Blue Devils Secure 5-2 Victory in Home Opener

Friday, January 20

Durham, N.C.

6 p.m.

Duke University

Memphis

Blue Devils Secure 5-2 Victory in Home Opener

1/20/2023 11:34:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

DURHAM – No. 20 Duke men's tennis posted a hard-fought 5-2 victory over Memphis on Friday night in its home opener at Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center.

With the win, the Blue Devils secured their fifth-straight home-opening victory.

How It Happened

Senior Garrett Johns and rookie Pedro Rodenas began doubles action claiming a 6-2 win over Jeremy Taylor and Harry Rock on court two.
The Tigers responded with a win on court three to even things up following Pau Fanlo and Pablo Alemany's 7-5 victory over juniors Faris Khan and Niroop Vallabhaneni.
With the doubles point coming down to the outcome on court one, the No. 49-ranked doubles pair of seniors Michael Heller and Andrew Zhang recorded a 7-5 win over David Stevenson and Oscar Cutting to hand the Blue Devils an early 1-0 edge in the overall match.
Memphis recorded back-to-back victories to kick off singles play to jump in front 2-1.
Taylor defeated Vallabhaneni on court five 6-2, 6-1 to knot the score at 1-1. No. 39 Alemany then bested No. 4 Johns 6-1, 6-3 on court one to hand the visitors a slight edge in the match.
Fortunately, the Blue Devils secured three consecutive wins over the next three matches to secure the win and earn their second victory on the year.
Connor Krug claimed a 6-3, 6-4 win on court four over Cutting, before his twin brother Jake Krug followed suit with a 6-3, 6-4 victory against Fanlo on court six.
No. 84 Rodenas then posted the match-clinching point after he bested Conor Gannon 7-5, 6-4 on court three.
The match on court two was a back-and-forth affair between No. 101 Zhang and No. 114 Stevenson. The visitors earned a 7-6 (3) tiebreak win in the opening set but Zhang battled back to register a 6-4 victory in the second frame. With the overall match already secured, Zhang recorded a 10-6 super tiebreak win to give Duke its fifth and final point of the night.

Notes

Duke shifts to 13-2 in home openers under the direction of head coach Ramsey Smith.
The Blue Devils recorded their fourth consecutive victory at home and are 12-3 in their last 15 home matches.
Connor Krug, Jake Krug and Rodenas have all started the dual singles season undefeated.

Quotes
"It was a great team win. Memphis is really tough. We played them in the NCAA Tournament last year and they have all those players plus an additional player. I think they are particularly strong in doubles and in indoors. They have a lot of big guys that serve well and play aggressive. Overall, I'm just really pleased we were able to get a win." – Duke head coach Ramsey Smith on his thoughts from the match

"I thought the seniors stepped up in doubles and then in singles the young guns stepped up. Pedro (Rodenas) looked very comfortable. I didn't know exactly how he would feel. Dual matches are very different and there are a lot of things going on and he stayed very focused and mentally he was a machine tonight so very pleased and happy with him. It was the first time that the Krugs have played in the same dual match next to each other. They actually had the exact same score. I thought they were excellent and in particular Jake, because he hasn't been in that situation very much. Tonight was by far the best dual match that he's played. Just his commitment to playing aggressive and going after the ball and really focus on his body language and composure, it was just very exciting to see him at that level. I'm really happy for him because he's put a lot of work to get himself in that position and to see him come through like that in an important match for us was big." – Duke head coach Ramsey Smith on different players stepping up at different times to lead the team

"It was great. The atmosphere was great. My teammates were pushing me, and I tried to push them too. It was incredible and an amazing experience." – Duke freshman Pedro Rodenas on his first home match and securing the victory

Next Match
Duke welcomes No. 16 Harvard and North Carolina Central on Sunday for a doubleheader on Sunday at 1 and 6 p.m., respectively, in Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center.

To stay up to date with Blue Devils men's tennis, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeMTEN".

Results
Doubles (2,3,1*)
1. #49 Michael Heller/Andrew Zhang (DU) def. David Stevenson/Oscar Cutting (MEM-M) 7-5
2. Garrett Johns/Pedro Rodenas (DU) def. Jeremy Taylor/Harry Rock (MEM-M) 6-2
3. Pau Fanlo/Pablo Alemany (MEM-M) def. Faris Khan/Niroop Vallabhaneni (DU) 7-5

Singles (5,1,4,6,3*,2)
1. #39 Pablo Alemany (MEM-M) def. #4 Garrett Johns (DU) 6-1, 6-3
2. #101 Andrew Zhang (DU) def. #114 David Stevenson (MEM-M) 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 10-6
3. #84 Pedro Rodenas (DU) def. Conor Gannon (MEM-M) 7-5, 6-4
4. Connor Krug (DU) def. Oscar Cutting (MEM-M) 6-3, 6-4
5. Jeremy Taylor (MEM-M) def. Niroop Vallabhaneni (DU) 6-2, 6-1
6. Jake Krug (DU) def. Pau Fanlo (MEM-M) 6-3, 6-4

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