University of Michigan Team Page

DURHAM, N.C. -- The No. 21-ranked University of Michigan men's tennis team dropped the doubles point and the first three singles matches off the court in a 5-2 loss at No. 9 Duke on Sunday (Feb. 10) at the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center. The loss halted the Wolverines' two-match win streak in non-conference action.

Duke grabbed the doubles point to take an early 1-0 lead in the match, winning at the No. 1 and No. 2 positions. The Blue Devils' 37th-ranked duo of Fred Saba and Chris Mengel defeated sophomores Alex Petrone (Staten Island, N.Y./Laurel Springs Prep) and Michael Zhu (Princeton, N.J./Keystone National), 8-4, at the No. 2 position in the first match off the court. Moments later, Duke's 39th-ranked tandem of Jason Tahir and Michael Redlicki earned an 8-5 decision over Michigan's 30th-ranked pairing of senior Evan King (Chicago, Ill./Kaplan) and junior Shaun Bernstein (Plainview, N.Y./Plainview Old Bethpage JFK) at the top spot to earn the first point of the match.

Junior Barrett Franks (Christchurch, New Zealand/Shirley Boys') and redshirt sophomore Justin Rossi (Novi, Mich./Laurel Springs Prep) led Raphael Hemmeler and Bruno Semenzato, 7-5, at No. 3 when doubles play was abandoned.

The Blue Devils won the first three singles matches off the court, claiming straight-set decisions in each, to seal the dual victory. Duke went up 2-0 after Hemmeler defeated sophomore Vlad Stefan (Bucharest, Romania) at No. 3, 6-1, 6-3. Shortly thereafter, Tahir downed Zhu, 6-3, 6-0, at No. 4, to put the Blue Devils ahead, 3-0.

Duke clinched the match soon after at No. 2, as 14th-ranked Redlicki defeated Petrone, 6-2, 6-4, to give the Blue Devils their fourth point of the dual.

Moments after the fate of the dual was decided, King extended his winning streak to nine matches with his 6-4, 6-4 victory over 23rd-ranked Saba. King is 6-0 in dual competition and is 12-3 overall this season. He has faced ranked opponents in nine of those 15 matches.

Bernstein gave Michigan its second point of the match, notching a 6-4, 6-3 triumph over Semenzato at No. 5. The victory marked Bernstein's first singles win during dual-match play.

Duke added one final point at No. 6, as Josh Levine defeated Franks in a super-tiebreaker, 6-7 (8), 6-4, 10-7.

The Wolverines head back out on the road next weekend, traveling to South Bend, Ind., on Saturday (Feb. 16) to take on Notre Dame at 1 p.m.

Following are match-by-match results:

Singles
No. 1 -- Evan King (U-M) d. No. 23 Fred Saba (Duke), 6-4, 6-4
No. 2 -- No. 14 Michael Redlicki (Duke) d. Alex Petrone (U-M), 6-2, 6-4
No. 3 -- No. 38 Raphael Hemmeler (Duke) d. No. 48 Vlad Stefan, 6-1, 6-3
No. 4 -- No. 123 Jason Tahir (Duke) d. Michael Zhu (U-M), 6-3, 6-0
No. 5 -- Shaun Bernstein (U-M) d. Bruno Semenzato (Duke), 6-4, 6-3
No. 6 -- Josh Levine (Duke) d. Barrett Franks (U-M), 6-7 (8), 6-4, 10-7

Doubles
No. 1 -- No. 39 Jason Tahir/Michael Redlicki (Duke) d. No. 30 Evan King/Shaun Bernstein (U-M), 8-5
No. 2 -- No. 37 Fred Saba/Chris Mengel (Duke) d. Alex Petrone/Michael Zhu (U-M), 8-4
No. 3 -- Barrett Franks/Justin Rossi (U-M) vs. Raphael Hemmeler/Bruno Semenzato (Duke), 7-5 DNF

Order of Completion: Doubles2-1, Singles 3-4-2-1-5-6

Media Contact: Zach Eisendrath (734) 763-4423