North Carolina
Duke
Tar Heels Fall To #8 Blue Devils 6-1
March 17, 2013 | Men's Tennis
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - North Carolina's men's tennis team dropped a 6-1 decision to eighth-ranked Duke at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center Sunday afternoon. The match was played outside in 50 degree weather with overcast skies and high winds.
Duke improved to 14-3 on the season and 2-0 in the ACC while the Tar Heels fell to 7-8 and 0-2 in the conference. The Tar Heels have lost six matches in a row, including four to Top 25 teams.
All three Duke doubles teams are nationally-ranked in the Top 25 and they played like it against the Tar Heels, winning by wide margins at all three positions to take a quick 1-0 lead.
Duke, with three singles players ranked in the Top 30, and another two ranked players at #4 and #5, scored decisive wins in four singles matches to go up 5-0. Freshman Brett Clark fought hard at the #2 spot before succumbing to 26th-ranked Fred Saba 7-5, 7-6 (2).
Senior William Parker was the bright spot for the Heels in singles as he persevered to beat 55th-ranked Raphael Hemmerler at No. 5 singles. After dropping the first set 6-3, Parker battled back to win the second 6-3 and then bolted to a 4-0 lead in the third set before winning it 6-2.
The Tar Heels will be back in action Friday in Blacksburg, Va., when they meet Virginia Tech in a 2 p.m. match.
#8 Duke 6, #57 North Carolina 1
Doubles
(Team Winning Majority Of Matches Earns One Team Point)
Order of match finish: (2,3,1)
1. #1 Henrique Cunha/Raphael Hemmeler (DU) d. Esben Hess-Olesen/Oystein Steiro
(UNC), 8-3
2. #9 Michael Redlicki/Jason Tahir (DU) d. Nelson Vick/William Parker (UNC), 8-1
3. #25 Chris Mengel/Fred Saba (DU) d. Brett Clark/Maik Ulrich (UNC), 8-2
Singles (One Team Point Per Singles Match)
Order of match finish: (6, 4, 1, 3, 2, 5)
1. #10 Henrique Cunha (DU) d. #35 Esben Hess-Olesen (UNC), 6-4, 6-2
2. #26 Fred Saba (DU) d. #104 Brett Clark (UNC), 7-5, 7-6 (7-2)
3. #27 Michael Redlicki (DU) d. #113 Nelson Vick (UNC), 6-3, 6-4
4. #89 Chris Mengel (DU) d. #114 Oystein Steiro (UNC), 6-1, 6-2
5. William Parker (UNC) d. #55 Raphael Hemmeler (DU), 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
6. Jason Tahir (DU) d. Andrew Gores (UNC), 6-0, 6-2
Weather Conditions: 52 degrees, cloudy, windyRecords: North Carolina 7-8, ACC 0-2; Duke 14-3, ACC 2-0
Players Mentioned
