DURHAM – The ACC announced Tuesday that Duke men’s tennis earned two of the league’s three weekly awards after securing both the player and doubles team of the week.
The Blue Devil tandem of graduate students Michael Heller and Andrew Zhang collected ACC Doubles Team of the Week nods, while sophomore Pedro Rodenas garnered solo praise as the conferences’ player of the week.
The pair helped eighth-ranked Duke clinch the doubles point against No. 23 NC State on Saturday as the Blue Devils blanked the Wolfpack, 4-0. In a rematch of their doubles faceoff from the fall at the ITA Carolina Regional that saw NC State win, the Duke duo battled to a 6-4 win over No. 13 Martin Borisiouk and Joseph Wayand. Heller and Zhang then finished as the first doubles match on Sunday against Middle Tennessee to give Duke the edge on its way to another 4-0 win. The twosome sit at a perfect 3-0 early in the dual season.
In singles play, Rodenas posted a 2-0 weekend on court two. The 2023 ACC Freshman of the Year kicked off the weekend with a straight set win over NC State’s Fons Van Sambeek 6-2, 6-4, before recording a 6-2, 6-3, ranked victory over No. 47 Marcel Kamrowski of Middle Tennessee. That match clinched the victory for the Blue Devils and sent them to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships for the first time since 2018. The sophomore out of Madrid, Spain, then battled with teammate Garrett Johns to clinch the doubles point against the Blue Raiders on Sunday with a 6-4 win.
The Blue Devils hit the road this weekend for two matches against Big Ten foes in Illinois and Northwestern on Friday and Sunday, respectively. Duke will face the Illini on Friday at 7 p.m. (6 p.m. CT), before traveling to meet up with the Wildcats on Sunday at 1 p.m. (Noon CT).
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