Wolverines Shut Down No. 10 Duke

Thursday, March 1

Durham, N.C.

3:00 PM

Michigan

Duke

Carter Lin

3/1/2018 8:31:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: TJ Garske

» The senior duo of No. 8-ranked Alex Knight and Runhao Hua clinched the doubles point and improved their record to 12-5 overall and 5-2 in dual-matches.
» Carter Lin improved to 7-0 in singles matches this season.
» Michigan will return to action on Saturday (March 3) at the annual College MatchDay at the USTA National Campus and will be televised live nationally on the Tennis Channel.

Site: Durham, N.C. (Sheffield Tennis Center)
Score: #8 Michigan 4, #10 Duke 0
Records: U-M (9-2), DU (9-5)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, March 3 -- vs. Central Florida (Orlando, Fla.), College MatchDay, 12:30 p.m.

DURHAM, N.C. -- The No. 8-ranked University of Michigan men's tennis team clinched the doubles point and won three matches in straight sets to take down No. 10-ranked Duke University, 4-0, Thursday afternoon at the Sheffield Tennis Center. Senior Carter Lin clinched the match with his team-leading seventh straight singles win.

Michigan earned its eighth doubles point of the season when it earned wins at Nos. 1 and 2. Returning from injury, junior Myles Schalet teamed up with sophomore Connor Johnston to claim a 6-4 win at No. 2. After dropping a 7-6 (5) tiebreaker at No. 3, U-M rallied around the No. 8-ranked senior pairing of Alex Knight and Runhao Hua, which clinched the doubles point with a 7-5 victory.

The Maize and Blue continued the momentum in singles play, claiming the first set in every match. Hua made quick work at No. 2 singles and earned Michigan's second point of the match with a 6-4, 6-2 victory. Freshman Mattias Siimar continued his strong play with a 6-3, 7-5 win at No. 3 before Lin clinched the match with a 6-4, 7-5 triumph at No. 5 -- improving his record to a team-leading 7-0 in dual-match play.

The Wolverines held the advantage in two of the remaining three matches before the clinching point occurred.

Michigan will continue its southern swing on Saturday (March 3) when it takes part in the second-annual College MatchDay hosted at the USTA National Campus. Saturday's match, at the only off-campus stadium in the U.S. built specifically for college tennis, will be televised live nationally on the Tennis Channel. The match is scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m.

Following are match-by-match results:

Singles
No. 1 -- No. 5 Alex Knight (U-M) vs No. 32 Nicolas Alvarez (DU), 6-1, 6-7 (2), 2-0, unfinished
No. 2 -- No. 33 Runhao Hua (U-M) def. No. 92 Catalin Mateas (DU), 6-4, 6-2
No. 3 -- Mattias Siimar (MICH) def. Spencer Furman (DU), 6-3, 7-5
No. 4 -- No. 122 Myles Schalet (U-M) vs. Nick Stachowiak (DU), 6-1, 2-6, 4-5, unfinished
No. 5 -- Carter Lin (U-M) def. Sean Sculley (DU), 6-4, 7-5
No. 6 -- Davis Crocker (U-M) vs. Ryan Dickerson (DU). 6-4, 6-5, unfinished

Doubles
No. 1 -- No. 8 Alex Knight/Runhao Hua (U-M) def. Nick Stachowiak/Sean Sculley (DU), 7-5
No. 2 -- Myles Schalet/Connor Johnston (U-M) def. Nicolas Alvarez/Catalin Mateas (DU), 6-4
No. 3 -- Ryan Dickerson/Jason Lapidus (DU) def. Mattias Siimar/Kristofer Siimar (U-M) ,7-6 (5)