TULSA, Okla. – The Blue Devils men's tennis team got off to a good start on the first day of play at the ITA All-American Championships main draw Thursday in Tulsa, Okla.
Senior
Reid Carleton recorded his first career win over an opponent ranked in the top 10. He defeated No. 7
Steve Johnson of Southern California in the first round 6-7 [4], 7-5, 6-2. Carleton carried over the momentum from the upset win in the second round with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over No. 26 Dennis Nevolo of Illinois.
Carleton improved to 10-0 on the season with a 6-0 record against players ranked in the ITA preseason singles rankings. He moves on to the round of 16 where he will take on No. 59 Ryan Thacher of Stanford, who made his way to the main draw through qualifying matches.
Sophomore
Henrique Cunha also won twice on Thursday to advance to the round of 16. He drew No. 18 Ed Corrie of Texas in the first round and dispatched of the top 20 foe 6-3, 7-6 (2). In the second round, Cunha downed No. 50 Sebastian Fanselow in straight sets 6-3, 6-3 to move on.
Cunha is now 6-0 to start the year with a 3-0 mark against ranked individuals. He has a 30-4 career record against ranked players with a 14-3 record against top 25 opponents. Cunha draws unranked Alex Domijan of Virginia in the next round on Friday.
Carleton and Cunha also earned a victory in doubles to start the main draw. The Duke pair improved to 4-0 in doubles with an 8-4 win over Matt Allare and Shuhei Uzawa of Ohio State. Carleton now has a 7-0 record in doubles this season. The two Blue Devils will face No. 22 Jonas Lutgen and Tucker Vorster of Ole Miss in the next round.
Friday's action will begin at 8 a.m. with the third round of singles. There will also be two rounds of doubles taking place on Friday.
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