Duke Downs No. 38 Louisville, 6-1

DURHAM – No. 14 Duke men’s tennis earned its 10th home win following a 6-1 victory over No. 38 Louisville at Ambler Tennis Stadium on Friday night.
 
Graduate student Andrew Zhang recorded his third consecutive match-clinching win in as many contests after he bested Andrew Steinbach in three sets on court three. The Bloomfield Hills, Mich., native now has a team-leading five match-clinching victories this season.
 
With the win, Duke improves to 14-7 overall and 6-2 in ACC play, while Louisville drops to 13-9 and 2-5, respectively.

How It Happened

• Steinbach and Matthew Fung quickly handed the Cardinals the early edge in doubles action after the duo defeated Faris Khan and Teddy Truwit on court three, 6-3. The Blue Devils would not falter though, as No. 25 Michael Heller and Zhang evened the score following a come-from behind victory on court two. The duo faced a 4-1 deficit to Will Mayew and Enrique Pena but settled in to win five-straight games to earn the 6-4 victory. With the doubles point coming down to the outcome on court one, No. 6 Garrett Johns and Pedro Rodenas outlasted No. 9 Etienne Donnet and Natan Rodrigues, 7-5, to secure the point.
• No. 30 Johns extended the Blue Devils’ lead to 2-0 after beating No. 45 Donnet in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 on the main court. 
• No. 52 Rodenas followed suit on court two when he defeated Rodrigues 7-6 (4), 6-2 to increase Duke’s advantage to 3-0.
• Zhang then clinched the match for Duke on court three when he bested Steinbach in three sets. Zhang posted a 6-1 victory in his opening set but dropped the second 6-4. The graduate student then…