Irish Fall 5-2 at No. 17 Duke Friday

DURHAM, N.C. – In a battle of top 25 Atlantic Coast Conference foes, the University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team couldn’t get enough going to get to four points and fell at the hands of #17 ranked Duke in Durham on Friday afternoon.

After a slow start in doubles cost the Irish the doubles point, Duke would pick up a second point as Senior Axel Nefve was forced to retire his match. Nefve had captured the first set already before injury forced him to retire. Shortly after, a loss at the #6 singles spot would put the Blue Devils within a point of the victory.

The remaining Irish on court would compete hard though trying to find their way back into the match. Aditya Vashistha captured the first set 6-4 but his opponent, freshman Connor Krug, would push out in front to a 5-2 lead in the second. Vashistha buckled down though and won five straight games to take the set and the match at the #3 singles position. This is Vashishta’s 10th singles victory of the spring dual season. Peter Conklin would ultimately fall 6-3, 6-4 on his court after battling to extend the match and Duke would seal the victory.

The remaining matches would be played out and Connor Fu would pick up a win 2-6, 6-4, 10-4 after dropping the opening set against Faris Kahn in a rematch of their contest last year. Fu won their matchup last year as well back in South Bend. Matthew Che would be the last off the court playing at the #2 position but couldn’t get over the hump in two tight sets, losing 6-4, 6-4.

Up Next:

Notre Dame will stay put for their matchup with 24th ranked North Carolina which will be on Sunday at 1pm. The match will take place at the Chapel Hill Tennis Club.

Box Score

#17 Duke 5 – #23 Notre Dame 2

Doubles

1. #41 Che/Nefve(ND) vs. Khan/Vallabhaneni(DUKE) 4-5 Did Not Finish
2. Sculley/Johns(Duke) def. Conklin/Halpin(ND) 6-1
3. Dale/Kam(DUKE) def. Fu/Malkowski(ND) 6-4

Singles

1. #64 Johns(DUKE) def. #53 Nefve(ND)3-6, 1-0 ret.(inj)
2. Zhang(DUKE) def. Che(ND) 6-4, 6-4
3. Vashistha(ND) def. C. Krug(DUKE) 6-4, 7-5
4. Fu(ND) def. Kahn(DUKE) 2-6, 6-4, 1-0(4)
5. Guell(DUKE) def. Conklin(ND) 6-3, 6-4
6. Dale(DUKE) def. Malkowski(ND) 6-4, 6-0

Order of finish: Doubles(2, 3); Singles (1, 6, 5, 3, 4, 2)