Irish Split Day; Dominko Earns Top 5 Singles Win

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame hosted the #22 ranked Duke Blue Devils to start the day in South Bend on Sunday afternoon. Duke would win the doubles point but not before #47 ranked duo of Dominko and Fu would pickup a ranked win at the top spot over the #51 win team in the country.

In singles, Sebastian Dominko cruised to a straight-set victory over Garrett Johns of Duke who is the #5 player in the ITA National Singles Rankings and an ATP ranking of #659 in the world. He won the match 6-2, 6-3 in dominant fashion. This is the highest ranked player Dominko has defeated in his young career with the Irish.

Yu Zhang won in straight sets at the #6 spot with a 6-4, 6-4 victory to give Notre Dame there other point on the board. Connor Fu, playing at #4, took the opening set before dropping the second and finding himself on serve in the third. But before he could finish, the Blue Devils took matches at #3, #2 and #5 to get their 4th point and seal the victory.

There was a second match on the docket today and the Irish would start a little ahead of schedule against the Northern Kentucky Norse. Fu would play at the top spot in the doubles lineup, a spot he has been in every match this year, but this time with partner Jean-Marc Malkowski. They would run away with a 6-1 win at #1 doubles and the #3 team of Noah Becker and Brian Bilsey would clinch the team point with a 6-2.

In singles, Addy Vashistha was quick to take a 6-1, 6-1 victory at the #2 spot in the lineup. Zhang continued his run of good form and put up a 6-1, 6-1 victory of his own at #3 singles. This is Zhang’s fourth straight win and sixth of his last seven matches. Jamie Corsillo wrapped up the day with a 6-1, 6-3 win at #6 singles to seal the team overall win, his second team clinch of the year after winning the final point against Washington at ITA Kickoff in February.

Up Next:

Notre Dame (9-6 overall, 0-2 ACC) will have another weekend playing at home and another pair of ACC teams coming to South Bend. First up on Friday, March 10th at 4 p.m. is Virginia Tech. The Hokies are currently ranked #54 in the country and boast a 7-5 record overall record fresh off a win over #47 Miami in Blacksburg. On Sunday, the NCAA defending national champion Virginia Cavaliers come to Eck Tennis Pavilion for an 11:30 a.m. start. UVA sits at 10-4 overall and recently beat #15 Florida State 4-0.

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#37 Notre Dame 2 – #22 Duke 4

Doubles

1. #47 Dominko/Fu(ND) def. #51 Heller/Zhang(DU) 6-4
2. Johns/Rodenas(DU) def. Che/Malkowski(ND) 6-4
3. Trust/C. Krug(DU) def. Lee/Zhang(ND) 6-2

Order of Finish(3, 1, 2)

Singles

1. #38 Dominko(ND) def. #5 Johns(DU) 6-2, 6-3
2. Zhang(DU) def. Che(ND) 6-2, 6-3
3. Rodenas(DU) def. Malkowski(ND) 6-4, 6-4
4. Fu(ND) vs. C. Krug(DU) 7-5, 3-6, 2-3 DNF
5. Dale(DU) def. Vashistha(ND) 7-5, 6-2
6. Zhang(ND) def. Khan(DU) 6-4, 6-4

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

#37 Notre Dame 4 – Northern Kentucky 0

Doubles

1. Malkowski/Fu(ND) def. Zapletal/Losiak(NKU) 6-1
2. Lee/Zhang(ND) vs. Ponomarew/Casamayer 4-3 DNF
3. Becker/Bilsey(ND) def. Ball/Bravo(UNK) 6-1

Order of Finish(1, 3)

Singles

1. #38 Dominko(ND) vs. Ponomarew(UNK) 7-5, 2-2 DNF
2. Vashistha(ND) def. Losiak(UNK) 6-1, 6-1
3. Zhang(DU) def. Zaplatel(UNK) 6-1, 6-1
4. Becker(ND) vs. Berry(UNK) 2-6, 5-0 DNF
5. Bilsey(ND) vs. Casamayer(UNK) 7-6, 1-0 DNF
6. Corsillo(ND) def. Bravo(ND) 6-1, 6-3

Order of Finish(2, 3, 6)