Michael Heller

Michael Heller celebrates a point during Duke's match against UNC

No. 11 Duke men's tennis dropped a 6-1 decision to No. 37 Georgia Tech on Sunday afternoon at Ambler Tennis Stadium.

No. 11 Duke men’s tennis welcomes No. 68 Clemson and No. 37 Georgia Tech to Ambler Tennis Stadium this weekend for two ACC contests.

Michael Heller battles against MTSU during ITA Kickoff Weekend

Graduate students Michael Heller and Andrew Zhang advanced to the semifinals of the consolation bracket on Friday after another win at the ITA National Fall Championships at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego, Calif.

Graduate students Michael Heller and Andrew Zhang fell in the finals of the doubles event at the ITA Carolina Regional Championships on Tuesday at the Cary Tennis Park.

Andrew Zhang and Michael Heller give each other praise after a doubles victory

Michael Heller competes against Charlotte

Michael Heller competes against Illinois

Andrew Zhang and Michael Heller congratulate each other after a point

Michael Heller competes at the Carolina Regional

Michel Heller and Andrew Zhang celebrate after a match point

Michael Heller and Andrew Zhang battled at the ITA All-Americans Championships and advanced out of qualifying play

Freshman Michael Keller prepares to hit the ball with a backhand shot

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Height:
6-0
Weight:
166
Class:
Junior
Hometown:
Boca Raton, Fla.
High School:
Spanish River

Honors:
Team Captain (2023, 2024)
ITA Scholar-Athlete (2021, 2023)
All-ACC Academic Team (2023, 2024)
ACC Academic Honor Roll (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)

DUKE CAREER: Lettered five seasons (2020-21-22-23-24) ... two-time team captain (2023 and 2024), ITA Scholar-Athlete (2021 and 2023) and All-ACC Academic Team selection (2023 and 2024) … concluded career with a 28-19 overall singles record, including a 13-8 dual-match mark … went 6-3 against ACC opponents … held a 2-0 record on court four and an 11-8 mark on court six … finished 1-2 against nationally ranked opponents … in doubles action, compiled a 63-42 overall record with a 34-26 dual-match ledger … posted a 12-11 ACC mark … went 5-8 on court one, 23-16 on court two and 6-2 on court three … finished with a 9-13 record against nationally ranked opponents … paired with teammate Andrew Zhang for much of career and compiled a 49-30 record together.

2023-24: Team captain … All-ACC Academic team … finished with a 4-4 overall record in singles play, including a 1-0 dual-match ledger … clinched lone win against N.C. Central after defeating Naresh Bharathy on court four 6-1, 6-2 … posted a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Jesus Garcis Gil of Coastal Carolina during the ITA Carolina Regional Championship … also tallied a three-set win over UCLA’s Jorge Plans Gonzalez 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4 … in doubles play, posted a 22-14 overall record with an 11-10 dual mark with teammates Faris Khan and Andrew Zhang … finished 4-5 against nationally ranked opponents with Zhang, including a 6-4, 6-4 victory over No. 8 Lukas Englehardt and Nikola Slavic of Ole Miss at the ITA National Fall Championships … advanced to the ITA National Fall Championships consolation semifinals … named the ACC Doubles Team of the Week with Zhang on January 30 after clinching the doubles point against No. 23 NC State and earning another win over Middle Tennessee … concluded the year ranked No. 81 with Zhang in doubles action.

2022-23: Team captain … All-ACC Academic team and ITA Scholar-Athlete recipient ... finished with a 6-3 overall record in singles play, including a 5-3 dual-match ledger … went 2-1 in ACC matches … strung together a four-match winning streak, including a 7-6 (4), 1-6, 1-0 (10-8) super tiebreak victory over JJ Mercer of No. 2 Kentucky … in doubles play, posted a 14-8 overall record with an 8-6 dual-match mark with teammates Connor Krug and Andrew Zhang … finished 1-4 against nationally ranked opponents with lone win coming with Zhang against No. 37 Juan Lopez de Azcona and Filippo Moroni of No. 16 Wake Forest, 6-3 … won four of opening five matches with Zhang to advance to the ITA Carolina Regional semifinals … went 1-1 with Zhang at the ITA National Fall Championships … concluded the year ranked No. 49 with Zhang in doubles action.

2021-22: Compiled a 1-2 overall singles record but was sidelined for much of the season due to injury … won opening match of the year over UNC Wilmington’s Reece Falck 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 … recorded a 9-9 overall doubles record and a 4-4 dual match ledger on court two … compiled a 3-2 record against nationally ranked opponents, including a 7-6, 4-6, 10-8 victory with teammate Andrew Zhang over No. 14 Connor Di Marco and Kody Pearson of Tulsa at the ITA All-American Championships … the duo won four consecutive matches at that event to advance to the round of 16 … started the season 5-1 in doubles play with Zhang.

2020-21: ITA Scholar-Athlete recipient ... concluded the year with a 7-5 overall mark during singles action, including an 5-5 dual record on court six … finished ACC play with a 4-2 record … won three of last five matches … defeated N.C. State’s Rafa Izquierdo 6-3, 6-3 during the ACC Challenge for first win of the year … bested Chen Dong of Georgia Tech for first ACC victory of the season … registered a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Franco Aubone of No. 43 Miami … went to three sets twice, and dropped two contests by way of tiebreaker … in doubles action, finished with an 8-8 mark, including a 4-2 record in ACC play … competed on all three courts during doubles action, teaming up the majority of the time with Andrew Zhang on court two … the pair finished 5-1 at that spot, including defeating Rithvik Bollopalli and Antonio Muniz of No. 31 South Florida during Duke’s NCAA Team Championship First Round match … ended the year riding a three-match doubles winning streak with Zhang … dropped hard-fought matches to No. 13 Eduardo Nava and Henri Squire (No. 11 Wake Forest) and No. 59 Raphael Lambling and Phillip Jordan (No. 20 South Carolina) by 7-5 decisions.

2019-20: Finished 10-4 overall in singles and 2-0 in dual action before freshman year was cut short by COVID-19 … put together a 10-3 overall doubles record, including a 3-1 mark in the spring ... finished the year at No. 46 in the Oracle/ITA doubles rankings with Andrew Zhang … picked up second career win in a super tiebreaker against Campbell’s Gustavs Lukstins … first collegiate win came against North Carolina A&T … moved 20 spots to No. 22 in the first ITA rankings of the spring with Zhang ... finished No. 42 with Zhang in the final fall Oracle/ITA doubles rankings ... ITA Carolina Regional doubles semifinalist.

Prior to Duke: Blue chip recruit who has been listed as high as No. 3 in the TennisRecruiting.net national rankings ... member of the Team USA National Junior Team ... in June of 2017, brought home the Boys’ 18 USTA Florida State tournament title ... won the 2017 Rendez-vous à Roland-Garros, in partnership with Longines, to receive a wild card to the Roland-Garros Junior French Open ... during freshman year at Cypress Bay High School, won the state title in doubles with brother Andrew … qualified for the USTA National Junior Team in 2017 … states singles winner B18 in 2017.

Personal: Born on May 13, 2000 … graduated from Duke in May 2023, with a sociology degree and a certificate in markets and management ... added a master’s in management studies from Duke’s Fuqua School of Business in May 2024 … son of Arthur and Rachel Heller … father played tennis at the University of Florida (1986), earning First Team All-SEC honors and Academic All-SEC nods in 1986 … brother, Andrew, was a member of the Yale University men’s tennis team (2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20) … sister, Katie, competes in USTA tournaments.