Blue Devils Sweep Saturday Doubleheader with Coastal Carolina, Campbell

Saturday, February 26

Durham, N.C.

10 a.m.

Duke University

Coastal Carolina

Blue Devils Sweep Saturday Doubleheader with Coastal Carolina, Campbell

2/26/2022 8:26:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

DURHAM – Duke registered consecutive wins on Saturday after it defeated Coastal Carolina and Campbell by 6-1 scores inside Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center.

Edu Güell, Faris Khan, and Connor Krug went 2-0 on the day in singles action to lead the Blue Devils. Krug and Khan earned their wins on court two and three, respectively, while Güell split his victories between court four and five.

"Overall, it was a productive day," Duke head coach Ramsey Smith said. "We played a lot of tennis, and a lot of guys got a lot of matches in. Those were three of the guys we were focused on to try and get multiple singles matches in and they all played extremely well. Faris (Khan) has been out for a couple matches so he needed matches under his belt. Edu (Güell) hasn't been consistently in the lineup but then he comes in at Illinois and wins a big match there and then backs it up with two good wins today. And Connor (Krug) playing at the two spot is a step up for him and he won both of those convincingly."

Güell shifts to 5-0 on the year in dual singles action, while Connor Krug and Khan sit with records of 6-4 and 4-2, respectively.

"It felt great to get those two wins for the team," Connor Krug said. "Obviously, I had a tough one at Illinois where I let a big lead slip away from me so having these two matches where I faced a little bit of adversity and handled it well was good for me. I'm glad to have that under my belt going into ACC play next weekend."

MATCH ONE VS. COASTAL CAROLINA
Duke jumped out to a hot start against the Chanticleers, quickly registering the doubles point. The sophomore doubles tandem of Khan and Niroop Vallabhaneni bested Bastien Huon and Niccolo Rossi, 6-2, on court three to give the Blue Devils an early advantage. Garrett Johns and Sean Sculley followed that up with a 6-2 victory on court one over Diego Giraldo and Federico Garnier to claim the doubles point. The Andrew Zhang and Connor Krug match against Steve Mundt and Carlos Berna Ruiz went unfinished with Coastal Carolina leading 5-4.

No. 89 Khan continued Duke's momentum in singles play by extending its lead to 2-0 following his 6-3, 6-2 defeat of Giraldo on court three. Güell then made it 3-0 in favor of the home team after he bested Daiki Tanabe 6-0, 6-3 on court five.

No. 118 Johns clinched the overall match for Duke after he was the next player to finish. The junior posted a 6-3 victory over Garnier in his opening set on court one before beating him 6-2 in the second to register the Blue Devils' fourth point in the match.

Connor Krug and Sculley added on to Duke's total with two additional wins on court two and four, respectively. Connor Krug pulled the upset over No. 116 Huon after defeating him 6-4, 6-4. Sculley then claimed a thrilling three-set victory over Berna Ruiz. The Chanticleers earned the 6-3 win in the opening set, but Sculley battled back to register 6-1 and 6-0 victories to steal the win.

Coastal Carolina earned its lone point of the match when Steve Mundt bested Jake Krug on court six. Mundt recorded a 6-0 win in the opening set, but Jake Krug rallied back for the 7-6 (5) tie-break win in the second. Unfortunately, Mundt notched the 1-0 (7) super tie-break win in the third to secure the Chanticleers a point.

RESULTS
Singles (3,5,1*,2,4,6)
1. #118 Garrett Johns (DU) def. Garnier, Federico (CCU) 6-3, 6-2
2. Connor Krug (DU) def. #116 Huon, Bastien (CCU) 6-4, 6-4
3. #89 Faris Khan (DU) def. Giraldo, Diego (CCU) 6-3, 6-2
4. Sean Sculley (DU) def. Berna Ruiz, Carlos (CCU) 3-6, 6-1, 6-0
5. Edu Güell (DU) def. Tanabe, Daiki (CCU) 6-0, 6-3
6. Mundt, Steve (CCU) def. Jake Krug (DU) 6-0, 6-7 (5-7), 1-0 (10-7)

