Duke Sweeps Campbell in Home Opener

Thursday, February 19

Durham, N.C.

3:30 p.m.

Duke University

Campbell

Duke men's tennis' Gerard Planelles Ripoll, wearing a black shirt and black shorts, takes a backhand swing during a match.

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Duke Sweeps Campbell in Home Opener

2/19/2026 5:49:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

DURHAM, N.C. – After six consecutive matches away from Durham, the No. 51 Duke men's tennis team returned home and to the win column Thursday afternoon with 7-0 sweep against Campbell. The contest served as the outdoor season opener and was played at the Ambler Tennis Stadium.

The Blue Devils, who are 4-0 at home this season and 42-5 in home competition since the start of the 2023 dual match season, got the clinching point from Alexander Visser.

How It Happened

In doubles, Duke's three courts held 4-1 leads with courts one and two finishing 6-1 sets just seconds before court three.
The Blue Devils' No. 1 pair of Cooper Williams and Pedro Rodenas, ranked No. 32, dropped the first game and won the final six. On two, Gerard Planelles Ripoll and Dylan Long led 3-0 before Campbell captured its only game.
Williams lifted Duke to a 2-0 lead with a brisk 6-1, 6-2 victory against Adi Dagan on court two. Williams, No. 68 in this week's rankings, is now 4-4 in dual matches this season.
Planelles Ripoll tallied Duke's third point with a 6-1, 6-1 court three triumph against Alex Fragasso. No. 118 Planelles Ripoll led 2-0 in the opening set before dropping one and answering by taking the final four. In the second set, Planelles Ripoll lost the opening game and took the last six.
Alexander Visser clinched it for the Blue Devils with his 6-2, 6-1 win versus Aleksandar Hudjec on court four. Visser led 2-0, 3-1 and 5-1 before ending the opening set. He won seven of the final eight games to close the match.
On court one, Rodenas extended Duke's lead to 5-0 with a 6-3, 6-1 victory against Thomas Drapeau. With a 1-1 tie in the first set, Rodenas captured three consecutive to lead 4-1. Drapeau never got closer than two games the rest of the set. In the second, Drapeau trailed 2-0 before making it 2-1, but Rodenas took the final four games. Rodenas is now 6-0 in singles dual matches.
The Blue Devils pushed their advantage to 6-0 on court six, where Saahith Jayaraman won 6-4, 6-0 versus Arush Gupta. The two were even at 1-1, 2-2, 3-3 and 4-4 in the first set. Jayaraman broke and held for the first set win and took all six games in the second.
Duke finished the sweep on court five with Long topping Mikolaj Kowal, 6-2, 6-0. After ties at 1-1 and 2-2, Long ran off the last four games of the first set and all six in the second set to control the match.

UP NEXT

Duke opens ACC play on Friday, February 27 against California at 3 p.m., and welcomes Stanford on Sunday, March 1 at 12 p.m.

QUOTES
Head coach Ramsey Smith on the outdoor match and new video board at Ambler Tennis Stadium:
"It was an awesome match. The weather could not have been better. It's mid February. It's in the 70s and no wind. Campbell was nice enough to come play us. I want to give a massive shout out to the Duke gameday operations and everyone involved in making this video board work. We weren't supposed to have matches this early, but we pushed things up. That group has been working 24/7 this last week. It was really special. I was just watching the guys with the National Anthem, the flag waving on the video board and then the player introductions and hype video. A big thanks to Merrill Ambler for making it happen."

Smith on Duke's performance:
"This is really going to help us getting this extra match on our courts. We played really well. We had kind of a training block the last week and a half. We had a lot of things we could work on after the non-conference indoor season. We were on the road for almost a month. I'm very happy with how the guys came out. Our doubles were sharp. In singles I felt we got better as the match went along. It was really solid with great focus. Everything is really going to help us going into ACC play next week."

Smith on the benefit of the training week:
"One thing we really worked on was our look, just how he responded to winning points, losing points and making sure we're not hanging our heads or having any negative emotion. It was nice to be able to practice it in a match setting here. And playing a little bit more committed and aggressive, going after a shot especially in big moments. I felt like we got a lot of good practice and then it was nice to see it happen in the match as well."

Gerard Planelles Ripoll on Duke's victory:
"It was great. The weather is really, really good. It was great outside. We took care of business and it was a great match. After five loses in a row, it was tough for us. But I think in the last week, we worked pretty hard. We're going to keep working hard for the ACC. I think the extra training helped a lot. We had some meetings where we focused on what we had to work on. We've been working pretty hard in practice and I'm sure it's going to help us in the future. I really believe in this team. I think we can do great things."

Results
Doubles (1,2)
1. #32 Pedro Rodenas/Cooper Williams (DU) def. Thomas Drapeau/Max Harmon (CU) 6-1
2. Dylan Long/Gerard Planelles Ripoll (DU) def. Adi Dagan/Matias Lofink (CU) 6-1
3. Teddy Truwit/Alexander Visser (DU) vs. Alex Fragasso/Arush Gupta (CU) 5-1, unfinished

Singles (2,3,4,1,6,5)
1. #95 Pedro Rodenas (DU) def. Thomas Drapeau (CU) 6-3, 6-1
2. #68 Cooper Williams (DU) def. Adi Dagan (CU) 6-1, 6-2
3. #118 Gerard Planelles Ripoll (DU) def. Alex Fragasso (CU) 6-1, 6-1
4. Alexander Visser (DU) def. Aleksandar Hudjec (CU) 6-2, 6-1
5. Dylan Long (DU) def. Mikolaj Kowal (CU) 6-2, 6-0
6. Saahith Jayaraman (DU) def. Arush Gupta (CU) 6-4, 6-0

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