Men's Tennis Wins Thriller Over Clemson, 4-3, To Advance To ACC Quarterfinal

Thursday, April 16

Cary, N.C.

12:30 p.m.

North Carolina

Clemson

Niels Ratiu

Photo by: DALTON T WAINSCOTT

Men's Tennis Wins Thriller Over Clemson, 4-3, To Advance To ACC Quarterfinal

April 16, 2026 | Men's Tennis

Bracket Photo Gallery

By: Matt Bowers

CARY, N.C.—North Carolina's men's tennis team won the doubles point and held on to beat Clemson in a marathon second round of the 2026 Atlantic Coast Conference Championship at the Cary Tennis Park. Niels Ratiu won the clinching singles match, helping bolster UNC's NCAA Tournament hopes in the process.

With the victory, the 11th-seeded Tar Heels (15-10) advanced to Friday's quarterfinal round to face third-seeded Notre Dame at 12:30 pm. in Cary. Clemson fell to 16-12.

Carolina swept a pair of meetings with the Tigers this season after also beating Clemson, 4-1, in Chapel Hill on March 20.

UNC picked up its fourth win in its last five matches as it continues their late-season rally in pursuit of an NCAA Tournament bid.

Up Next
The Tar Heels will meet third-seeded (and 24th-ranked) Notre Dame in Friday's quarterfinal round in Cary. The match is scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m.

How it Happened — Doubles
• Ian Mayew and Logan Zapp won the first doubles decision of the afternoon, picking up a break midway through the match and beating Yannic Nittmann and Matisse Farzam, 6-4, on court three.
• The other two doubles bouts both went to tiebreakers.
• Clemson's Henrik Bladelius and Marko Mesarovic beat Ratiu and Chris Xu, 7-6 (2) on court two.
• On court one, #34 Roan Jones and Anthony Wright jumped out to leads of 3-0 and 6-2 over #22 Noa Vukadin and Viktor Markov before holding off the Tiger duo to win, 7-6 (4) and claim the doubles point.

How it Happened — Singles
• Clemson won the first set in four of six singles matches with Constantinos Djakouris (court five) and Mayew (court three) winning opening frames for Carolina.
• Ranked 39th in singles, Markov topped Xu by a score of 7-5, 6-2, on court one for Clemson to tie the score at 1-1.
• Mayew picked up a break to take a 3-2 in the first set before winning the frame, 7-5. He also went up a break in the first game of the second set before going on to beat Farzam, 7-5, 6-3, on court three.
• Clemson tied it up at 2-all with Vukadin's 6-4, 6-4 win over Jones on court two.
• The Tigers took a 3-2 lead when Noah Lopez Cherubino topped Kase Schinnerer, 6-3, 7-6 (2) on court six.
• Djakouris knotted the score at 3-3 with his 6-4, 6-3 win on court five over Mesarovic, picking up his sixth consecutive singles victory.
• It all came down to court four, where Ratiu topped Bladelius in the day's only three-set match. Bladelius won the first set in a tiebreaker, then Raiu took the second set, 6-4. The two traded games in the deciding, third set until Ratiu broke his opponent to grab a 5-3 lead. He then held serve to clinch the win, 6-3.

#46 UNC 4, #32 Clemson 3
Doubles
1. #34 Roan Jones/Anthony Wright (UNC) def. #22 Noa Vukadin/Viktor Markov (CU) 7-6 (4)
2. Henrik Bladelius/Marko Mesarovic (CU) def. Chris Xu/Niels Ratiu (UNC) 7-6 (2)
3. Ian Mayew/Logan Zapp (UNC) def. Yannic Nittmann/Matisse Farzam (CU) 6-4
(order of finish: 3, 2, 1)

Singles
1. #39 Viktor Markov (CU) def. #125 Chris Xu (UNC) 7-5, 6-2
2. Noa Vukadin (CU) def. #79 Roan Jones (UNC) 6-4, 6-4
3. Ian Mayew (UNC) def. Matisse Farzam (CU) 7-5, 6-3
4. Niels Ratiu (UNC) def. Henrik Bladelius (CU) 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-3
5. Constantinos Djakouris (UNC) def. Marko Mesarovic (CU) 6-4, 6-3
6. Noah Lopez Cherubino (CU) def. Kase Schinnerer (UNC) 6-3, 7-6 (2)
(order of finish: 1, 3, 2, 6, 5, 4)

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