Blue Devils Trip Men's Tennis, 5-2

Saturday, April 6

Durham, N.C.

1 PM

North Carolina

Duke

Patrick Schoen won his match at No. 4 singles in straight sets.

Photo by: ANTHONY SORBELLINI

April 6, 2024 | Men's Tennis

Box Score

By: Matt Bowers

DURHAM, N.C.— Duke won the doubles point and four of six singles matches, earning a 5-2 victory over North Carolina on Saturday afternoon at the Ambler Tennis Stadium.

The 17th-ranked Blue Devils (16-7, 8-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) broke a tie with 22nd-ranked Carolina to take over third place in the ACC standings with two regular season matches remaining on the schedule.

The Tar Heels, who had won 10 of their last 12 matches entering Saturday, dropped to 13-6, 7-3 ACC.

The Blue Devils won the doubles point, 2-0, then jumped out to big leads in the first set of four of six singles matches to seize momentum early. They held on to claim three of the first four singles decisions.

Duke picked up doubles wins at No. 1 and No. 3 then singles victories at the No. 1, No. 2, No. 6 and No. 3 slots.

The Tar Heels got singles wins from Patrick Schoen (No. 4) and Will Peters (No. 6).

Notes & Tidbits
• UNC dropped to 3-3 against ITA top-25 opponents this season.
• Karl Poling fell behind, 5-0, in his first set at No. 3 singles against Andrew Zhang before roaring back for seven consecutive game victories to take the set, 7-5. Zhang won the second set and the match at No. 3 in a 10-point, third-set tiebreaker.
• Peters dropped the first two games of his first set against Alexander Visser before rallying to win the set, 6-3. He won the second set, 6-4, to give Carolina its second team point of the afternoon.
• Schoen had a strong day, racing to a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 4 singles. He and Peter Murphy were tied, 5-5, at No. 2 doubles before that match went unfinished.
• Duke has won the last three meetings in the series but UNC leads all-time, 97-41.
• The Tar Heels played without sophomore Will Jansen for the sixth time in the last eight matches.

Up Next
• The Tar Heels will close the 2024 regular season with road ACC matches at NC State and Wake Forest next Friday and Sunday, respectively. The 2024 ACC Championship will run April 17-21 in Cary, N.C.

Follow Carolina Tennis
Keep up with all the latest Tar Heel tennis news by following @carolinatennis on X and @tarheeltennis on Instagram.

Tennis Match Results
North Carolina vs Duke 4/6/2024
at Durham, N.C. (Ambler Tennis Stadium)
#17 Duke 5, #22 North Carolina 2

Singles competition
1. #21 Garrett Johns (DU) def. Benjamin Kittay (NC) 6-1, 6-4
2. #49 Pedro Rodenas (DU) def. #118 Phillip Jordan (NC) 6-1, 6-0
3. Andrew Zhang (DU) def. #67 Karl Poling (NC) 5-7, 6-1, 1-0 (10-6)
4. Patrick Schoen (NC) def. Connor Krug (DU) 6-2, 6-3
5. Will Peters (NC) def. Alexander Visser (DU) 6-3, 6-4
6. Faris Khan (DU) def. Anuj Watane (NC) 6-1, 6-2

Doubles competition
1. #4 Garrett Johns/Pedro Rodenas (DU) def. #26 Benjamin Kittay/Phillip Jordan (NC) 6-2
2. #40 Michael Heller/Andrew Zhang (DU) vs. Patrick Schoen/Peter Murphy (NC) 5-5, unfinished
3. Faris Khan/Teddy Truwit (DU) def. Karl Poling/Will Peters (NC) 6-4

Match Notes:
North Carolina 13-6 (7-3 ACC); National ranking #22 Duke 16-7 (8-2 ACC); National ranking #17
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (2,4,1,6,5,3)