Duke Outlasts No. 17 Florida State, 4-3

Friday, March 11

Tallahassee, Fla.

5:30 p.m.

Duke University

[17] Florida State

Andrew Zhang clinches a point for Duke against Virginia

Duke Outlasts No. 17 Florida State, 4-3

3/11/2022 9:26:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – No. 40 Duke men's tennis defeated No. 17 Florida State, 4-3, in a thriller on Friday night at Scott Speicher Memorial Tennis Center.

"That was a great college tennis match and I'm so proud of our guys for digging in and pulling out a big road win," Duke head coach Ramsey Smith said. "It was a complete team effort."

Junior Andrew Zhang outlasted Andreja Petrovic in three sets during the final match of the night to help the Blue Devils' claim their ninth win of the season. Florida State was handed its fourth loss and dips to 10-4 on the year.

"We put three new doubles teams out there tonight," Smith added. "It was the shakeup we needed, and it was nice to pull out the doubles point. (Andrew) Dale set the tone in singles and played his most complete match of the season. Connor (Krug) stepped up and won our third point and then it all came down to (Andrew) Zhang. I have so much confidence in Zhang in those situations and he really earned that win at the end in an extremely physical match."

Duke registered the early 1-0 edge after claiming the doubles point. Junior Garrett Johns and sophomore Andrew Dale teamed up on court three to defeat Petrovic and Youcef Rihane, 6-3. Unfortunately, the Seminoles kept things close and posted a 6-3 victory on court two following Maks Silagy and Josh Karpenschif's win over Faris Khan and Zhang. With the doubles point coming down to the outcome on court one, senior Sean Sculley and rookie Connor Krug bested Loris Pourroy and Sebastian Arcila, 6-4, to hand the Blue Devils the advantage heading into singles play.

Florida State tied the overall match up at 1-1 following Rihane's 6-0, 6-3 victory over sophomore Niroop Vallabhaneni on court five. The Blue Devils responded though to jump back on top 2-1 after Dale bested Silagy on court six 6-2, 6-0 for his ninth dual singles win of the year.

The Seminoles would not go away, registering victories on court four and one to pull in front at 3-2. Josh Karpenschif defeated Edu Güell 6-1, 6-3 on court four before No. 82 Pourroy beat Johns on the top court 6-2, 6-4.

With Duke needing wins in the final two matches of the night, Krug and Zhang got the job done to help the Blue Devils record their fifth win in their last six outings and first over a nationally ranked opponent. Krug's match was the first to finish, as the freshman bested Richard Thongoana 6-4, 6-2 on court three. The Lakewood Ranch, Fla., native now sits with an 8-4 mark in dual singles action during his first year. Zhang followed that up with a thrilling three-set victory over Petrovic on court two. The Bloomfield Hills, Mich., native earned a 6-2 win in the opening set but dropped the second 6-1. Fortunately, he responded with a 6-4 victory in the third to secure the overall win for Duke.

The Blue Devils remain on the road when they travel to Miami on Sunday for 12 p.m. matchup with the Hurricanes at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center.

RESULTS
Doubles (3,2,1*)
1. Sean Sculley/Connor Krug (DU) def. Loris Pourroy/Sebastian Arcila (FSU) 6-4
2. Maks Silagy/Josh Karpenschif (FSU) def. Faris Khan/Andrew Zhang (DU) 6-3
3. Garrett Johns/Andrew Dale (DU) def. Andreja Petrovic/Youcef Rihane (FSU) 6-3

Singles (5,6,4,1,3,2*)
1. #82 Loris Pourroy (FSU) def. Garrett Johns (DU) 6-2, 6-4
2. Andrew Zhang (DU) def. Andreja Petrovic (FSU) 6-2, 1-6, 6-4
3. Connor Krug (DU) def. Richard Thongoana (FSU) 6-4, 6-2
4. Josh Karpenschif (FSU) def. Edu Güell (DU) 6-1, 6-3
5. Youcef Rihane (FSU) def. Niroop Vallabhaneni (DU) 6-0, 6-3
6. Andrew Dale (DU) def. Maks Silagy (FSU) 6-2, 6-0

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