Tennis Opens Dual Match Season with Sweep

Sunday, January 19

Durham, N.C.

12:00 PM

Duke University

Harvard

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Tennis Opens Dual Match Season with Sweep

1/19/2025 9:01:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Box Score: Duke 4 Harvard 3 (PDF)Box Score: Duke 6 NCCU 1 (PDF)Photo Gallery

DURHAM, N.C. – The No. 12 Duke men's tennis team started the dual match season strong Sunday with a doubleheader sweep of No. 21 Harvard and North Carolina Central. The Blue Devils (2-0) defeated the Crimson (0-1) inside Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center, 4-3, before earning a 6-1 victory over the Eagles (0-2) in the nightcap.

Senior Connor Krug secured Duke's win against Harvard, clinching in three sets on court five. Freshman Saahith Jayaraman earned the clinching point versus the Eagles with a straight-set win on court three. With the victory against the Crimson, head coach Ramsey Smith improved to 15-2 in season openers. The win against Harvard was also just the third in program history and first since a 4-0 sweep on March 26, 2010. Duke and Harvard have met in each of the past three years with each decision a 4-3 final for the victors.

Match One vs. Harvard
Duke fell behind 1-0 as Harvard clinched the doubles point with wins on courts one and two by 6-4 scores.

The Blue Devils began the comeback with a quick 6-4, 6-4 win by Remy Dugardin over Mitchell Lee on court six. Dugardin took the first set by capturing the last two games after a 4-4 tie. He trailed 4-3 in the second set before ripping off the last three to even the match at 1-1 overall.

Harvard's Valdemar Pape downed Gerard Planelles Ripoll 6-3, 7-6 (6) on court four to put the Crimson back in front, 2-1. Duke answered again, this time on court two with No. 38 Pedro Rodenas topping Benjamin Privara 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

Duke then took the lead at 3-2 as Andreja Petrovic held off Rohan Murali 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 on court three. Harvard returned the favor on court one as Daniel Milavsky came back to defeat No. 47 Cooper Williams 2-6, 7-6 (8), 6-2.

With all attention on court five, Krug earned a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 win over Masato Perera for the clinching point. Krug trailed 4-3 in the first set before taking the last three games. Krug led 5-4 in the second set, but Perera had the answer and won the last three to force a deciding third set. Krug battled back from a 3-1 hole to win five of the last six and clinch for the Blue Devils.

Results
Doubles (1,2)
1. #71 Masato Perera/Benjamin Privara (HARV) def. Pedro Rodenas/Theo Winegar (DU) 6-4
2. David Lins/Daniel Milavsky (HARV) def. Cooper Williams/Andreja Petrovic (DU) 6-4
3. Connor Krug/Teddy Truwit (DU) vs. Valdemar Pape/Melchior Delloye (HARV) 5-5, unfinished

Singles (6,4,2,3,1,5)
1. Daniel Milavsky (HARV) def. #47 Cooper Williams (DU) 2-6, 7-6 (10-8), 6-2
2. #38 Pedro Rodenas (DU) def. Benjamin Privara (HARV) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
3. Andreja Petrovic (DU) def. Rohan Murali (HARV) 6-2, 4-6, 6-2
4. Valdemar Pape (HARV) def. Gerard Planelles Ripoll (DU) 6-3, 7-6 (8-6)
5. Connor Krug (DU) def. Masato Perera (HARV) 6-4, 5-7, 6-4
6. Remy Dugardin (DU) def. Mitchell Lee (HARV) 6-4, 6-4

Match Two vs. N.C. Central
The Blue Devils continued their momentum in the nightcap, earning the doubles point and never looking back. Teddy Truwit and Jayaraman tallied the first win with a 6-2 triumph on court three. The Eagles took the decision on court two, but Rodenas and Theo Winegar captured a 6-4 decision on one to secure the point.

Duke blazed through the first singles sets, claiming all six. Truwit was first to finish, winning 6-1, 6-1 on court five. Winegar was just behind with a 6-1, 6-3 victory on court six. Jayaraman picked up his first singles win as a Blue Devil with a 6-1, 6-0 triumph on court three for the clinch. Jake Krug made it a 5-0 Duke lead with a 6-3, 6-4 win on court four. Planelles Ripoll tallied a 6-2, 6-4 victory on court two with NCCU's point coming on the top court, where Hugo Hidalgo downed No. 38 Rodenas 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (8).

Results
Doubles (3,2,1)
1. Pedro Rodenas/Theo Winegar (DU) def. Rodrigo Alves/Hugo Hidalgo (NCCU-MT) 6-4
2. Kareem Abdul Hakim/Oliver Saarinen (NCCU-MT) def. Gerard Planelles Ripoll/Remy Dugardin (DU) 6-2
3. Teddy Truwit/Saahith Jayaraman (DU) def. Antoni Pankowski/Leo Fortier (NCCU-MT) 6-2

Singles (5,6,3,4,2,1)
1. Hugo Hidalgo (NCCU-MT) def. #38 Pedro Rodenas (DU) 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (10-8)
2. Gerard Planelles Ripoll (DU) def. Kareem Abdul Hakim (NCCU-MT) 6-2, 6-4
3. Saahith Jayaraman (DU) def. Rodrigo Alves (NCCU-MT) 6-1, 6-0
4. Jake Krug (DU) def. Naresh Bharathy (NCCU-MT) 6-3, 6-4
5. Teddy Truwit (DU) def. Antoni Pankowski (NCCU-MT) 6-1, 6-1
6. Theo Winegar (DU) def. Leo Fortier (NCCU-MT) 6-1, 6-3

Next Match
Duke is back in action next weekend when it hosts Old Dominion, Cornell and Vanderbilt for the ITA Kickoff Weekend. The Blue Devils will face off against Old Dominion on Saturday at 12 noon before meeting either Cornell or Vanderbilt on Sunday. Timing for Sunday's match has yet to be determined.

Quotes
"That was a heck of a college tennis match. There were so many ebbs and flows. We lost the doubles point and then got off to great starts in singles. Harvard came back with a surge. We had some match points in the second sets and thought we were going to win, but it came down to three matches and we had to win two of them. Andreja stepped up on three. Connor was down 4-2 in the third. It was such a special moment for him as a true senior. The environment was awesome. I am so proud of how he played. He really went after it. It was a tough first match. It was intentional, though. We have an experienced team, which is not experienced together, but veterans. It's a challenge. Win or lose, those are environments we want to be in. It was great to see guys step up. Connor was the hero today." - Head coach Ramsey Smith on the Harvard victory

"I thought Central played great. They played a really good doubles point. That's the deepest and strongest team they've been in a while. Getting guys matches, especially Saahith with his first college dual match wins. He was especially sharp today. That was the first of many wins in his Duke career. I was especially pleased with singles and how we came out strong." - Smith on the N.C. Central match

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

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