Duke men’s tennis dismantles Alabama, advances to Sweet 16

The Blue Devils men’s tennis team took four out of five points from Alabama on Saturday to advance to the Sweet 16.

For the third time in 2024, the Duke Blue Devils are moving on to the Sweet 16.

Following in the footsteps of both men’s and women’s basketball, the Blue Devils men’s tennis team dominated Alabama on Saturday to advance out to the round of 16.

The Blue Devils struck first with the doubles point. Faris Khan and Teddy Truwit surgically took down the Tide’s Roan Jones and Andrii Zimnokh for a 6-1 victory before Garrett Johns and Pedro Rodenas took the No. 1 match to clinch the best-of-three point.

Rodenas kept rolling in singles. After a rain delay moved the two teams indoors, he took down Matias Ponce De Leon in the No. 2 match in straight sets (6-2, 6-2).

After he didn’t contribute during the doubles portion of the match, Duke’s Connor Krug won the No. 4 match over Enzo Aguiard 6-4, 6-4 to pull the Blue Devils within one point of clinching.

Khan dropped his singles rematch against Jones to give the Crimson Tide a heartbeat, but the Blue Devils’ Andrew Zhang won the day. He defeated Zimnokh 6-4, 6-4 for the winning point, moving Duke on to the next round.

Duke took down UNC Asheville 4-0 during Friday’s opening round to set up the battle with the Crimson Tide.

The Blue Devils will face TCU on May 11 for the chance to advance to the quarterfinals.

Duke men’s tennis hosting first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament this weekend

Duke men’s tennis welcomes Alabama, Charlotte, and UNC Asheville into Durham on Friday and Saturday for the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

The Blue Devils get to host the opening rounds of the NCAA Men’s Tennis Tournament.

Monday’s selection show tabbed Duke as the No. 13 seed, and the top 16 teams in the bracket get to play the first two rounds of the team tournament on home court.

The Alabama Crimson Tide, the 21st overall seed, head to Durham as the second seed in the region. Charlotte and UNC Asheville round out the four-team competition.

This is the second straight year that the Blue Devils get to host a regional after they finished the 2023-24 season with an 18-9 record. Duke won nine of its 12 conference matchups, including a 4-0 win over North Carolina in the opening matchup of the ACC Tournament and a 4-1 road victory over a top-10 Wake Forest team on April 12.

Duke closed the season with seven wins in its last nine matches, including five victories in a row from March 15 to April 6.

The Blue Devils take on UNC Asheville at 4 p.m. on Friday, and the winner of that battle will take on either Alabama or Charlotte on Saturday.