Tigers Top Men's Tennis, 5-2

Sunday, February 8

Chapel Hill

Noon

North Carolina

Princeton

Ian Mayew

Photo by: Andy Mead/YCJ

February 8, 2026 | Men's Tennis

Results (.pdf)

By: Matt Bowers

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—Princeton topped North Carolina, 5-2, on Sunday afternoon on the Cone-Kenfield Indoor Courts at the Chewning Tennis Center.

Playing the second of six consecutive matches in Chapel Hill, the Tar Heels dropped to 3-2 this season. The Tigers improved to 6-3.

Carolina's Niels Ratiu suffered an injury late in doubles play and was forced to retire, altering the Tar Heel singles lineup.

How it Happened — Doubles
• Princeton captured the doubles point to start the day.
• At No. 1 doubles, the #11-ranked Princeton team of Paul Inchauspe and Landon Ardila was leading #50 Niels Ratiu and Chris Xu, 5-3, when Ratiu suffered an injury and was forced to retire.
• Tar Heels Roan Jones and Anthony Wright took a 6-3 win at No. 3 over Sebastian Sec and Aleksandar Mitric.
• The Tigers' Fnu Nidunjinzan and Meecah Bigun picked up a break over #89 Ian Mayew and Kase Schinnerer to take a 5-4 lead at No. 2, then held serve to clinch the team point, 6-4.

How it Happened — Singles
• Due to the injury to Ratiu, who was slated to play at No. 4 singles, Constantinos Djakouris moved up from No. 5 to No. 4, Schinnerer jumped up from No. 6 to No. 5 and Wright slotted into the singles lineup at No. 6.
• Mayew breezed to a quick, 6-1, 6-1 win over Ardila on court No. 3 to tie the team score at one apiece. He seized momentum in his match almost immediately with an early break and never looked back.
• Inchauspe, ranked seventh nationally in the latest ITA singles rankings, topped Xu, 6-4, 6-4, on court No. 1 for a 2-1 Tiger advantage.
• Milan Markovits beat Tar Heel freshman Kase Schinnerer in straight sets, 7-5, 7-6 (5), for a 3-1 lead.
• The three remaining matches all went three sets. On court No. 2, Jones dropped the first set to Nidunjinzan, then took the second frame. In the third set, Jones picked up a break to take a 5-3 lead and eventually won, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.
• Constantinos Djakouris lost the first set at No. 4 to #96 Sebastian Sec and trailed, 3-0, in the second frame before roaring back to force a third set, 6-4. Sec clinched the team win for the Tigers with a 6-1 effort in the third.
• The day's final match came on court six, where Mitric outlasted Anthony Wright, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Up Next
The Tar Heels will host UNC Asheville (3 p.m.) and UNC Greensboro (7 p.m.) on Tuesday February 10 at the Chewning Tennis Center

Quotable
"We've got to handle some situations better. We were in every match, we lost some close matches. We've got to learn from that, grow from that and get better. I'm not pleased with the way we played doubles.

"It was a little bit of a shock when Niels went down. That took the steam off of everybody a little bit, but we did come back and fight hard in singles. We've just got to play smarter, play better."
• Head Coach Sam Paul

Results
Doubles
1.#11 Paul Inchauspe/Landon Ardila (Princeton) def. #50 Niels Ratiu/Chris Xu (UNC), 5-3 (injury retirement)
2.Fnu Nidunjinzan/Meecah Bigun (Princeton) def. #89 Ian Mayew/Kase Schinnerer (UNC), 6-4 (clinch)
3.Roan Jones/Anthony Wright (UNC) def. Sebastian Sec/Aleksandar Mitric (Princeton), 6-3
(order of finish: 1, 3, 2)

Singles
1.#7 Paul Inchauspe (Princeton) def. Chris Xu (UNC) 6-4, 6-4
2.#104 Roan Jones (UNC) def. Fnu Nidunjianzan (Princeton) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
3.#84 Ian Mayew (UNC) def. Landon Ardila (Princeton) 6-1, 6-1
4.#96 Sebastian Sec (Princeton) def. Constantinos Djakouris (UNC) 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 (clinch)
5.Milan Markovits (Princeton) def. Kase Schinnerer (UNC) 7-5, 7-6 (5)
6.Aleksandar Mitric (Princeton) def. Anthony Wright (UNC) 3-6, 5-4, 6-3
(order of finish: 3, 1, 5, 2, 4, 6)

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