CARY, N.C. – Fall action officially got underway for the Blue Devils on Friday with the opening day of play at the Duke James Bonk Invitational.
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Members of the Duke squad combined for five victories – three in doubles and two in singles – to kick off the three-day tournament in strong fashion. Â
The Blue Devils began the day in doubles action, with
Andrew Dale and
Andrew Zhang rolling into the finals of the A draw following wins over Patrick Fletchall and Ilya Tiraoplsky of Indiana 6-1 and Martin Katz and Martin Vergara of Miami 6-3. The duo faces Miami's Dan Martin and Juan Jalif on Sunday at 9 a.m. in the A draw title match.
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Duke's doubles pair of
Faris Khan and
Jake Krug dropped their opening match in the A draw to Theo Dean and Vignesh Gogineni of Yale 6-3 but rebounded for a 6-4 win over Coy Simon and Ivan Dreycopp of Charlotte in their second contest. Khan and Krug are scheduled to play Elon's Daniel Martin and Nicholas Campbell on Sunday at 9 a.m. in the consolation finals.
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In the first round of singles play, Zhang and Krug each registered wins. Zhang, who is the No. 2 seed in the A draw, dropped his first set 6-3 to Virginia Tech's Manuel Goncalves but answered with back-to-back victories 6-2, 6-3 to claim the win and advance to the quarterfinals. He faces off against VCU's Joaquim Almeida at 9 a.m. on Saturday.
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Krug earned a 7-5, 6-4 win over Elon's Campbell in his opening match of the B draw. He will battle Davide Innocenti of UNC Wilmington on Saturday at 9 a.m. in the quarterfinals.
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Also in the A draw was Dale, who fell to Indiana's Michael Andre 6-3, 6-3 in his first match. Dale will face Bek Rasamatov of UNC Wilmington on Saturday in the consolation quarterfinals.
SINGLES RESULTS
Round of 16 (A Draw)
No. 2
Andrew Zhang (Duke) def. Manuel Goncalves (VT) 3-6, 6-2, 6-3
Michael Andre (Indiana) def.
Andrew Dale (Duke) 6-3, 6-3
Round of 16 (B Draw)
No. 3
Jake Krug (Duke) def. Nicholas Campbell (Elon) 7-5, 6-4
DOUBLES RESULTS
Quarterfinals (A Draw)
Andrew Dale/
Andrew Zhang (Duke) def. Patrick Fletchall/Ilya Tiraspolsky (Indiana) 6-1
Theo Dean/Vignesh Gogineni (Yale) def.
Faris Khan/
Jake Krug (Duke) 6-3
Semifinals (A Draw)
Andrew Dale/
Andrew Zhang (Duke) def. Martin Katz/Martin Vergara (Miami) 6-3
Faris Khan/
Jake Krug (Duke) def. Coy Simon/Ivan Dreycopp (CLT) 6-4
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MILWAUKEE CLASSIC
Junior
Niroop Vallabhaneni won his first two matches at the Milwaukee Classic on Friday. The Paradise Valley, Ariz., native defeated Marquette's Stef Dragovic 7-6 (2), 6-4 in his opening match before besting Maxime Mareschal-Hay of Cleveland State 7-5, 7-5 in the Round of 16. He is set to face off against VCU's Matisse Bobichon in Saturday's quarterfinals.
#GoDuke
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