Blue Devils Strong During Day One of ITA Carolina Regional

Friday, October 22

Cary, N.C.

All Day

Duke University

Day One

Andrew Zhang gets ready for a serve during Friday's ITA Carolina Regional

Blue Devils Strong During Day One of ITA Carolina Regional

10/22/2021 10:53:00 PM | Men's Tennis

ITA CAROLINA REGIONAL MATCH RESULTS

CARY, N.C. – Duke men's tennis won 16 of its 18 matches during Day One of the ITA Carolina Regional Championship on Friday at Cary Tennis Park.

Seven of the nine individuals playing in the singles draw advance to Saturday's Round of 32.

Senior Edu Güell bested Gardner-Webb's Chrisjan Van Wyk 6-1, 7-6 (5) in his opening round before defeating James Roelofse of Furman 7-5, 7-5 in his next match. Junior Garrett Johns breezed through his first two matches on Friday, beating Damien Nezar of Campbell and Carter Morgan of South Carolina 6-2, 6-3 and 6-0, 6-1, respectively.

Fellow classmate Andrew Zhang also swept his opening two matches. The Bloomfield Hills, Mich., native defeated UNC Greensboro's Nico Grewe 6-4, 6-3 before besting Pol Otin of Campbell 7-5, 6-1.

Sophomores Faris Khan and Niroop Vallabhaneni each finished 2-0 on the day as well. Khan beat Hugh Knapp of UNC Greensboro 6-3, 6-2 in his opening match. The Delray Beach, Fla., native then bested Benjamin Niv of South Carolina State 6-4, 6-2. Vallabhaneni's day started with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over North Carolina's Mark Dillon, before recording a three-set win in his second match. He dropped the first set 7-6 (4) but rallied for the come-from-behind win in the second and third at 6-4 and 6-2 to register the win over Mikhail Sokolovskiy of Charlotte.

The freshman twin tandem of Connor Krug and Jake Krug also went undefeated during Friday's opening day. C. Krug tallied a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (1) victory over College of Charleston's Zac Larke and a 6-2, 6-3 win over Federico Garnier of Coastal Carolina J. Krug bested N.C. State's Yannai Barkai 6-3, 6-4 before defeated Eder Blanco of North Carolina A&T 6-4, 6-1.

Junior Michael Heller defeated Reece Falck of UNC Wilmington 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 in his opening round but dropped a tough three-set match in the Round of 64. The Boca Raton, Fla., native fell to Logan Zapp of North Carolina 5-7, 6-0, 7-6 (7).

Graduate Student Arturo Kam was Duke's first competitor on the day, and despite dropping his opening match to Nicholas Campbell of Elon 6-3, 7-5, Kam rebounded for a victory in his first match of the consolation bracket. He bested Matt Pitts of Clemson in a three-set match tiebreaker 3-6, 6-2, 10-3.

Another round of singles action will happen on Saturday followed by the start of doubles play at Cary Tennis Park. Duke has five teams in the draw, with three of them being seeded. Heller and Zhang earned the No. 6 overall seed while the duos of Dale/Johns and Krug/Krug earn 9-16 marks. Andrew Dale will make his first appearance on the courts as he partners with Johns.

Singles
Main Draw Round of 128
Edu Güell (Duke) defeated Chrisjan Van Wyk (Gardner-Webb) 6-1, 7-6 (5)
Michael Heller (Duke) defeated Reece Falck (UNCW) 6-4, 4-6, 6-2
Garrett Johns (Duke) defeated Damien Nezar (Campbell) 6-2, 6-3
Nicholas Campbell (Elon) defeated Arturo Kam (Duke) 6-3, 7-5
Faris Khan (Duke) defeated High Knapp (UNCG) 6-3, 6-2
Connor Krug (Duke) defeated Zac Larke (College of Charleston) 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (1)
Jake Krug (Duke) defeated Yannai Barkai (NCST) 6-3, 6-4
Niroop Vallabhaneni (Duke) defeated Mark Dillon (UNC) 6-1, 6-2
Andrew Zhang (Duke) defeated Nico Grewe (UNCG) 6-4, 6-3

Main Draw Round of 64
Edu Güell (Duke) defeated James Roelofse (Furman) 7-5, 7-5
Logan Zapp (UNC) defeated Michael Heller (Duke) 5-7, 6-0, 7-6 (7)
Garrett Johns (Duke) defeated Carter Morgan (USC) 6-0, 6-1
Faris Khan (Duke) defeated Benjamin Niv (SCSU) 6-4, 6-2
Connor Krug (Duke) defeated Federico Garnier (Coastal Carolina) 6-2, 6-3
Jake Krug (Duke) defeated Eder Blanco (NCAT) 6-4, 6-1
Niroop Vallabhaneni (Duke) defeated Mikhail Sokolovskiy (Charlotte) 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-2
Andrew Zhang (Duke) defeated Pol Otin (Campbell) 7-5, 6-1

Consolation Draw Round of 64
Arturo Kam (Duke) defeated Matt Pitts (Clemson) 3-6, 6-2, 10-3 in Con. Singles.

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