Blue Devils Shut Out NC Central, 7-0

Sunday, January 22

Durham, N.C.

6 p.m.

Duke University

North Carolina Central

Garrett Johns competes against NC Central

Blue Devils Shut Out NC Central, 7-0

1/22/2023 10:11:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

DURHAM – No. 20 Duke men's tennis closed out the weekend on a high note after defeating NC Central, 7-0, on Sunday night inside the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center.

The Blue Devils finished the weekend 2-1 after victories over Memphis on Friday night and the Eagles on Sunday. Duke dropped a 4-3 decision to No. 16 Harvard in the first match of Sunday's doubleheader.

Duke improves to 3-1 on the season, while NC Central drops to 0-2 on the year.

How It Happened

The Blue Devils made quick work of the Eagles in doubles action to register the early 1-0 edge. The sophomore twin duo of Connor Krug and Jake Krug bested Shaka Cristellotti and Liam Murtaugh, 6-1, on court three in the first doubles match that finished.
Shortly after, senior Garrett Johns and freshman Pedro Rodenas secured the doubles point for Duke when they defeated Kareem Abdul Hakim and Neiman on court two, 6-1.
The doubles match between No. 49 Michael Heller and Andrew Zhang against Sebastian Pino and Oliver Saarinen went unfinished with the Blue Devils leading 4-2.
Senior Michael Heller continued the Blue Devils' momentum, recording 6-0, 6-0 wins over Cristellotti on court six.
The next match to finish was on court two with No. 84 Rodenas earning 6-1 victories in both the first and second set over Saarinen to give Duke the 3-0 edge.
Connor Krug then clinched the match for the Blue Devils on court three following his 6-1, 6-2 win over Abdul Hakim.
Duke registered victories over the final three matches as well thanks to wins by Faris Khan, Andrew Dale and No. 4 Johns to secure the 7-0 victory.

Notes

Duke shifts to 18-0 in the all-time series against the Eagles.
Two Blue Devils remain undefeated in dual singles action, Rodenas and Jake Krug. Rodenas holds a 4-0 ledger, while Jake Krug has a mark of 3-0.
Heller and Dale competed in their first singles matches of the year.

Quotes
"They've both been fantastic. Starting with Jake, last year he just had a couple opportunities and never got comfortable in the dual match environment. He's worked as hard as anyone on the team and has prepared himself for this. The two things he's done really well is playing aggressive start to finish and really having strong confident body language. He's played at a high level, has played the big points extremely well and he's just going to keep getting better and better. Pedro, this was his first time in a dual match environment. You never know how a freshman is going to handle it. He looked incredibly comfortable. I'm sure he had some nerves but it didn't look like it. His biggest focus was mental toughness and just being a machine out there. His tennis was a little up and down, but he was so good mentally and he really looked like he was comfortable and enjoyed it out there so encouraging from both of those guys." – Duke head coach Ramsey Smith on Jake Krug and Pedro Rodenas starting the season undefeated in singles action

"Overall, our doubles are in a pretty good place right now. I think we're ahead of where we've been in the past early in the season. We're playing aggressive, we're playing with good energy, and our guys are having fun out there. The doubles combinations have been good as well. Against Harvard, simultaneous tiebreakers where we're up the mini break in both and it just came down to execution at the very end. This is just how it goes against good teams, but we're competing well so that's promising to see. I think these matches will really help us moving forward. Obviously, we're disappointed with losing the first one today but we're building throughout the year and we're wanting to play our best tennis toward the end. I think we can learn and improve in the spots where we need to." – Duke head coach Ramsey Smith on his overall outlook on the early season

"We have purposely scheduled an extremely tough non-conference. This was a tough weekend to open up at home and I think this will just make us stronger. It puts us in times of adversity, in tough moments, and we're going to need to see how we're going to push through. In a lot of situations we did great, and in a couple we didn't do as well. We need to make sure we're finishing strong we're going after it in the big moments and we need to get all guys clicking. Ultimately, we're competing extremely well and I'm really proud of the guys." – Duke head coach Ramsey Smith on his teams tough schedule so far

"Harvard is ranked pretty high so they're a good team, but we were right there just losing 4-3. It was tough because we had a close doubles point that we didn't get but everyone fought really hard throughout the match. It was good to get a win in the second match against North Carolina Central after losing that close one earlier." – Duke senior Garrett Johns on Sunday's split doubleheader with No. 16 Harvard and NC Central

"It's always good to get these matches in before a big weekend and I think we've learned a lot about ourselves so far. I think we're looking really good going into next weekend. – Duke senior Garrett Johns on Duke's upcoming ITA Kickoff Weekend event

Next Match
The Blue Devils hit the road next weekend for the ITA Kickoff Weekend in Winston-Salem, N.C. Duke is scheduled to play Middle Tennessee State on Friday, Jan. 27 at 1 p.m. before facing off against either Wake Forest or Auburn on Saturday. The start time for Saturday's match has yet to be determined. All matches will be played at the Wake Forest 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 (3,2*)
1. #49 Michael Heller/Andrew Zhang (DU) vs. Sebastian Pino/Oliver Saarinen (NCCU) 4-2, unfinished
2. Garrett Johns/Pedro Rodenas (DU) def. Kareem Abdul Hakim/ Neiman Sneed (NCCU) 6-1
3. Connor Krug/Jake Krug (DU) def. Shaka Cristellotti/Liam Murtaugh (NCCU) 6-1

Singles (6,2,3*,4,5,1)
1. #4 Garrett Johns (DU) def. Sebastian Pino (NCCU) 6-2, 6-3
2. #84 Pedro Rodenas (DU) def. Oliver Saarinen (NCCU) 6-1, 6-1
3. Connor Krug (DU) def. Kareem Abdul Hakim (NCCU) 6-1, 6-2
4. Faris Khan (DU) def. Neiman Sneed (NCCU) 6-1, 6-2
5. Andrew Dale (DU) def. Facundo Olmedo (NCCU) 6-2, 6-0
6. Michael Heller (DU) def. Shaka Cristellotti (NCCU) 6-0, 6-0

#GoDuke