Spring has sprung, the sun is out and Duke men’s tennis stayed hot with a pair of conference victories.
This weekend, No. 13 Duke cruised to two ACC wins at home, clearing out the SMU Mustangs 4-0 Friday before defeating Boston College 6-1 two days later. With the win Sunday, the Blue Devils improved their record to 14-4 overall and 7-1 in ACC play.
After a tough loss to Clemson last weekend snapped its streak of five conference wins, all Duke wanted was to get back on track. And after two weeks on the road, the Blue Devils got to do it on their home court.
Friday vs. SMU
Right off the bat, the Blue Devils crafted a 1-0 lead after a pair of doubles victories.
Junior Pedro Rodenas and senior Connor Krug dealt the first blow: After an early 1-2 deficit, the duo claimed five of the next six games en route to a 6-3 win. On court one, sophomore Cooper Williams and graduate student Andreja Petrovic were in a similar position, trailing the Mustangs 1-2. As the set went back and forth to settle at a 3-3 tie, the Duke pair persevered to win the next three games, grabbing the doubles point for the Blue Devils.
Off to an early lead, the Blue Devils were dialed in. As the singles matches unfolded, the Blue Devils won the first set on all six courts.
Up against SMU’s Maks Silagy in the No. 5 spot, a three-game run was exactly what Krug needed to secure his first set 6-2. Without stepping off the gas, Krug followed it up with another 6-2 set, claiming the first singles contest and setting the tone for the rest of the day.
On court two, both No. 71 Williams and SMU’s Georgi Georgiev were having a good day. After the Duke sophomore surged to an early 5-0 advantage, it was Georgiev’s turn. But although the Mustang managed to win three straight games, that was all Williams would give him, delivering a final blow to secure the set 6-3. Before long, Williams took the second set too, 6-1, propelling Duke to a 3-0 lead.
“They're a dangerous team and played well, but I thought across the board we came out ready to go,” head coach Ramsey Smith said.
Even though his opponent took the early lead, 1-2, it was merely a falter in Rodenas’ step. The 36th-ranked Blue Devils' answer was clear as he took the next three games, pushing to a 4-2 lead. After the two competitors traded hit after hit, Rodenas emerged victorious in the end, taking the first set 6-3. The second set proved much the same as Rodenas wrestled his way to 6-3, bringing the team score to 4-0— straight sets across the board.
“It was a collective win,” Smith said. “I was very impressed with the guys today.”
Sunday vs. Boston College
With a resounding win behind them, the air reeked of confidence in Ambler Tennis Stadium, evident as the doubles matches unfolded.
On court three, junior Gerard Planelles Ripoll and graduate student Remy Dugardin wasted no time establishing dominance with a 6-0 victory. From there, all eyes were on court one, where Williams and Petrovic were trying to recreate their doubles clinch.
“They both compete extremely well, and they're so good from the ground,” Smith said. “They call themselves the two back team, because when they're two back, they're just pretty dominant.”
As the score hovered at 3-2, the duo went on a four-game run to clear their opponents 6-2, claiming the doubles point for the Blue Devils to give them an early 1-0 advantage.
It didn’t stop there, as Duke took to singles play.
Jake Krug drew first blood for the Blue Devils. Fending off a series of deuces, the senior powered through to a decisive 6-0 set win before dropping the first game of the second set to Boston College’s Connor McDonald. Krug went on to win four games in a row.
With the set at 4-2, McDonald fought back, managing to break Krug’s serve and edge closer to a tie. With a fire lit under him, the Blue Devil responded by giving the Eagle a taste of his own medicine. After breaking McDonald’s serve to make the score 5-3 — Krug finished the set off with a three-point lead, clinching the second team point of the day for the Blue Devils. A dominant straight-set victory and the Blue Devils’s first singles win of the day, a more impressive result given it was only his fourth appearance this season.
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“I just know I can count on [Krug],” Smith said. “And I don't know how he does as well as he does, because it's hard when you're not building rhythm.”
Fortunately for Duke, Petrovic kept the rhythm building with a two-set win over Boston College’s Caleb Saltz. In set one, the Oslo, Norway, native delivered a masterclass in tennis, taking game after game after game to amass a 5-0 lead. And after conceding a single game to Saltz, Petrovic closed out the set 6-1. A few games later, Petrovic did it again — this time on a break point — winning the set 6-2 and extending Duke’s lead to 3-0.
On court six, a pair of four-game runs built Eagles junior Aidan Pack’s straight-set victory. Graduate student Oscar Brown tried but failed to respond, dropping the sets 2-6, 1-6, respectively.
Still, the Eagles only delayed the inevitable: It wasn’t long before Ripoll certified the team win for Duke in the No. 3 spot. After his opponent surged to an early 5-2 lead in the first set, a Boston College win seemed imminent. But Ripoll countered back with a five-game run, claiming the set 7-5. In the next set, the score was 5-2 and the Blue Devil was cruising. Ripoll then spun an ace to win the set and the match, crowning Duke the team victor for the day.
From there, the dominoes kept falling. Although Duke had already secured the team win on paper, both coaches chose to play through the remaining matches.
“Every match is a big deal,” Smith said. “We don't have too many of these opportunities left.”
Back in the No. 2 spot, the game was intense. Even with the winning team decided, everyone’s eyes were on Connor Krug and the scoreboard. He’d won the first set 6-3, but the second set was a tougher battle. He’d started strong, gliding to a 3-0 lead. But before long it was 3-3, then 4-4 and then 5-5. A match that should’ve ended a while ago became agonizingly drawn out by Boston College’s Andrew Ilie.
Ilie took the lead for the first time, breaking Krug’s serve to get to 6-5. Krug fought back, and then it was a tie. Again. As the seven-point tiebreaker played out, Krug stayed resolute, claiming the match as he broke the tie 7-2.
With Duke now 5-1, only one match remained. After dropping his first set 2-6, freshman Saahith Jayaraman rallied back to claim the second, 6-4. From there, Jayaraman went on a rampage, clearing out his opponent in a 10-1 tiebreaker; the cherry on top for a weekend of conference victories.
All aboard the ACC train, the Blue Devils look to keep the momentum going as they face No. 37 Florida State and No. 34 Miami at home next weekend.
“The whole goal is to be playing our best tennis in April and May,” Smith said. “I think we're positioning ourselves well for that.”