Miami Drops 4-3 Decision at No. 3 UNC

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The University of Miami men’s tennis team came up one point shy of a top-three road win over the 2021 ITA National Indoor Champion North Carolina Tar Heels, Friday afternoon at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center.

North Carolina (16-2, 8-2 ACC) claimed the advantageous doubles point, in what proved to be the deciding factor in the tightly contested matchup.

In the first doubles match to conclude, No. 32 Franco Aubone and Benjamin Hannestad came up short against Mac Kiger and Simon Soendergaard, 4-6.

Moments later, Oren Vasser and Adria Soriano Barrera topped Rinky Hijikata and Benjamin Sigouin, 6-4, to even the tally.

With all eyes on court 3, Stefan Milicevic and Bojan Jankulovski were unable to complete a comeback, falling against Brian Cernoch and Peter Murphy, 3-6.

In singles, the Tar Heels started off hot, claiming the opening set on all six courts.

In the first match to conclude, Jankulovski dropped a 3-6, 1-6 decision to No. 66 Cernoch, as UNC took the early 2-0 advantage.

Meanwhile, the Hurricanes looked to turn the tide on the remaining five courts, but a pair of comebacks fell short on 5 and 6.

First, North Carolina’s Kiger topped Aubone, 6-4, 6-3, before Logan Zapp fended off a late rally by Vasser, 6-3, 6-4.

On court 3, Hannestad rebounded from a 5-7 opening set setback against Josh Peck, to secure his fourth consecutive singles victory, 5-7, 6-3, 1-0 (10-8).

Facing No. 87 Soendergaard on court 4, Milicevic dropped the opening set 0-6 before rallying back to claim the top-100 victory.

The graduate student first claimed a second-set tiebreaker, 7-6 (7-5), before capping off the comeback in the third, 0-6, 7-6 (7-5), 1-0 (10-6).

In the lone match to play a full three sets, No. 34 Soriano Barrera bested No. 77 Sigouin, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, as the Hurricanes (7-8. 4-5 ACC) came up just short as a team, 4-3.

Miami will now head to Durham, N.C., to square off with No. 41 Duke Saturday at 1 p.m.