No. 48 Miami Jostles with No. 22 Duke Friday
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami men’s tennis team will begin the final weekend of its regular season with a contest against No. 22 Duke at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center Friday afternoon.
LIVE STATS
A live stats feed will be available HERE. The vital Atlantic Coast Conference matchup, scheduled for 3 p.m., will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra, with the live stream available HERE.
THE SERIES
The series between the Hurricanes (12-10, 3-7 ACC) and Blue Devils (15-10, 6-4 ACC), which dates back to 1936, is tied at 24. Miami dominated the series, winning the first 21 meetings until 1990, but the tide has shifted in recent years, allowing Duke to tie it with a 4-1 win in last year’s ACC Championships.
The Canes’ last win in the series came in 2010, when they overcame a 3-1 deficit to take down then-No. 14 Duke in Coral Gables, 4-3.
HIGHLIGHTING MIAMI’S 2018 SEASON
-On April 6, Miami edged three-time defending national champion Virginia, 4-3, to hand the Cavaliers their first ACC defeat in Charlottesville since April 7, 2006, when Miami earned a 4-3 victory at the Snyder Tennis Center.
-For second straight week, the Canes have a top-20 doubles tandem, with senior Christian Langmo and freshman Adria Soriano checking in at No. 20 in the Oracle/ITA rankings. The duo, which was ranked No. 18 last week, is the program’s first to break into the top 20 since Jan. 6, 2009.
-As a team, the Hurricanes are ranked for fourth straight week and fifth time this season, checking in at No. 48. Miami has been ranked as high as No. 42 this spring, the program’s highest ranking since March 23, 2014.
-Soriano and Langmo remain ranked in singles play, as well, checking in at No. 108 and 123, respectively. Langmo has been ranked in each of the last five editions of the rankings.
-The win at Virginia was Miami’s third over a ranked opponent in 2018 after home triumphs against then-No. 23 NC State and then-38 Louisville.
-Miami freshmen have captured 37 singles wins this spring. Freshman Bojan Jankulovski, who was ranked as high as No. 101 this season, leads the team this spring with a team-best 17-5 singles record, including a team-best 8-2 singles record in ACC play.
-Miami’s 6-2 start to the season was the Hurricanes’ best start since 2013.
-The Hurricanes, who are 10-1 at home, posted a seven-match win streak in Coral Gables for the first time since 2014, when the Hurricanes won nine straight between Feb. 22 and March 25.
LAST TIME OUT
The Canes suffered a narrow 4-3 loss at Boston College despite Jankulovski and senior Niclas Genovese recording victories in singles. The defeat was Miami’s second in 14 meetings with the Eagles.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
Going into the weekend, the Blue Devils sit in fourth place in the ACC standings and are riding a two-match win streak after taking care of business against Clemson, 5-2, and Georgia Tech, 4-1, in Durham, N.C., last week. Duke is 3-3 against ranked opponents in 2018, including 2-5 away from home. The Blue Devils have split their six true road matches this season.
Nicolas Alvarez and Catalin Mateas are the Blue Devils’ two ranked singles players, checking in at No. 11 and No. 100 in the Oracle/ITA rankings. Duke’s only ranked doubles pair is No. 87 Sean Scully and Nick Stachowiak.
UP NEXT
The Canes will conclude the regular season with a Senior Day doubleheader Sunday, hosting No. 7 North Carolina at noon and Dayton at 5 p.m.
FOLLOW US
For all of the latest news around Miami’s men’s tennis team, follow @CanesMensTennis on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, or go to HurricaneSports.com.
