Dukes Fall in Spring Opener at UNC

Sunday, January 19

Chapel Hill, N.C.

1 p.m.

James Madison University

North Carolina

1/19/2025 3:54:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – James Madison men's tennis kept it close in multiple matches, but North Carolina proved too much in the spring opener for both squads, as the Dukes suffered a 7-0 setback on Sunday at the Chewning Tennis Center.

UNC (1-0) won a pair of doubles courts and took four of six singles courts in straight sets.

JMU battled in doubles play, trailing 5-3 on both courts two and three before the UNC tandem of Constantinos Djakouris and Anthony Wright clinched the doubles point with a 6-3 win on court three.

In singles play, JMU was up a set on court two while forcing a third-set super tiebreaker over on court four. The Tar Heels clinched the team win with straight-set victories on courts three, one and six, not conceding more than two games in any set.

On court four, Zach Fleishman fell behind a set to 80th-ranked Chris Xu but bounced back to claim the second set with a flurry of points late in the second frame. In the super tiebreaker, Xu found an early rhythm to take it by a 10-2 score. He upended Fleishman by scores of 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10-2).

Aurelien Schmitt rallied in the first to take the opening set in a tiebreaker with #112 Vladislav Melnic. Down 6-5, he forced a tiebreaker. Knotted at five apiece in the breaker, Schmitt won consecutive points to take the opening set. Melnic snuck by for a close win in set two to force another super tiebreaker.

In the race to 10, the bout was all square at 7-7, but a pair of wide shots and one into the net allowed Melnic to survive and cap off the day for UNC, winning the match by scores of 6-7 (5), 6-4, 1-0 (10-7).

JMU is back in action on Saturday, Jan. 25 when it hosts Longwood. The opening serve at East Campus Tennis Courts is set for 1 p.m.

North Carolina 7, JMU 0
Doubles Results
Court 1: #26 Patrick Schoen/Logan Zapp (UNC) def. Esteve Agusti/Aurelien Schmitt (JMU), 6-2
Court 2: Markus Giersiepen/Dennis Wiebe (JMU) vs. Vladislav Melnic/Chris Xu (UNC), 3-5 unfinished
Court 3: Constantinos Djakouris/Anthony Wright (UNC) def. Zach Fleishman/Francisco Sinopoli (JMU), 6-3

Singles Results
Court 1: Logan Zapp (UNC) def. Esteve Agusti (JMU), 6-2, 6-1
Court 2: #112 Vladislav Melnic (UNC) def. Aurelien Schmitt (JMU), 6-7 (5), 6-4, 1-0 (10-7)
Court 3: Constantinos Djakouris (UNC) def. Francisco Sinopoli (JMU), 6-0, 6-1
Court 4: #80 Chris Xu (UNC) def. Zach Fleishman (JMU), 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10-2)
Court 5: #68 Anthony Wright (UNC) def. Dennis Wiebe (JMU), 7-5, 6-3
Court 6: Nick Mangiapane (UNC) def. Markus Giersiepen (JMU), 6-1, 6-2

Order of Results: Doubles (1, 3*); Singles (3, 1, 6*, 4, 5, 2)