Duke Comes Up Just Short Against Clemson, 4-3

Sunday, March 22

Durham, N.C.

12 p.m.

Duke University

Clemson

Duke men's tennis hosted Stanford for its outdoor ACC opener inside Ambler Tennis Stadium.

Photo by: Joseph Chapman 2025

Duke Comes Up Just Short Against Clemson, 4-3

3/22/2026 7:07:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

DURHAM, N.C. — The Duke men's tennis team dropped a tightly contested 4-3 decision to Clemson Sunday afternoon at Ambler Outdoor Tennis Stadium.

With the loss, the Blue Devils moved to 8-10 and 3-5 in ACC play while the Tigers improved to 8-11 and 3-5 in league action. After falling in the doubles point, Duke rallied in singles with three victories, but Clemson secured the final two points in the back-and-forth match.

HOW IT HAPPENED

On court two in doubles, Gerard Planelles Ripoll and Teddy Truwit fell behind early as Clemson built up a 4-1 advantage. The Blue Devils fought to stay within reach, but fell 6-3 to Henrik Bladelius and Marko Mesarovic.
The doubles point was decided on court three, where Alexander Visser and Dylan Long battled back from a 4-1 deficit. After saving multiple break points and pulling to within 5-4, the Blue Devils were unable to even the match and fell 6-4 to Matisse Farzam and Yannic Nittmann.
Clemson struck first in singles to go ahead 2-0 as Long pushed a competitive opening set to a tiebreaker before falling, 7-6 (7-3). Clemson's Bladelius pulled away in the second to the set, 6-1.
The Blue Devils answered on court one, where No. 95 Pedro Rodenas used a steady performance to secure a 6-4, 6-4 victory against Noa Vukadin, cutting the Duke deficit to 2-1. Rodenas battled through a tight second set, going up a break at 5-4 before taking it 6-4.
Planelles Ripoll evened the match 2-2 with a win on court three. After taking the opening set 6-2, he dropped the second 2-6. With the third tied at 4-4, Ripoll responded with a key break to secure a 6-4 victory against Farzam.
Cooper Williams gave Duke its first lead of the match at 3-2 on court two. After splitting the first two sets with No. 53 Viktor Markov, No. 56 Williams trailed 5-4 in the third before holding serve and winning the final two games to close out his match, 7-5.
Clemson quickly answered on court six, where Noah Cherubino topped Truwit in three sets. After dropping the first set 6-4, Truwit responded and battled to a 7-5 victory in the second. Cherubino regained control in the third, evening the match at 3-3 with a 6-3 final set.
The match-deciding point came down to court five, where sophomore Saahith Jayaraman also fought through a three-set match with Mesarovic. After conceding the first set, 7-5, Jayaraman forced the second set to a tiebreaker. He kept it close at 4-4 before Clemson broke ahead to win the tiebreaker, 7-5. The third set stayed close, with neither side able to go up a break before Clemson secured one at 5-4 to claim the set 6-4 and clinch the match for the Tigers.

QUOTES

"It was a fun match. We competed like crazy and gave ourselves a chance. You look at the scoreboard, three through six were absolute battles. We had some really good moments and, for whatever reason, just fell a couple points short. I feel like our time is coming as long as we stay together and keep our heads up and don't get too discouraged because we're playing better tennis and competing very well. Obviously, we have to figure out doubles. It really stinks to lose, but very proud of what we put out there." — Duke head coach Ramsey Smith

UP NEXT

Duke faces off against N.C. State at home on Friday, March 27 at 5 p.m.

RESULTS
Doubles (2,3)

#10 Pedro Rodenas/Cooper Williams (DU) vs. #71 Noa Vukadin/Viktor Markov (CU) 4-5 unfinished
Henrik Bladelius/Marko Mesarovic (CU) def. Gerard Planelles Ripoll/Teddy Truwit (DU) 6-3
Matisse Farzam/Yannic Nittmann (CU) def. Alexander Visser/Dylan Long (DU) 6-4