North Carolina
Duke
Tar Heel Men's Tennis Rallies Past No. 10 Duke
April 13, 2011 | Men's Tennis
April 13, 2011
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Sophomore Jose Hernandez gutted out a three-set win against nationally sixth-ranked Henrique Cunha of Duke at No. 1 singles to lift the No. 19 North Carolina Tar Heels to a rivalry win against the No. 10 Blue Devils Wednesday afternoon at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center, winning a tight 4-3 affair. The win broke a three-match losing streak against the Devils and gave the Heels their first win over their arch rival since May 11, 2008 when UNC triumphed 4-2 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Chapel Hill.
The victory gave UNC one point in the 2010-11 Battle of the Blues competition sponsored by Continental Tire. The all-sports trophy is based on head-to-head play in 23 varsity sports between Carolina and Duke. The win boosted the Tar Heels' lead to 11-9 with points remaining to be decided in men's and women's track, men's and women's golf, rowing and women's lacrosse.
On Wednesday, it took two late three-setters to first pull the Heels even then give them the victory, but North Carolina improved to 12-6 overall (7-2 in the ACC) on the season while Duke drops to 16-8 and also 7-2 in the ACC.
The Tar Heels got off to a hot start in doubles, where UNC head coach Sam Paul decided to shuffle his lineup. Junior Joey Burkhardt and senior Stefan Hardy were moved to the first flight after three straight wins at No. 2 doubles, while the other two pairings competed together in ACC play for the first time.
Burkhardt and Hardy were defeated by Duke's No. 7-ranked pairing of Cunha and Reid Carleton, but wins in the lower two flights meant the Tar Heels drew first blood in the match to go up 1-0. Hernandez and junior Zach Hunter won 8-3 at No. 3 before junior Brennan Boyajian and junior Cameron Ahari clinched the point with an 8-5 win at No. 2. The match at No. 2 was streaky with UNC going up 5-1, Duke rallying to tie at 5-5 and the Tar Heel duo then going out by winning three games in a row.
In singles, Boyajian helped the Tar Heels to a 2-0 lead, executing his patient game plan to perfection in a 6-1, 6-1 dismantling of Reid Carleton at No. 2 singles. Carleton entered the match having beat 17 ranked players this season and is currently ranked No. 9 by the ITA. Carleton is the highest-ranked player Boyajian has beaten in his Tar Heels career.
Duke came back to take the lead 3-2 with two-set victories at No. 6, 4 and 3 Singles by Luke Marchese, Fred Saba and Chris Mengel.
The match would be decided on courts five, where William Parker split sets with Torsten Wietoska, and on court one, where the Top 25 matchup was living up to its billing.
Coming back from 2-0 down in the third set, Parker broke serve to go up 4-3 and held on to win, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 and tie the overall match at three all. The UNC sophomore moved to 13-4 this spring and 7-2 in the ACC after winning on his service game in the 10th game of the third set.
With the rosters of both teams standing on court two cheering their respective number ones the match was destined for a dramatic end. Hernandez, ranked No. 25, was on serve with No. 6 Cunha through two games each. Cunha and Hernandez both fought off multiple break points in their third service games. On serve at 5-4 with Hernandez ahead, the two battled through multiples deuces before Cunha's shot went long to give Hernandez and the Heels the victory. The 2010 ACC Player of the Year, Cuhna was 29-6 overall before Hernandez scored one of his important wins of his career.
No. 19 North Carolina 4, No. 10 Duke 3
(UNC 12-6, ACC 7-2; Duke 16-8, ACC 7-2)
Singles:
1. #25 Jose Hernandez d. #6 Henrique Cunha 7-5, 2-6, 6-4
2. Brennan Boyajian (UNC) d. #9 Reid Carleton (DU) 6-1, 6-1
3. Chris Mengel (DU) d. Stefan Hardy (UNC) 7-5, 6-2
4. Fred Saba (DU) d. #90 Joey Burkhardt (UNC) 6-1, 6-4
5. William Parker (UNC) d. Torsten Wietoska (DU) 6-2, 3-6, 6-4
6. Luke Marchese (DU) d. Alex Rafiee (UNC) 6-0-, 6-2
Doubles:
1. #7 Reid Carleton and Henrique Cunha (DU) d. Joey Burkhardt and Stefan
Hardy (UNC) 8-3
2. Brennan Boyajian and Cameron Ahari (UNC) d. David Holland and Chris
Mengel (DU) 8-5
3. Jose Hernandez and Zach Hunter (UNC) d. Cale Hammond and Torsten
Wietoska (DU) 8-3
Order of Finish:
Singles: 2, 6, 4, 3, 5, 1*
Doubles: 1, 3, 2*
Players Mentioned
