In the final home contest of the season and of All-American Phillip King's career, the men's tennis team emerged victorious against its rival North Carolina. Coming from behind after losing the team doubles point, the fifth-ranked Blue Devils (17-5, 5-1 in the ACC) downed the No. 14 Tar Heels (20-3, 6-1) by a count of 5-2.
The teams split the first two doubles matches. King and teammate Jonathan Stokke defeated UNC's Andy Metzler and Brad Pomeroy 8-5, while at third doubles the Blue Devils' Stephen Amritraj and Peter Rodrigues lost to Jonathan Janda and Raian Luchici by a score of 8-6.
In the deciding doubles contest, Duke's top-ranked pair and the nation's No. 5 duo of Ludovic Walter and Jason Zimmermann were upset by North Carolina's Geoff Boyd and Nick Monroe, who are currently 13th in the national rankings.
In a closely contested match, the teams were tied at seven games each when the Tar Heels broke serve. Boyd then held on in his ensuing service game for the 9-7 victory and the team doubles point.
In the afternoon's singles action, the Blue Devils were able to capture five of the six matches on the way to their sixth consecutive victory.
Zimmermann, who never allowed his singles opponent into the contest, rebounded from his doubles defeat to tie the match with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Luchici.
His doubles partner did equally well in singles competition. Walter avenged his doubles loss with a straight-set win over UNC's Metzler, 6-3, 6-2.
King, poised for victory on his senior day match, was a 6-3, 6-1 winner. The Long Beach, Calif., native, currently ranked fifth nationally, knocked off No. 32 Monroe at first singles.
Then with his team leading 3-1, Rodrigues secured the win with his two-set victory over Derek Porter. North Carolina's lone singles point was earned at the fifth position as Boyd won a three-set decision 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 defeating Stokke. The match concluded with a victory from Christopher Brown, who won a closely contested first set in a tiebreak 7-6 (6), and then took the next set 6-2.
Honored for their contributions to the Duke tennis program were seniors King, and infrequently used Darin Goldstein and Ryan Heinberg. In their four years, the Blue Devils compiled an 80-27 record, including three ACC regular season championships, two ACC tournament titles and three NCAA tournament bids.
Duke's win Wednesday gave it another point in the fourth annual Carlyle Cup competition. The Blue Devils now lead their Tobacco Road rivals in the standings, 12-8, with six points still to be decided. Duke won the contest last year and has won two of the competition's three years.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.