the fall, many Blue Devils have already showcased their talents on the national stage. Junior Pedro Rodenas and Harvard transfer Cooper Williams both qualified for the NCAA Individual Championships in singles. Pairing up with Theo Winegar, a doubles specialist and transfer from Columbia, Williams also qualified for the NCAA Doubles Championship. The tandem advanced to the Round of 16.
Williams, the reigning ITA National Rookie of the Year, played No. 1 singles in Duke’s defeat of Harvard and should fill one of the gaps at the top of the singles lineup left by Garrett Johns.
Elsewhere, Smith added Sam Landau, Andreja Petrovic, Gerard Planelles Ripoll, Remy Dugardin and Oscar Brown. Landau showed promise in the fall, teaming up with Winegar at the ITA Regionals. Petrovic and Dugardin both won games in the singles lineup when the Blue Devils defeated the Crimson.
“It's a great group of guys. I mean, they all love tennis. They work hard,” Smith said. “We've been really intentional with how we've done things. We started the fall with … some team bonding, and I feel like the team has clicked well.”
Duke has earned appearances in the Round of 16 over the past two seasons and will hope to get back to that. The ACC is once again a loaded conference, with the likes of top-5 foes Virginia and Wake Forest looming large. However, the depth of this squad is primed for another successful season in Smith’s 16th term. -Ranjan Jindal
New player to watch: Sam Landau
A junior transfer from Indiana, Landau headlines Duke’s loaded transfer class. In the fall, the Los Angeles native impressed at individual events, landing himself as the highest ranked singles player for the Blue Devils at No. 37 in the country. Landau shined as a freshman at Indiana, winning 23 combined matches across singles and doubles. In his sophomore year, Landau earned himself a singles spot on court one, ending with an 11-7 record in singles play with some matches as a No. 2, enough to be named to the All-Big Ten First Team.
At Duke, Landau has yet to appear in the regular season due to injury, but he is expected to slot into a top three singles spot, likely joining Rodenas and Williams, and on a doubles team.
“We’re playing without Sam, who's our highest-ranked player, who we hope to have back very soon,” Smith said. -Garrett Spooner
Returner to Watch: Pedro Rodenas
After an impressive sophomore campaign, Rodenas looks to make the biggest impact out of the returning Blue Devils. He posted 26 singles wins last season, including 11 against ranked opponents, and he was also featured on the No. 1 doubles pairing in the country for most of the year alongside graduated Johns. In the midst of the regular season, the duo tallied 12 straight ranked victories, enough to earn a bid at the NCAA Individual Doubles Tournament, where they went to the quarterfinal. In Rodenas’ most impressive match of his sophomore campaign, he took down Kentucky’s 27th-ranked Taha Baadi in straight sets.
In 2025, expect Rodenas to take hold of courts two or three in singles, where he already has one victory against Benjamin Privara of then-No.21 Harvard. Rodenas will also likely man No. 1 doubles this season, perhaps with Winegar, who impressed in the fall. -Spooner
Most anticipated matchup
Although the Blue Devils went 0-3 against Virginia last season, their upcoming match against the Cavaliers is the one to watch. The two teams have a history: In 2023, Duke had a dream season up until it lost to Virginia in the ACC Tournament final. Then, last year, the top-ranked Cavaliers took the Blue Devils out in the ACC Tournament semifinal.
This season, the Cavaliers have dropped down a peg — to No. 5 in the NCAA. The Duke men are only six places behind, and will no doubt be out for blood come February. -Prithvi Kotapati
Best-case scenario
In a best-case scenario, Duke will finish the season ranked well within the top 10 nationally, and at second in the ACC. The Blue Devils have the benefit of a favorable schedule — only twice will they face teams currently ranked ahead of them as they meet Virginia and Florida State. If Duke can pick off one of these wins and minimize losses elsewhere on the docket, then we may see a regular-season record with as few as two or three losses — good for a third-to-sixth place finish nationally, depending on tournament performance.
Regarding conference play, even the most bullish optimist would recognize Virginia as the ACC’s most formidable contender. Virginia has won six NCAA championships since 2013 and has taken the ACC trophy in three of the past four seasons. With their No. 5 ranking, this year will likely be no different for the Cavaliers. In the best-case scenario, Duke will finish second in the conference behind Virginia. There is precedent for this outcome, too: Virginia and Duke occupied the top two positions in the ACC at the conclusion of the 2023 season, when Rodenas, Connor Krug, Jake Krug and Teddy Truwit were all in the starting rotation, as they will be this year.
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The Blue Devils’ other ACC competitors appear less capable to mount a strong opposition this year; N.C. State sits at the 22nd position while North Carolina has failed to register on the national leger. As it stands today, only No. 10 Florida State threatens leapfrogging Duke for the second-place spot in the conference. -Alex Sizemore
Worst-case scenario
In a worst-case scenario, Duke will end the season somewhere around 30th nationally and sixth in the ACC. Despite signals of a good season for the Blue Devils, danger lurks. In addition to Virginia, Florida State — a perennial strength in the ACC — begins the season just ahead of Duke. Other hazards, too, lie ahead in the schedule. Stanford, N.C. State and Georgia Tech all have the potential to pull off an upset. If Duke underperforms in close matches and drops a few unexpected losses — paired with early exits from tournament play — it could spell a middling finish for the Blue Devils.
Still, for this promising team brimming with talent, even the worst case would still see Duke as a force on the national stage. -Sizemore
Predictions
Jindal: 19-6 (11-3 in the ACC), loss in NCAA Tournament quarterfinals
Sizemore: 21-4 (13-1 in the ACC), loss in NCAA Tournament quarterfinals
Kotapati: 20-5 (11-3 in the ACC), loss in NCAA Tournament quarterfinals
Spooner: 20-5 (12-2 in ACC), loss in NCAA Tournament third round
Ranjan Jindal is a Trinity junior and sports editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.