Doubles (3,1*)
1. Garrett Johns/Sean Sculley (DU) def. Giraldo, Diego/Garnier, Federico (CCU) 6-2
2. Andrew Zhang/Connor Krug (DU) vs. Mundt, Steve/Berna Ruiz, Carlos (CCU) 4-5, unfinished
3. Faris Khan/Niroop Vallabhaneni (DU) def. Huon, Bastien/Rossi, Niccolo (CCU) 6-2

MATCH TWO VS. CAMPBELL
The Camels kicked off the nightcap earning wins on court one and two to claim the double point and 1-0 advantage heading into singles play. Robin Angles and Tomas Balazi started by besting Khan and Vallabhaneni, 6-2, on court two. Duke battled back after Arturo Kam and Jake Krug defeated Ted Williams and Gustavs Lukstins on court three, 6-3. Unfortunately, Damien Nezar and Benjamin Maes claimed a 6-2 win over Zhang and Connor Krug to secure the doubles win.

The Blue Devils wasted little time trailing though, as No. 89 Khan quickly pulled the Blue Devils even at 1-1 after earning a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Angles on court three in singles play. Connor Krug followed closely after with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Pol Otin on court two to hand Duke the 2-1 advantage.

Zhang and Güell were the next to finish as both notched wins to help Duke clinch the overall victory. Zhang bested Nezar 6-2, 6-3 on court one, before Güell posted a 7-5, 6-1 win on court four to secure the match.

Andrew Dale and Kam battled for Duke in the final two matches as both went to a thrilling third set. After dropping his opening match 6-2 to Maes on court five, Dale rallied back for a 7-5 and 1-0 (6) super tie-break win in the next two for his seventh dual singles victory of the year. Kam tallied a 6-1 victory in the opening frame, but saw Noe MacQuart record a 6-4 win in the second to force a third set. In a back-and-forth final frame, Kam outlasted MacQuart 6-4 to help Duke sweep singles play.

"Any time you come back in the doubles point it just shows how tough you are as a team, top to bottom," Connor Krug added. "Even when we lose the doubles point, we have trust in every single guy one through six in singles action to battle back for us and I think it really showed today."

RESULTS
Singles (3,2,1,4*,5,6)
1. Andrew Zhang (DU) def. Damien Nezar (CAM) 6-2, 6-3
2. Connor Krug (DU) def. Pol Otin (CAM) 6-2, 6-1
3. #89 Faris Khan (DU) def. Robin Angles (CAM) 6-1, 6-3
4. Edu Güell (DU) def. Tomas Balazi (CAM) 7-5, 6-1
5. Andrew Dale (DU) def. Benjamin Maes (CAM) 2-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10-6)
6. Arturo Kam (DU) def. Noe MacQuart (CAM) 6-1, 4-6, 6-4

Doubles (2,3,1*)
1. Damien Nezar/Benjamin Maes (CAM) def. Andrew Zhang/Connor Krug (DU) 6-2
2. Robin Angles/Tomas Balazi (CAM) def. Faris Khan/Niroop Vallabhaneni (DU) 6-2
3. Arturo Kam/Jake Krug (DU) def. Ted Williams/Gustavs Lukstins (CAM) 6-3

NEXT UP
Duke is back in action next weekend when it welcomes Virginia and Virginia Tech for its first two ACC matches of the year. The Blue Devils will host the Cavaliers on Friday at 3 p.m. before facing off against the Hokies on Sunday at 2 p.m. Both contests are set to be played outdoors at Ambler Tennis Stadium but have the potential to move indoors should weather impact the playing surfaces.

"I think we have a bright future," Connor Krug said about beginning ACC play next weekend. "The sky is the limit for us. We've been playing better and better as the season's gone on, and now we go outdoors. I think overall we're a better outdoor team so the future is definitely looking bright."

Smith added that they still need to see who their best doubles combinations are, but he's excited about the depth his team has shown over the early part of the season.

"We've really shown that we've got a lot of depth. We were really 10-11 deep today, and all those guys can play. It was great too to see Sean (Sculley) jump in there and get back into singles after not having very many singles matches for the last six months.

"We've got to cleanup doubles, but the top of the lineup has been really strong for us as well as the bottom of the lineup. And we're also starting to get better in the middle, so I think we're on a good track and in a good spot heading into the ACC season."

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