DURHAM – The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) announced Tuesday that seven Blue Devils were named to the organization’s preseason national singles and doubles rankings.
In singles, sophomore Cooper Williams earned the No. 4 spot heading into the fall season while Pedro Rodenas was tabbed No. 16 nationally. Gerard Planelles Ripoll and Sam Landau round out Duke’s singles selections as No. 47 and No. 53, respectively. Additionally, freshman Saahith Jayaraman was named No. 20 on the newcomer list.
Williams was tabbed the ITA National Rookie of the Year following his impressive first season at Harvard and will look to carry that into his time as a Blue Devil. The 2024 All-American Williams concluded the year ranked No. 14 in singles action and No. 21 in doubles play. He recorded a 17-10 overall singles record and played on the Crimson’s top court, posting an 8-6 ledger in dual action while finishing with 10 wins against nationally-ranked opponents. In doubles play, Williams garnered a mark of 25-13 and tallied three victories over ranked foes. He broke into the collegiate rankings after the fall season, reaching a career-high mark of No. 9 in singles and No. 4 in doubles with teammate Daniel Milavsky. Williams was selected as a unanimous First Team All-Ivy League singles selection and a First Team All-Ivy League doubles recipient.
Rodenas received the ITA Carolina Region Player to Watch Award at the conclusion of the 2024 season with a 26-13 overall singles ledger.
Ripoll went 21-14 in singles a season ago at Arkansas while Landau comes to Durham from Indiana where he played to an 11-7 singles ledger with the Hoosiers.
In doubles play, Williams and Theo Winegar earned the No. 16 spot, followed by Rodenas/Ripoll (No. 28) and Landau/Andreja Petrovic (No. 88).
All three doubles pairings will play their first action together this fall.
To stay up to date with Blue Devils men’s tennis, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching “https://goduke.com/news/2024/8/27/DukeMTEN”.
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