Blue Devils Top Tar Heels, 4-1

Saturday, April 11

Durham, N.C.

1 p.m.

Duke University

North Carolina

Photo by: Nat LeDonne / Duke Athletics

Blue Devils Top Tar Heels, 4-1

4/11/2026 3:51:00 PM | Men's Tennis

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DURHAM, N.C. – The Duke men's tennis team made it a sixth consecutive victory against North Carolina on Saturday afternoon inside Ambler Tennis Stadium with a 4-1 Senior Day triumph.

Prior to the match, Duke honored its three seniors in Gerard Planelles Ripoll, Pedro Rodenas and Teddy Truwit.

Rodenas, of Madrid, Spain, wrapped up an incredible ACC career having played 40 league doubles matches, tied for the fourth most in Duke history, while his 29 league doubles wins are tied for second in Duke history. He has also taken part in 44 ACC singles matches, tied for the second most in Duke history. He owns 33 league singles victories, the third most in a Duke career.

The No. 45 Blue Devils upped their record to 11-12 and finish the ACC slate with a 6-7 mark. No. 42 North Carolina finished its regular season at 13-10 and 6-7 in league matches.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Duke quickly took the doubles point with 6-1 wins on courts one and three. In the top position, Pedro Rodenas and Cooper Williams rolled past No. 34 Roan Jones and Anthony Wright. After dropping the first game, Duke's No. 15 duo ripped off the next six to improve to 12-3 overall and 7-0 in ACC play.
Duke clinched the point on three, where Alexander Visser and Gerard Planelles Ripoll defeated Logan Zapp and Ian Mayew. Duke's pair took a 2-0 lead and UNC got a game back, but the Blue Devils ran through the final four games for the match. It was the Duke pair's first match together this season.
Williams made it a two-win day and a 2-0 Duke lead as he defeated No. 76 Jones, 6-2, 6-3 on court two. No. 48 Williams took a 2-0 lead in the opening set and never looked back. Jones got it down to 2-1 and 3-2, but Williams won the last three games. Jones answered in the second set and took a 3-1 lead before Williams rallied with a five-game run to end it. Williams upped his record to 12-5 and 8-1 in ACC action.
The Tar Heels made it a 2-1 contest with a victory on court five, where Constantinos Djakouris topped Dylan Long, 6-1, 6-2.
Planelles Ripoll capped his Senior Day with a win on three for a 3-1 lead as he held off No. 125 Mayew, 6-3, 6-4. The first set was even at 2-2 until Planelles Ripoll took a 4-2 advantage. Mayew got a game back, but Planelles Ripoll won the last two. Mayew kept the pressure on in the second set and led 2-0, 3-1 and 4-2 before Planelles Ripoll answered with a closing four-game run for the match. Planelles Ripoll is now 9-7 in dual matches and 6-3 in ACC play.
Rodenas capped his home career with his second victory of the day and clinched the match on the first court as he moved past No. 119 Chris Xu, 6-3, 6-3. In the first set, Rodenas turned a 1-1 tie into a 3-1 lead. Xu closed to within a game at 3-2 and 4-3 but could not even the action as Rodenas broke in the final game to take the first set. Rodenas turned a 2-2 tie into a 4-2 advantage in the second set, but Xu broke to make it a 4-3 deficit. Rodenas answered right back with a hold and break to end the match. Rodenas upped his mark to 14-3 and 8-3 in ACC matches.

UP NEXT

Duke heads to The Citadel for a 12:30 p.m. doubleheader Sunday. The seeding for the ACC Championship, which begins Wednesday, will be announced late Sunday night.

QUOTES
"I'm really proud of the seniors, especially. It was so cool to see Teddy play at the level he did. They were down 4-1 against, what I think is arguably their best team. They came back on serve and stepped up. Obviously for things to finish with Gerard down a break in the second set, coming back and finishing in style was great. He played one of the best return games I've ever seen in order to win that against a really tough player. Fitting for Pedro to have that moment on court one. Pedro, in particular, has been such an amazing player for Duke tennis. He's having such a good last year.

"This was one of the coolest atmospheres I've ever been part of. It's my 25th reunion so I had what felt like a couple 100 friends here. It was a really important match for us. The crowd was unreal. It was such a cool atmosphere. That gave us some momentum. We know how tough UNC is. We knew they were gonna battle back. It was a very complete effort, which is what we need at this point of the season.

"Doubles was much better than it has been. I feel like we have two of the best doubles players in the country with Pedro and Cooper. We tried splitting them to try and win a doubles point. They were very unselfish, being very open to that to try to help the team. I just had a feeling about putting that pair back together for this match. I thought our pair on three stepped up and played amazing. That was the first time that team has played together. They had a couple practices together this week. They gave everyone a boost.

"The really cool thing about Gerard is he's playing, by far, the best tennis since he arrived at Duke. That's really what you want from all your players. He had a really tough year last year. He dealt with a lot of adversity. Things didn't go the way he wanted. He could have easily curled up, but he stepped up as a leader. He stepped up his level of tennis. He's such a good competitor. He has such creativity to his game. He can play offense. He can play defense. He can play creatively. I'm so, so proud of of him.

"I feel that way about all three of the seniors. Pedro is playing his best tennis at the very end. Teddy is as well. Teddy's been a massive contributor this year. I'm just proud of how all three of them have developed, matured and improved. They have stepped up in the biggest moments." - Duke head coach Ramsey Smith

"We started off very hot in doubles. That helped a lot. I was back with Cooper and we've been playing very well all season so we had a lot of confidence. In singles I got off to a quick, early break, which is pretty good. I got broken back, but had a good amount of confidence after that break that I was going to figure it out on my serve. Closing the match is not always easy so I try to go for my shots. It worked. I got broken there, maybe made a couple of loose mistakes and lost focus on a volley. I went into the other side just thinking, okay, I just broke the game before and I can do it again. I tried to keep things clean, try to not give him too much. I know I can break. Today was very nostalgic. It has been a wonderful four years. I have so many memories here. It has been great. I got a bit sad when it was the Senior Day ceremony, but I put it together for the match." - Duke's Pedro Rodenas

RESULTS
Doubles (1,3)
1. #15 Pedro Rodenas/Cooper Williams (DU) def. #34 Roan Jones/Anthony Wright (UNC) 6-1
2. Chris Xu/Niels Ratiu (UNC) vs. Dylan Long/Teddy Truwit (DU) 4-3, unfinished
3. Gerard Planelles Ripoll/Alexander Visser (DU) def. Logan Zapp/Ian Mayew (UNC) 6-1

Singles (2,5,3,1)
1. #43 Pedro Rodenas (DU) def. #119 Chris Xu (UNC) 6-3, 6-3
2. #48 Cooper Williams (DU) def. #76 Roan Jones (UNC) 6-2, 6-3
3. Gerard Planelles Ripoll (DU) def. #125 Ian Mayew (UNC) 6-3, 6-4
4. Alexander Visser (DU) vs. Niels Ratiu (UNC) 6-3, 4-6, 0-2, unfinished
5. Constantinos Djakouris (UNC) def. Dylan Long (DU) 6-1, 6-2
6. Kase Schinnerer (UNC) vs. Saahith Jayaraman (DU) 7-5, 1-6, 2-0, unfinished

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