Duke Concludes Weekend with Two Wins

Sunday, April 3

Durham, N.C.

12 p.m.

Duke University

[65] Clemson

Duke men's tennis hosted senior day on Sunday

Duke Concludes Weekend with Two Wins

4/3/2022 9:57:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

DURHAM – No 19. Duke men's tennis recorded wins over No. 65 Clemson and North Carolina A&T on Sunday afternoon to close out its regular season home slate.

The Blue Devils posted 4-0 wins in both contests to shift to 16-5 overall and 8-2 in ACC play. Clemson falls to 10-10 and 1-7, respectively, while North Carolina A&T dips to 10-9 on the season.

Sophomores Andrew Dale and Niroop Vallabhaneni both finished the day 2-0 in singles action, while Dale teamed up with Andrew Zhang to go 2-0 in doubles play. The junior-graduate student tandem of Garrett Johns and Sean Sculley also registered two doubles wins on the day.

"It was a really good senior day for us," Duke head coach Ramsey Smith said. "To get two wins under our belt, including another ACC win was big. It was nice to win both doubles points and to see the seniors step up on their day. The Clemson score was 4-0 but it definitely felt closer than that. I was also extremely impressed with North Carolina A&T and the improvement they have made under Coach (Dejon) Bivens this past year. He has done a great job there."

Duke has a weekend off before it closes out the regular season at N.C. State and Wake Forest on April 15th and 17th, respectively. The contest with the Wolfpack is slated for 6 p.m. at J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center, while Sunday's matchup with the Demon Deacons is set for 1 p.m. at Wake Forest Tennis Center. Live stats will be available for both contests.

"We only have two road matches and two tournaments left," Smith added. "We've positioned ourselves very well. I think this weekend off will help us get healthy and fine-tune a couple things. We're going to look to finish the regular season strong and build momentum going into the ACC tournament."

Senior Day
The Blue Devils acknowledged four members of the team prior to their match with Clemson. Edu Güell, Arturo Kam, Doug Macintosh, and Sculley were all recognized for their contributions to Duke men's tennis.

"It's a great group of guys," Smith said about the senior class. "They've all contributed to the program in different ways. Sean has been her for five years and has been a great competitor for the program and has obviously been an elite doubles player. Edu has contributed in a leadership position and with his singles. It has been special to see him play his very best tennis this senior season. And then Arturo and Doug are both a little bit different as they've only been here for one year, but it's incredible what they've added to the program. They've been a huge reason for our success this year even though they haven't played on the court as much as the others."

When asked about his Duke career, Sculley said it's been a pretty fun ride, but the job isn't done yet.

"It's been a pretty fun ride," Sculley said. "Being out there today with the guys it finally hit me that this could be my last time out there on our home court. We hope it's not though as we want to host a regional. I'm just feeling a lot of emotions and I'm thankful to have been able to play here for all these years.

"It's been a pretty special year," Sculley continued. "Our team is just really finding our groove. In the past we haven't had those teams that are dominant and it's really special to be on a team like that and to see all the guys around me doing well. There is no better feeling. At the end of the day though, the job is not done. We're not satisfied yet."

Match One vs. Clemson
The Blue Devils made quick work of the Tigers in doubles play. Johns and Sculley registered the first win of the day after their 6-1 victory over Ryuhei Azuma and Spencer Whitaker on the top court. Dale and Zhang followed that up on court three, besting Matt Pitts and Trey Stinchcomb, 6-2, to clinch the doubles point. The match between Faris Khan and Vallabhaneni against Teodor Giusca and Maxwell Smith went unfinished with the visitors leading 5-3.

Duke continued that momentum in singles play grinding out three-straight victories to secure the overall win.

Vallabhaneni defeated Pitts on court four to hand the Blue Devils a 2-0 edge. Dale was the next to finish on court five after he claimed a 6-3 victory in the first set and a 6-1 win in the second over Stinchcomb.

Senior Güell then clinched the match for Duke after he bested Whitaker 6-2, 7-5 on court three.

