DURHAM – In its season opener, the North Carolina A&T men's tennis team went against one of the best teams in the nation in the Duke University Blue Devils on Saturday and took a game. In the end, however, Duke was able to come away with a 6-1 win at the Sheffield Tennis Center.
The Blue Devils (3-0) won the doubles point by winning two of the three scheduled matchups. The day started with senior
Nicolas Arduh and sophomore
Vasil Ivanov teaming together to face Duke's Luca Keist and Spencer Furman at No. 3 doubles. Furman and Keist defeated Arduh and Ivanov 6-1 to give the Blue Devils a doubles win.
The No. 1 doubles matchup featured N.C. A&T's
Marko Puric and
Pablo Carranza taking on Omni Kumar and Samuel Rubell. Kumar and Rubell defeated Puric and Carranza 6-1. The second doubles win for Duke gave them the doubles point, therefore, the No. 2 doubles match was never completed.
Duke's Garrett Johns and Michael Heller were leading
Jorge Goenaga and
Esteban Lopez 5-1 in the first set before play was stopped.
Singles competition started with Puric losing to Kumar at No. 5 singles 6-1, 6-0. At No. 2 singles, Ivanov was defeated by Johns 6-2, 6-1. The next matched featured Heller taking on Lopez at No. 4 singles where Heller claimed a 6-2, 6-2 victory.
At No. 1 singles, Arduh faced Keist and dropped a 6-2, 6-1 decision. The next singles contest featured Goenaga taking on Rubell. Rubell eased to a 6-0 in the first set but had to battle to beat Goenaga in the second, 6-4.
The Aggies did get a win at No. 6 singles.
Nolan Martino defeated Duke's Samir Agadi 7-6 (7-2), 6-4. N.C. A&T will return to action Monday when they travel to Conway, S.C., to face Coastal Carolina at 8 a.m.
