No. 11 Duke Heads to NCAA Super Regional With 4-1 Win Over Cornell

Sunday, May 7

Durham, N.C.

2 p.m.

Duke University

[41] Cornell

No. 11 Duke Heads to NCAA Super Regional With 4-1 Win Over Cornell

5/7/2023 9:05:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score NCAA Bracket Photo Gallery

DURHAM – For the first time since 2015, No. 11 Duke men's tennis advanced to the NCAA Team Championship round of 16 after its 4-1 victory over No. 41 Cornell on Sunday afternoon at Ambler Tennis Stadium.

The Blue Devils earn another shot at No. 5 Virginia, as the two ACC foes will face off in the next round on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Virginia Tennis Facility. The Cavaliers are 2-0 against Duke this season.

Saturday's win handed Duke it's 12th home victory, marking its most victories since 2017. In addition, the Blue Devils shift to 27-3 as a regional host and 50-29 overall at the national tournament.

Junior Faris Khan earned his fourth match-clinching victory of the year to help Duke (22-6) earn its 26th season with 20-plus wins in program history. Cornell closed its season with an 18-7 ledger.

How It Happened

The senior-rookie duo of No. 25 Garrett Johns and Pedro Rodenas garnered their 17th dual win of the season when they began doubles play with a 6-3 victory over Adit Sinha and Nathan Mao on the main court.
Cornell knotted the score at one match a piece when Samuel Paquette and Petar Teodorovic defeated Connor Krug and Teddy Truwit on court two, 6-4.
With the doubles point coming down to the outcome on court three, the junior pairing of Khan and Niroop Vallabhaneni outlasted Radu Papoe and Aman Sharma, 7-5, to give Duke the early 1-0 edge in the overall match.
Rodenas extended the Blue Devils lead to 2-0 after he bested Vladislav Melnic on court two. The Madrid, Spain, native recorded a 6-1 victory in his opening set and then was leading 2-1 in the second when Melnic was forced to retire.
Junior Andrew Dale then made it 3-0 in favor of the home side when he registered 6-3, 6-3 wins over Mao on court five.
The Big Red earned their lone point on court four after Teodorovic beat Krug in three sets 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Khan's match on court six was the next to finish as he tallied a three-set victory over Paquette. He posted a 6-3 win in the first frame but dropped the second 6-3. He rebounded for a 6-2 win in the last set to send Duke to the round of 16.
Two matches went unfinished on court one and three, respectively. No. 12 Johns recorded a 6-4 victory in the first set over No. 88 Papoe on the top court but dropped the second in tiebreak fashion 7-6 (6). On court three, Andrew Zhang earned a 6-3 win in his first frame with Sinha but fell in his second by a 7-6 (4) tiebreak decision. Neither match started a third set before Duke claimed the win.

Notes

Duke improves its home winning streak to nine consecutive victories.
The Blue Devils reached 22 wins for the first time since 2015.
In addition, Duke has now won 17 of its last 20 matches.
The Blue Devils have claimed 18 doubles points this season.
In Sunday's match, Duke won all six of its opening singles sets.
With his win on court two, Rodenas ties Michael Redlicki and Nicolas Alvarez for ninth all-time in most singles wins by a freshman with 31.
The rookie remains undefeated on court two with a mark of 17-0.

Quotes
"It feels great. I'm really proud of our guys. That was a very tough college tennis match. I know we won 4-1, but I give so much credit to Cornell for how hard they fought. We saw them compete yesterday and we saw how tough they were, and they brought that again today. It took all we had to push through and I'm really proud of the guys." – Duke head coach Ramsey Smith on his overall thoughts from the match

"It was just so cool for them to get that exact same situation the next day. That's one of the cool things about college tennis is you can lose, and the team can win, and you can advance. And then you have a chance to kind of redeem yourself. It was literally the exact same situation where they had set points before the tiebreaker and then got to the tiebreaker. They did a good job of just being aggressive and taking it to their opponent. They just really trusted and believed in themselves, and I was just really happy with how we won the doubles point. Obviously, that gave us a lot of momentum heading into singles." – Duke head coach Ramsey Smith on Faris Khan and Niroop Vallabhaneni securing the doubles point after dropping their match on Saturday

"It has developed well. There was a little rough patch at the beginning where they were trying to figure each other out and we just started working on some set plays that we perfected in practice and then once they got dialed in with those things they just started to mesh. They're both so talented and their games just match up so well in doubles. They really enjoy playing with each other and they have a great relationship off the court. They're just so tough in the big moments and I can't overlook what they're doing at the top court." – Duke head coach Ramsey Smith on the chemistry between Garrett Johns and Pedro Rodenas

"It was an awesome start. We just kind of reenforced that we need to go out there and take it and not look around to see who else is going to take points. We did a tremendous job of winning all six first sets. Again, I credit Cornell for making that desperation surge in the second and I also think we got a little complacent and maybe lost that sense of urgency. But then we were able to settle back in and then obviously with Faris [Khan] at the end. That third set was very quick against a tough competitor, who wins his matches by outlasting his opponents. Faris was just focused on being super aggressive and competing his hardest and he just took it to him at the end." – Duke head coach Ramsey Smith on the team's singles performance

"It'll be the third time we play them, but I think we've definitely made progress each time and hopefully this next step will be finishing them off. They're obviously a really tough team. They set the standard in the conference, but I see how our team is building and growing and we're absolutely ready to beat them. It's going to be a battle; it's going to be a challenge but there isn't one guy out there that doesn't think we can beat them and advance to Orlando." – Duke head coach Ramsey Smith on the team's singles performance

"It feels surreal. We've put in a lot of effort up to this point as a team, working so hard every day and it showed here. Yesterday was our first match in a little and we showed some nerves but today was a great match and we're going to keep building on this. We're looking forward to another battle with Virginia." – Duke junior Faris Khan

Next Match
The Blue Devils advance to the super regional match where they will travel to face fifth-seeded and fifth-ranked Virginia on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Virginia Tennis Facility.

Tickets for the NCAA Super Regional match are $5 for general admission and $3 for students with a valid ID per day (ages 2 and up are required to have a ticket). Tickets will be available for purchase online, over the phone, or at the Bryant Hall ticket office on the campus of the University of Virginia and can be picked up at the courts.

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

Results
Doubles (1,2,3*)
1. #25 Garrett Johns/Pedro Rodenas (DU) def. Adit Sinha/Nathan Mao (COR) 6-3
2. Samuel Paquette/Petar Teodorovic (COR) def. Connor Krug/Teddy Truwit (DU) 6-4
3. Faris Khan/Niroop Vallabhaneni (DU) def. Radu Papoe/Aman Sharma (COR) 7-5

Singles (2,5,4,6*)
1. #12 Garrett Johns (DU) vs. #88 Radu Papoe (COR) 6-4, 6-7 (6-8), unfinished
2. #52 Pedro Rodenas (DU) def. Vladislav Melnic (COR) 6-1, 2-1, retired
3. Andrew Zhang (DU) vs. Adit Sinha (COR) 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), unfinished
4. Petar Teodorovic (COR) def. Connor Krug (DU) 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
5. Andrew Dale (DU) def. Nathan Mao (COR) 6-3, 6-3
6. Faris Khan (DU) def. Samuel Paquette (COR) 6-3, 3-6, 6-2

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