Thursday, May 23
Stillwater, Okla.
2:30 p.m.
University of Louisville
vs
Duke
Cards Knock Off Top Seed and Advance to Semifinals
May 23, 2024 | Men's Tennis
Cardinals make history by advancing to semifinals
STILLWATER, Okla. – For the first time in program history, a pair of Cardinals is headed to the NCAA Doubles Championship semifinal. #8 Etienne Donnet & Natan Rodrigues knocked off top-seeded, ITA #1 Garrett Johns & Pedro Rodenas of Duke on Thursday afternoon in a thrilling 6-4, 6-7 (0-7), 10-7 victory.
"I'm very happy with how the boys have been competing," said head coach Rodrigo da Silva. "They are playing with a lot of discipline and poise. I'm looking forward to keeping the momentum going tomorrow."
UofL took an early 2-0 lead in the opening set. The Blue Devils were hot on their tails, but ultimately the Cardinals were able to secure a 6-4 victory to take a quick lead in the match.
Continuing the week's trend of tough competition, the second set played much tighter. Neither team could break the other. Louisville held on all the way to force a 5-5 then 6-6 tie, but ultimately got swept 7-0 in the tiebreaker, relinquishing the second set to Duke.
Louisville reset and came out with incredible energy after the break headed into the 10-point match tiebreaker. The Cardinals got an early lead and didn't let the Blue Devils get too close, eventually running away with the super tiebreaker 10-7, clinching the match.
"We knew it would be really tough," said Rodrigues. "First set: we got an early break first game. We hold the second point then got away with it 6-4. Second set: we had a lot of opportunities to break and maybe close the match in two sets, but they did a good job. They could hold a serve, they were smart, and make it tough for us. We stayed on our course just digging and working. We lost a little bit of focus on the tiebreak, we lost 7-0, a little collapse there."
"We forget about it, just have to focus on the super tiebreak," said Donnet. "A super tiebreak is what, five, ten minutes? So okay, we have five more minutes to focus. We gave all the energy that we had. The beginning of the super tiebreak we played good so that gave us more confidence and we got our energy back. Knowing each other very well, we knew that we could bounce back from losing the tiebreak."
"We had great energy coming into the match tiebreak," added Rodrigues. "I think it was key to the match and got the win."
#8 Louisville is slated to play fourth-seeded, ITA #3 Robert Cash & JJ Tracy of Ohio State in the 2024 NCAA Men's Tennis Doubles Championship Semifinal on Friday. The time of the match is to be determined.
Results
#8 Etienne Donnet/Natan Rodrigues (UL) def. #1 Garrett Johns/Pedro Rodenas (Duke) 6-4, 6-7 (0-7), 10-7
"I'm very happy with how the boys have been competing," said head coach Rodrigo da Silva. "They are playing with a lot of discipline and poise. I'm looking forward to keeping the momentum going tomorrow."
UofL took an early 2-0 lead in the opening set. The Blue Devils were hot on their tails, but ultimately the Cardinals were able to secure a 6-4 victory to take a quick lead in the match.
Continuing the week's trend of tough competition, the second set played much tighter. Neither team could break the other. Louisville held on all the way to force a 5-5 then 6-6 tie, but ultimately got swept 7-0 in the tiebreaker, relinquishing the second set to Duke.
Louisville reset and came out with incredible energy after the break headed into the 10-point match tiebreaker. The Cardinals got an early lead and didn't let the Blue Devils get too close, eventually running away with the super tiebreaker 10-7, clinching the match.
"We knew it would be really tough," said Rodrigues. "First set: we got an early break first game. We hold the second point then got away with it 6-4. Second set: we had a lot of opportunities to break and maybe close the match in two sets, but they did a good job. They could hold a serve, they were smart, and make it tough for us. We stayed on our course just digging and working. We lost a little bit of focus on the tiebreak, we lost 7-0, a little collapse there."
"We forget about it, just have to focus on the super tiebreak," said Donnet. "A super tiebreak is what, five, ten minutes? So okay, we have five more minutes to focus. We gave all the energy that we had. The beginning of the super tiebreak we played good so that gave us more confidence and we got our energy back. Knowing each other very well, we knew that we could bounce back from losing the tiebreak."
"We had great energy coming into the match tiebreak," added Rodrigues. "I think it was key to the match and got the win."
#8 Louisville is slated to play fourth-seeded, ITA #3 Robert Cash & JJ Tracy of Ohio State in the 2024 NCAA Men's Tennis Doubles Championship Semifinal on Friday. The time of the match is to be determined.
Results
#8 Etienne Donnet/Natan Rodrigues (UL) def. #1 Garrett Johns/Pedro Rodenas (Duke) 6-4, 6-7 (0-7), 10-7
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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UofL MTEN Etienne Donnet Post Match Interview 4-7-24
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UofL MTEN Matthew Fung Post Match Interview 4-7-24
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MTEN Natan Rodrigues - Post-Match Interview - March 3, 2024
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