Dominko Notches Another Ranked Singles win

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – On Friday, the Fighting Irish were on the road to take on 25th-ranked North Carolina State under the lights in Raleigh. The doubles point would go the way of the Wolfpack with wins at #2 and #3. A battle of ranked doubles teams would remain unfinished with Sebastian Dominko and Connor Fu tied at 4-4 all when play was abandoned.

Singles play would be very competitive and close throughout the first sets. The University of Notre Dame would capture first sets with Dominko taking the first 6-4 after being down 4-3 and a break. Jamie Corsillo would also win the first set of his match 6-4, holding on a deuce point to secure the set advantage. Fu at #2 and Yu Zhang at #5 singles played extremely long first sets both would lost their openers 7-6 and 7-5, respectively.

Unfortunately, NC State would win in straight sets at #3 and #4 to get within one of the team victory. Jean-Marc Malkowski would respond well after dropping the first set 6-3 and even the match with a 6-3 win of his own in the second before succumbing to his opponent and the fourth point the Wolfpack needed.

Dominko was in a second set tiebreak and only two points away from victory when the match was conduced. Corsillo was leading 4-1 in the third set and Zhang was on the verge of forcing a deciding third set on his court as well.

On Sunday, after a lighting and rain delay pushed the start time back a little more than an hour, the Irish took the courts outdoors in Winston-Salem to battle 14th-ranked Wake Forest. After a win at #3 doubles by Evan Lee and Zhang, Notre Dame would need one of the remaining courts to take the point. They would be down match points at simultaneous time and each would win deuce points to extend their sets. But ultimately Wake Forest took a matching pair of 7-5 sets to secure the doubles win.

In singles, Wake Forest would prove to be too much on most courts and take five singles matches to add to their total. Dominko, the #24 ranked player in the country this week, continued on his tear with yet another straight win over a ranked player. He defeated Wake Forest’s top singles player who is ranked #11 in the country by a 7-6 (2), 6-4 scoreline. Dominko has a 5-1 record over the last 8 matches he has played in which seven of those opponents are nationally ranked.

Up Next:

The Notre Dame men will return home for the final time this spring as they play a doubleheader on Sunday, April 2nd. At noon, they will play ACC opponent Boston College before taking on Butler at 5 p.m. the same day. As these are the last home matches of the year, it will also be Senior Day where we will recognize the five graduating players of the Irish men’s tennis program.

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#50 Notre Dame  0 – #25 NC State 4

Doubles

1. #16 Dominko/Fu(ND) vs. #27 Catry/Staeheli(NCST) 4-4 DNF
2. Izquierdo Luque/Wayand(NCST) def. Halpin/Malkowski(ND) 6-2
3. Schick/Van Sambeek(NCST) def. Lee/Zhang(ND) 6-0

Order of Finish(1, 2)

Singles

1. #24 Dominko(ND) vs. #52 Izquierdo Luque(NCST) 6-4, 6-6(5-5) DNF
2. #73 Staeheli(NCST) def. Fu(ND) 7-6, 6-1
3. Schick(NCST) def. Vashistha(ND) 6-3, 6-2
4. Catry(NCST) def. Malkowski(ND) 6-2, 2-6, 6-2
5. Zhang(ND) vs. Van Sambeek(NCST) 5-7, 5-2 DNF
6. Corsillo(ND) vs. Wayand(NCST) 6-4, 1-6, 4-1 DNF

Order of Finish(3, 2, 4)

#50 Notre Dame 1 – #14 Wake Forest 6

Doubles

1. Karimov/Tacchi(WF) def. #16 Dominko/Fu(ND) 7-5
2. #37 Moroni/Lopez(WF) def. Halpin/Malkowski(ND) 7-5
3. Lee/Zhang(ND) def. Efstathiou/Thomson(WF) 6-2

Order of Finish(3, 1, 2)

Singles

1. #24 Dominko(ND) def. #11 Efstathiou(WF) 7-6(2), 6-4
2. Moroni(WF) def. Fu(ND) 6-2, 6-0
3. Thomson(WF) def. Vashistha(ND) 6-4, 6-4
4. Karimov(WF) def. Malkowski(ND) 6-3, 6-3
5. Tacchi(WF) def. Zhang(ND) 7-5, 6-1
6. Lopez(WF) def. Corsillo(ND) 6-3, 6-0

Order of Finish(2, 6, 4, 3, 1, 5)