Men's Tennis Comes From Behind To Top No. 38 Clemson, 4-1

Friday, March 20

Chapel Hill

5 p.m.

North Carolina

Clemson

Niels Ratiu returned to the singles lineup for the first time since Feb. 5 on Friday.

Photo by: DALTON WAINSCOTT

March 20, 2026 | Men's Tennis

Final Results (.pdf)Photo Gallery

By: Matt Bowers

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—North Carolina lost the doubles point but roared back to take four consecutive singles matches and top Clemson, 4-1, on Friday afternoon at the Chewning Tennis Center.

With the win their second over a ranked conference opponent in their last three matches at home, the No. 69-ranked Tar Heels improved to 10-7 overall and 3-4 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Clemson, ranked No. 38 by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association this week, fell to 7-11, 2-5.

Up Next
Carolina will play the second of four consecutive home matches when it hosts Georgia Tech on Sunday at noon in Chapel Hill.

How it Happened — Doubles
• The Tigers took the first doubles match on court one by #71 Noa Vukadin and Viktor Markov, who broke #20 Roan Jones and Anthony Wright on a double fault to take a 6-5 lead, then held for a 7-5 victory.
• Carolina bounced back immediately with a 7-5 win on court two by Chris Xu and Niels Ratiu. Clemson's Henrik Bladelius and Marko Mesarovic broke Xu and Ratiu to tie it at 5-all, then Xu and Ratiu returned the favor to take a 7-5 lead. The Tar Heel duo then held for a 7-5 win.
• Clemson cinched the point with a tiebreaker win on court three by Matisse Farzam and Yannic Nittmann, 7-6 (5) over Ian Mayew and Logan Zapp.

How it Happened — Singles
• Ratiu, ranked #120 in singles and playing his first singles match since February 5, cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 win over Mesarovic on court five to tie the team score at one apiece.
• Constantinos Djakouris raced past Bladelius, 6-3, 6-0 on court four to make the score 2-1 Tar Heels.
• Moments later, Mayew picked up his 18^th singles win of the year, 6-1, 6-4, on court three over Farzam.
• Freshman Kase Schinnerer won the clinching singles match at No. 6 in straight sets. After trailing, 4-1, in the first frame, Schinnerer rallied to force a tiebreaker. He then trailed, 6-3, in the tiebreak before winning in a marathon, 7-6 (8). He then took the second set, 6-3, to secure the Tar Heel victory.
• Jones and Xu's singles matches went unfinished.

Quotable
"It was great to get Logan and Niels back out there playing," head coach Sam Paul said afterward. "For Niels coming out after extended time off and get a win in his first singles match back is just tremendous. Our guys are fighting hard, they're all fighting hard and working hard. I'm happy for them, and we've got another big one against Georgia Tech on Sunday."

No. 69 North Carolina 4, No. 38 Clemson 1
Doubles
1. #71 Noa Vukadin/Viktor Markov (CU) def. #20 Roan Jones/Anthony Wright (UNC) 7-5
2. Chris Xu/Niels Ratiu (UNC) def. Henrik Bladelius/Marko Mesarovic (CU) 7-5
3. Matisse Farzam/Yannic Nittmann (CU) def. Ian Mayew/Logan Zapp (UNC) 7-6 (5) (clinch)
(order of finish: 1, 2, 3)

Singles
1. #54 Roan Jones (UNC) led Noa Vukadin (CU) 7-6 (1), 4-3 (unfinished)
2. Chris Xu (UNC) vs. #53 Viktor Markov (CU), 6-3, 7-6 (5) (unfinished)
3. Ian Mayew (UNC) def. Matisse Farzam (CU), 6-1, 6-4
4. Constantinos Djakouris (UNC) def. Henrik Bladelius (CU) 6-3, 6-0
5. #120 Niels Ratiu (UNC) def. Marko Mesarovic (CU) 6-2, 6-2
6. Kase Schinnerer (UNC) def. Yannic Nittman (CU) 7-6 (8), 6-3
(order of finish: 5, 4, 3, 6)

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