Everything’s bigger in Texas — the competition is no exception.
On the road for the first tournament of the 2025 season, Duke men’s tennis was dealt a triple whammy in consecutive losses to No. 9 San Diego, Baylor and No. 6 Columbia, ending the team’s undefeated season.
“Losing all three matches is certainly not what we were thinking going into it,” head coach Ramsey Smith said. “Having said that, I thought we played some really good tennis.”
The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Men’s Team Indoor Championship is a five-day tournament in which the top-ranked NCAA Division I teams are invited to compete in a single-elimination draw to crown an indoor national champion. The 2025 championship took place at two Texas sites — Baylor in Waco and SMU in Dallas. Each of the nation’s top 14 teams were in attendance, with two additional berths given to the tournament hosts. With such a concentration of college tennis talent, even the most formidable squad would expect an uphill battle.
The scene was set as No. 7 Duke (7-3) was paired with No. 9 San Diego (9-1) in the Round of 16 Friday night. They took to the court in Waco and immediately things were looking rosy for the Blue Devils as No. 2 doubles drew first blood, taking the set 6-3. It wouldn’t last, though, and a pair of losses on courts one and three would tip the doubles point to the Toreros. This wasn’t an unfamiliar position for Duke — it had overcome a doubles loss once before this season — but it would mean starting the match on its back foot.
“We lost that doubles point, and for the very first time the whole weekend, the guys got a little discouraged,” Smith said. “And that's something that just can't happen in college tennis.”
The Blue Devils would need four of the six singles matches to claim victory. It started fast. Four straight-set matches were split between the two teams in rapid succession. With the two remaining matches down a break, Duke had its back against the wall. Connor Krug, at this point deep in the third set and down 3-5, faced a match point against him at deuce, but a backhand exchange led to an overhead, with Krug putting it away to win the game and keep the team’s hopes alive. With all the momentum behind him, Krug won three consecutive games to clinch the match and tie the team score at 3-3.
“Connor has been just phenomenal. He's continued to play a great level of tennis and be a great leader,” Smith said. “Connor's had a tremendous spring altogether.”
All eyes then turned to junior Gerard Planelles Ripoll and his opponent, San Diego freshman Adrien Berrut, who found themselves locked in a second-set tiebreaker after Ripoll had dropped the first. The Torero quickly sprang to a commanding lead at 5-0, and hopes seemed dashed for a Blue Devil victory. However, in a storybook series of winners from Ripoll and errors from Berrut, the Duke junior strung together seven consecutive points to win the second set and send the match to a deciding third set.
In the third set, a wild series of overruled calls sent the topsy-turvy set to 5-5. Berrut held, and Ripoll served at 5-6 to keep Duke’s hopes alive as he grabbed at his leg as cramps set in. At 30-30, Ripoll served underhand and a return from Berrut drifted dangerously close to the line — an overrule of Ripoll’s call gave Berrut a match point which he converted with a screaming backhand winner, claiming the match win for San Diego.
“It was one of the craziest college matches I've been a part of, and really one of the most exciting, if you take the winning and losing out of it. Obviously, I left that match disappointed, but proud of so many things,” Smith said. “I know [Ripoll] is going to keep putting himself out there and he's going to be really important for us moving forward.”
The loss to San Diego booted Duke from the main draw of the tournament and ended the Blue Devils’ undefeated season. However, Duke was still guaranteed to play at least two more matches in the consolation draw of the tournament.
“San Diego is one of the toughest teams in the country,” Smith said. “Obviously, it really stings to lose that, but it was nothing to hang our heads on.”
Next on the docket for the Blue Devils was Baylor Saturday. Unranked heading into the weekend, the Bears (7-6) were able to bypass the top 16 requirement as they were slotted into a spot reserved for the tournament host. The match was off to a better start for the Blue Devils as they claimed victory on courts one and two in doubles play to snag the first point for Duke. A hasty victory from Rodenas lifted spirits, but it would not last as three consecutive matches fell to Baylor in straight sets. Only Ripoll and Dugardin remained, and as both battled deep into the third sets, it was Ripoll who fell to give a 4-2 victory to the Bears, with Rodenas capturing the only singles point of the match.
“[Rodenas] played some of his very best tennis this week,” Smith said. “He's really coming into form, and wasn't feeling great earlier in the spring, and has worked hard and done extremely well.”
The weekend wasn’t over still, and Duke moved into double consolation Sunday night where it matched up against No. 6 Columbia (6-3) who had themselves just suffered losses to No. 11 Stanford and No. 4 Ohio State. In doubles play, Duke yet again was stymied as it dropped the point to the Lions. Not to be discouraged, though, the first singles point of the match was snagged for the Blue Devils as Dugardin claimed a hasty 6-1, 6-4 victory.
“[Dugardin] was a massive bright spot, not just for this week, but for the whole spring so far,” Smith said. “He just gets better and better.”
As quickly as Dugardin had won, though, other Blue Devils began to fall. Cooper Williams, battling on court one against Columbia’s Michael Zheng — the No. 1 singles player in men’s tennis — fell in straight sets, followed in quick succession by Rodenas and Ripoll to cement the match win for Columbia and deal Duke its third consecutive loss.
Despite the lopsided blow to the Blue Devils’ record leaving the ITA National Men’s Team Indoor Championship, Smith remains optimistic about the season to come.
“I feel like we certainly have the pieces needed to be an elite team,” Smith said. “These are the best teams in the country, so it was good to kind of see where we need to improve and grow for that really important push to the end of the season, which has been our focus all along.”
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To open outdoor play, Duke will face Virginia in Durham Feb. 28.