DURHAM – Senior Garrett Johns and freshman Pedro Rodenas have been selected to represent Duke at the 2023 NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships, which run May 22-27 at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla.
The duo received at-large bids to compete in the 64-player singles field. Rodenas makes his first appearances in the singles championship while Johns makes his second straight trip to the top singles event and earned a 9-16 seed.
In addition, the twosome has secured an at-large bid to the 32-team doubles championship. The trip is Johns’ second in doubles as he went with Sean Sculley in 2021. The senior doubles pairing of Michael Heller and Andrew Zhang will serve as one of the top alternate teams, should a squad pull out of the competition prior to the start.
Over the last 15 years, Duke has had at least one player or one doubles team selected to compete in the NCAA Individual Championships in every year but one. The 2020 NCAA tournament was cancelled due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. The two honorees are the most sent by the Blue Devils since 2015.
Johns, Duke’s No. 1 singles player for most of the spring, owns a 19-13 overall record with an 8-9 mark against nationally ranked opponents. Earlier this week, the Atlanta, Ga., product was named a unanimous first-team All-ACC selection. One of those ranked victories was a 6-2, 6-4 win over No. 4 Antoine Cornut-Chauvinc of Florida State in April. Johns has been ranked in the top 20 for the entire dual match season and climbed as high as No. 4 in the ITA rankings.
Rodenas, the 2023 ACC Rookie of the Year and second-team All-ACC selection, has been Duke’s primary No. 2 player this spring. He leads the team with 29 overall singles wins, including a team-best 24 dual victories during his first season. The Madrid, Spain, native has played on Duke’s top three courts and held a winning record on all three, including an impressive 15-0 mark on court two. The rookie also leads the team in match-clinching victories with six, while holding a 7-3 ledger against nationally ranked opponents. Earlier this year, Rodenas earned a program record for most ACC singles wins by a freshman (11) and tied the overall school record for most ACC singles wins.
In doubles, Johns and Rodenas are ranked No. 24 in the latest ITA poll. The pair is 20-5 overall and has played on Duke’s top…
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