CARY, N.C. – Duke senior
Andrew Zhang advanced to the A draw singles final on Saturday to highlight day two of the Duke James Bonk Invitational.
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The Bloomfield Hills, Mich., native bested VCU's Joaquim Almedia 6-1, 6-2 in the quarterfinals before battling No. 3 seed Theo Dean of Yale in a three-set thriller in the semifinals. Zhang claimed a 7-5 victory in the opening set, but Dean responded with a 6-4 win in the second. Zhang was able to earn a 6-2 win in the final frame to secure his spot in Sunday's final. He's scheduled to face off against the No. 1 seed Dan Martin of Miami at 11 a.m.
Junior
Andrew Dale finished 1-1 during his two matches on Saturday in the A draw. Dale fell to UNCW's Bek Rasmatov 3-6, 6-4, 10-7 in the consolation quarterfinals but answered with a victory over No. 4 Dimitri Badra of ETSU during his second contest. Dale was leading 5-0 when Badra had to bow out due to retirement. Dale will battle Charlotte's Ivan Dreycopp for 13th place on Sunday at 11 a.m.
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Sophomore
Jake Krug dropped both of his matches on the day in the B draw to Davide Innocenti of UNCW and No. 2 Juan Jalif of Miami. Innocenti recorded a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Krug in the quarterfinals, while Jalif earned a 6-4, 4-6, 10-8 win in the fifth-place bracket. Krug meets up with Veljko Krstic of Elon on Sunday at 11 a.m. for seventh place.
The finals doubles matches of the tournament are set to begin at 9 a.m. on Sunday at the Cary Tennis Park followed by the remaining singles matches. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
SINGLES RESULTS
Quarterfinals (A Draw)
No. 2Â
Andrew Zhang (Duke) def. Joaquim Almeida (VCU) 6-1, 6-2
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Consolation Quarterfinals (A Draw)
Bek Rasmatov (UNCW) def.Â
Andrew Dale (Duke) 3-6, 6-4, 10-7
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Semifinals (A Draw)
No. 2Â
Andrew Zhang (Duke) def. No. 3 Theo Dean (Yale) 7-5, 4-6, 6-2
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13th Place Bracket (A Draw)
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Andrew Dale (Duke) def. No. 4 Dimitri Badra (ETSU) 5-0 ret.
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Quarterfinals (B Draw)
Davide Innocenti (UNCW) def. No. 3Â
Jake Krug (Duke) 7-5, 6-4
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Fifth Place Bracket (B Draw)
No. 2 Juan Jalif (Miami) def. No. 3Â
Jake Krug (Duke) 6-4, 4-6, 10-8
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MILWAUKEE CLASSIC
JuniorÂ
Niroop Vallabhaneni dropped his quarterfinal match at the Milwaukee Classic on Saturday to VCU's Matisse Bobichon in a three-set showdown. Bobichon claimed a 7-5 victory in the opening set, but Vallabhaneni battled back to earn a 6-4 win in the second to force a third frame. Unfortunately, Bobichon was able to outlast Vallabhaneni 13-11 in the deciding set to secure the win.
#GoDuke
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