Men's Tennis Blanks Paladins, 7-0

Thursday, February 5

Chapel Hill

3 p.m.

North Carolina

Furman

Anthony Wright & Roan Jones won the first doubles match of the day.

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

February 5, 2026 | Men's Tennis

Results (.pdf)Photo Gallery

By: Matt Bowers

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—North Carolina returned to action after an almost two-week break and shutout Furman, 7-0, on Thursday afternoon on the Cone-Kenfield Indoor Courts at the Chewning Tennis Center.

Carolina hadn't played a match since its January 24 win over Virginia Tech. In the interim, three home matches were canceled or postponed due to wintry weather in the Chapel Hill area.

UNC showed few signs of rust on Thursday, however, cruising to the 7-0 win without losing a set to improve to 3-1 this season. The Paladins dropped to 1-4.

Quotable
"It was great to finally play some tennis after the long break. I didn't necessarily know how we were going to play. We've had a lack of competition, but the guys have been working hard and played well today. We're looking forward to playing the rest of the season.

"Overall, though, it's just a sad day for Carolina, with the news about James Spurling. I've known James for 36 years, ever since I came to Carolina. He always uplifted your spirit anytime you'd see him. He always had a smile. I saw him just a week ago, and he lifted my spirit. Just a sad day and a shock to all of us. He was the epitome of what Carolina Athletics is all about."
• Head Coach Sam Paul

How it Happened — Doubles
• Roan Jones and Anthony Wright picked up an early break to take a 2-1 lead at No. 3 doubles over Nico Snyder and Nicolas Dispas, cruising to a 6-1 win in their first dual match together as a pair.
• Niels Ratiu and Chris Xu, ranked #50 in the latest ITA doubles rankings, clinched the doubles point with a 6-3 victory on court No. 1. The Tar Heel pair improved to 8-2 this season and 3-0 in dual matches with the win.

How it Happened — Singles
• The Tar Heels won the first set of all six singles matches, losing just 11 combined games.
• Jones took the first singles win of the day to put Carolina ahead, 2-0. He topped Theophile Joly in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3, with a pretty forehand winner on court No. 2 to improve to 10-3 this season.
• #59 Ratiu (No. 4 singles) and Xu (No. 1) won their respective matches almost simultaneously, with Xu's 6-2, 6-3 win over Snyder clinching the win by providing a 4-0 team lead.
• Moments later, Kase Schinnerer won his first career singles dual match, bouncing Landon Ecarma, 6-1, 6-2 on court six.
• Fellow freshman Ian Mayew won his team-high 13^th singles match of the season with his 6-2, 6-3 win on court No. 3 that made the score 6-0.
• Constantinos Djakouris wrapped up the day on No. 5 with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Dispas.

Up Next
The Tar Heels will host Princeton on Sunday February 8 at noon in the Chewning Tennis Center

Results
Doubles
1.#50 Niels Ratiu/Chris Xu (UNC) def. Nico Snyder/Nicolas Dispas (Furman), 6-3 (clinch)
2.#89 Ian Mayew/Kase Schinnerer (UNC) vs. Landon Ecarma/Evan Duggal (Furman), 5-3 (unfinished)
3.Roan Jones/Anthony Wright (UNC) def. Alex Han/Theophile Joly (Furman), 6-1
(order of finish: 3, 1)

Singles
1.Chris Xu (UNC) def. Nico Snyder (Furman) 6-2, 6-3 (clinch)
2.#104 Roan Jones (UNC) def. Theophile Joly (Furman) 6-1, 6-3
3.#84 Ian Mayew (UNC) def. Evan Duggal (Furman) 6-2, 6-3
4.#59 Niels Ratiu (UNC) def. Walker Allen (Furman) 6-4, 6-2
5.Constantinos Djakouris (UNC) vs. Nicolas Dispas (Furman) 6-1, 6-4
6.Kase Schinnerer (UNC) def. Landon Ecarma (Furman), 6-1, 6-2
(order of finish: 2, 4, 1, 6, 3, 5)

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