Upcoming Event: Men's Tennis versus ATP Challenger 75 on October 26, 2025
Men's Tennis
vs ATP Challenger 75
Saturday, January 27
Durham, N.C.
6 p.m.
Duke University
4
vs
2
VCU
No. 7 Duke Edges No. 14 VCU, 4-2
1/27/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
DURHAM, N.C. - Freshman Dylan Arnould clinched a tight 4-2 victory for No. 7 Duke on Saturday evening at the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center, defeating Sebastien Deridder in three sets (6-7, 7-5, 6-2) in front of over 800 fans.
Finishing first in doubles play, was the Duke tandem of senior Peter Rodrigues and freshman Dylan Arnould, who were defeated by Emil Lindgren and Sebastian Ripoll, 8-3, at the No. 2 spot. The fourth-ranked doubles team in the nation, senior Joey Atas and junior David Goulet, then posted an 8-3 victory over Arnaud Le Cloerec and Petr Olsak, as the match at the No. 3 slot would decide the doubles point.
The Duke duo of junior Ned Samuelson and sophomore Kiril Dimitrov fell behind early, but came from behind in the second set to make the score 7-6 in VCU's favor, until Sergi Arumi and Sebastien Deridder eventually came away with an 8-6 victory to put the Rams ahead 1-0 going into singles competition.
Goulet came away with a two-set victory over Damien Lacombe, winning 6-2, 6-1, at the No. 4 spot to pull the Blue Devils even, making the score 1-1. Fifty-fourth-ranked Dimitrov then put Duke ahead 2-1, with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Emil Lindgren at the No. 3 slot, and 80th-ranked Rodrigues' win over Le Cloerec (6-4, 6-1) at No. 1, put the Blue Devils up 3-1.
VCU's Sergi Arumni then posted a 6-4, 6-4 win over 100th-ranked Joey Atas, in a hard-fought match at the No. 2 spot to make the score 3-2 in favor of Duke.
The match would come down to two freshmen - 84th-ranked Arnould and Aaron Carpenter - at the No. 5 and 6 positions, respectively. After losing the first set, 7-6, Arnould came back to win the second set, 7-5. The freshman dominated in the third set, winning 6-2, to clinch the victory for the Blue Devils.
After winning the first set, 7-6, Carpenter lost the second set, 7-5, and was down 3-0 in the third to Sebastian Ripoll before the match was cut short due to Arnould's victory.
“I thought we played very, very well,” said head coach Jay Lapidus. “It was one of the best competitive matches I can remember in a while. VCU is really good and to come through like that, especially two freshmen on both ends of the court coming up big for us, was awesome.”
The Blue Devils improve to 2-0 on the season, while the Rams fall to 0-1.
Duke will next travel north to face No. 5 Illinois (Feb. 2) and No. 13 Notre Dame (Feb. 4). First serves are set for 7 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively. The Blue Devils return home on Feb. 9 to face No. 51 Penn at 6 p.m.
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