Blue Devils Fall in ACC Quarters to Second-Seeded Wake Forest

Friday, April 23

Rome, Ga. / Rome Tennis Center

7 p.m.

Duke University

Wake Forest

Blue Devils Fall in ACC Quarters to Second-Seeded Wake Forest

4/24/2021 12:32:00 AM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

ROME, Ga. – No. 37 Duke ran into ninth-ranked Wake Forest in the ACC Championship quarterfinal round on Friday night and dropped a 4-0 decision at the Rome Tennis Center.

The No. 2 seeded Demon Deacons advance to Saturday's semifinals and improve their overall record to 28-5, while tenth-seeded Duke dips to 12-10 on the year.

Wake Forest won the opening match in doubles action after No. 11 Eduardo Nava and Henri Squire defeated No. 20 Garrett Johns and Sean Sculley on the main court 6-2. A few minutes later the Demon Deacons secured the doubles point when Melios Efstathiou and Taha Baadi bested Luca Keist and Andrew Dale on court three 6-4. Michael Heller and Andrew Zhang were leading Matthew Thomson and Siddhant Banthia 5-3 on the second court before their match was halted.

The Blue Devils tried to rally in singles play but their top-10 nationally ranked opponent would not falter. Wake Forest increased its advantage to 3-0 after wins by No. 10 Squire and No. 121 Baadi. On the top court, Squire beat No. 69 Johns 6-1, 6-3 before Baadi recorded 6-4, 6-2 wins on court three over Zhang.

Rrezart Cungu then clinched the match for the Demon Deacons on court four after he bested No. 120 Edu Güell in three sets. Cungu registered the 6-4 win in the opening frame but Güell battled back to earn the 6-1 victory in the second. Unfortunately, Cungu responded with a 6-3 win in the final set to record the win.

Three matches went unfinished with two of them being stopped in the third set. No. 31 Nava and Sculley had each tallied a win on court two with Nava taking set one 6-4 and Sculley set two 6-3. Nava was leading 2-1 in the final set when the match was called. Banthia and Keist had split their opening two sets on court five. Keist bested Banthia 6-4 in the opener but dropped a 7-6 (4) tiebreak decision in the second. Banthia was in front 3-0 in the third set when things were halted.

Finally, Dale was on the verge of claiming Duke's first win on court six after defeating Filippo Moroni 7-5 in the opening set. The rookie was then leading 6-5 in the second set when the match was called.

The Blue Devils shift their attention to the NCAA Men's Tennis Tournament. The selection show will take place Monday, May 3 at 6:30 p.m.

RESULTS
Singles (1,3,4*)
1. #10 Henri Squire (WF) def. #69 Garrett Johns (DU) 6-1, 6-3
2. #31 Eduardo Nava (WF) vs. Sean Sculley (DU) 6-4, 3-6, 2-1, unfinished
3. #121 Taha Baadi (WF) def. Andrew Zhang (DU) 6-4, 6-2
4. Rrezart Cungu (WF) def. #120 Edu Güell (DU) 6-4, 1-6, 6-3
5. Siddhant Banthia (WF) vs. Luca Keist (DU) 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 3-0, unfinished
6. Filippo Moroni (WF) vs. Andrew Dale (DU) 5-7, 5-6, unfinished

Doubles (1,3*)
1. #11 Eduardo Nava/Henri Squire (WF) def. #20 Garrett Johns/Sean Sculley (DU) 6-2
2. Matthew Thomson/Siddhant Banthia (WF) vs. Michael Heller/Andrew Zhang (DU) 3-5, unfinished
3. Melios Efstathiou/Taha Baadi (WF) def. Luca Keist/Andrew Dale (DU) 6-4

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