There were three matches that went unfinished. No. 64 Johns dropped his first set to Azuma 6-3 on court one but was knotted at 5-5 in the second when the match was halted. Zhang recorded a 7-5 victory in his opening set with Giusca but was trailing 3-1 in the second on court two. Graduate student Kam fell in his first set to Maxwell Smith 6-4 on court six but was tied in the second 6-6 when the overall match was claimed.

RESULTS
Singles (4,5,3*)
1. #64 Garrett Johns (DU) vs. Ryuhei Azuma (CLE) 3-6, 5-5, unfinished
2. Andrew Zhang (DU) vs. Teodor Giusca (CLE) 7-5, 1-3, unfinished
3. Edu Güell (DU) def. Spencer Whitaker (CLE) 6-2, 7-5
4. Niroop Vallabhaneni (DU) def. Matt Pitts (CLE) 6-2, 6-0
5. Andrew Dale (DU) def. Trey Stinchcomb (CLE) 6-3, 6-1
6. Arturo Kam (DU) vs. Maxwell Smith (CLE) 4-6, 6-6, unfinished

Doubles (1,3*)
1. Garrett Johns/Sean Sculley (DU) def. Ryuhei Azuma/Spencer Whitaker (CLE) 6-1
2. Faris Khan/Niroop Vallabhaneni (DU) vs. Teodor Giusca/Maxwell Smith (CLE) 3-5, unfinished
3. Andrew Dale/Andrew Zhang (DU) def. Matt Pitts/Trey Stinchcomb (CLE) 6-2

Match Two vs. North Carolina A&T
Duke's second match of the day followed nearly like the first with the Blue Devils taking the doubles point after victories by Dale and Zhang as well as Johns and Sculley. On court three, Dale and Zhang defeated Ethan Baly and Ian Pedersen 6-2 to hand the home side an early edge. Johns and Sculley then sealed the doubles point with their 7-5 victory over Esteban Lopez and Vasil Ivanov 7-5 on court one. The match on court two between Khan and Vallabhaneni against Eder Blanco and Jorge Perez went unfinished with the two knotted at 6-6. The visitors held the slight 2-1 edge in the tiebreak when the match was halted.

Dale registered his second singles win of the day after he bested Perez 6-3, 6-1 on court five to hand the Blue Devils a 2-0 lead. Kam then followed that up by defeating Pedersen on court six 6-1, 6-3.

Vallabhaneni garnered his second singles victory to clinch the overall match for Duke on court four. The Paradise Valley, Ariz., native recorded a 6-2 victory in the first frame before recording a 6-1 win in the second.

The matches on court one, two and three all went unfinished. No. 64 Johns was leading Lopez 1-0 after he won his opening set 6-2. He was trailing 5-4 in the second when the contest was stopped. Zhang grinded out a 7-5 victory over Ivanov in his opening frame but was trailing 3-2 in the second. Much like Johns and Zhang, Khan was leading his match after claiming a 6-1 victory over Blanco in the opening set. The pair were knotted at 4-4 when the contest was halted.

RESULTS
Singles (5,6,4*)
1. #64 Garrett Johns (DU) vs. LOPEZ, Esteban (NCATM) 6-2, 4-5, unfinished
2. Andrew Zhang (DU) vs. IVANOV, Vasil (NCATM) 7-5, 2-3, unfinished
3. Faris Khan (DU) vs. BLANCO, Eder (NCATM) 6-1, 4-4, unfinished
4. Niroop Vallabhaneni (DU) def. BALY, Ethan (NCATM) 6-2, 6-1
5. Andrew Dale (DU) def. PEREZ, Jorge (NCATM) 6-3, 6-1
6. Arturo Kam (DU) def. PEDERSEN, Ian (NCATM) 6-1, 6-3

Doubles (3,1*)
1. Garrett Johns/Sean Sculley (DU) def. LOPEZ, Esteban/IVANOV, Vasil (NCATM) 7-5
2. Faris Khan/Niroop Vallabhaneni (DU) vs. BLANCO, Eder/PEREZ, Jorge (NCATM) 6-6 (1-2), unfinished
3. Andrew Dale/Andrew Zhang (DU) def. BALY, Ethan/PEDERSEN, Ian (NCATM) 6-2

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