Men’s Tennis Falls at No. 41 Duke
DURHAM, N.C. – The University of Miami men’s tennis team came up short, 4-2, in its ACC regular season finale Saturday afternoon at No. 41 Duke.
The Blue Devils (11-9, 6-5 ACC) opened the day with a doubles victory on court 2 when Michael Heller and Andrew Zhang topped Adria Soriano Barrera and Oren Vasser, 6-2.
The Hurricanes (7-9, 4-6 ACC) quickly evened the tally on court 3, as Bojan Jankulovski and Stefan Milicevic claimed the final four games to defeat Andrew Dale and Faris Khan, 6-3.
In a top-35 doubles matchup, No. 32 Franco Aubone and Benjamin Hannestad fell behind, 5-6, against No. 12 Sean Sculley and Garrett Johns.
Not backing down, the Miami duo swept the 12th game, before running away in the tiebreaker, 7-6 (7-1), ultimately securing 11 of the final 12 points of the match.
Following doubles, Duke opened singles play firing on all cylinders claiming four of the six opening sets.
In the first match to conclude, No. 34 Soriano Barrera’s comeback bid fell short against No. 94 Johns, 4-6, 4-6.
Moments later Dale outlasted Milicevic, 6-2, 6-2, before Heller moved Duke a point away from clinching following a 7-5, 6-3 win over Aubone.
Looking to spark a comeback for the Hurricanes, Vasser secured a straight-set victory over Khan, 7-5, 6-4.
On court 3, Hannestad fell behind 2-5 in the third set before claiming back-to-back games to pull back within one. However, he was unable to hang on against Zhang, 7-5, 3-6, 4-6, as Duke clinched the match.
In the lone contest to remain unfinished, Jankulovski was serving for the match, up 2-6, 6-3, 5-3.
The Hurricanes will close out their 2021 regular season on Sunday at noon against Charlotte.
