Duke left the ITA Carolina Regional with real momentum, and freshman Yannick Alexandrescou was at the center of it.
The Blue Devils had five players in the singles main draw, and two of them made it to the Round of 16. Duke also pushed one doubles team into the Round of 16, with Dylan Long and Sebastian Eie putting together two wins before their run ended. Alexandrescou was Duke’s deepest singles runner, reaching the quarterfinals after three victories.
Saahith Jayaraman also delivered a strong stretch in the main draw. He opened by knocking off the bracket’s No. 1 seed, Clemson’s Romain Gales, 6-3, 7-5. Jayaraman followed that with a 6-4, 6-4 win over NC State’s Lachlan McFadzean to get into the Round of 16, where Clemson’s Charlie Robertson stopped him.
Alexandrescou began his main-draw run with a 6-2, 6-0 win over South Carolina’s Gabe Avram, then took down North Carolina’s Nicholas Mangiapane 6-3, 7-6 (7-1) in the Round of 32. He advanced again when Max Stenzer was forced out at 2-1 in the second set, and his tournament ended in a tight quarterfinal against Clemson’s Bruno Kuzuhara, who won 6-7 (3-7), 7-5, 6-4.
Duke’s doubles pairing of Long and Eie opened with an 8-7 (7-5) win over UNC Wilmington’s William Dean and Jordi Domenech, then handled UNC Greensboro’s Hector Hertz Nissen and William Elmers 8-2. The Blue Devil duo’s run ended in the Round of 16, where NC State’s Cody Benton and Toby Kodat came away with an 8-3 victory.
Eie and Jakub Smejcky had already punched their tickets into the main draw through singles qualifying. Both went 2-0 there, with Eie beating Charlotte’s Jack DiMenna 6-4, 6-4 and UNC Asheville’s Daniel Franco Key 6-2, 6-1. Smejcky opened with a 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 win over North Carolina A&T’s Yonatan Sagiv before defeating UNC Wilmington’s Tomas Marin 6-3, 6-2.
In the main draw, however, both fell before the weekend’s deeper rounds. Eie lost to NC State’s Charlie Camus 6-2, 6-2, while Smejcky was edged by Davidson’s Kai Villagomez 6-4, 2-6, 7-5. Long also played singles in the main draw, dropping a three-set match to South Carolina’s Antonin Witz, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.
Duke’s next competition comes Oct. 23-25 at the Wake Forest Invite.
In Other News...
Dukes First Loss Put One Big Limit On This Team
Dukes first loss of the 2026 season came in Atlanta, a 28-25 defeat to Georgia Tech that left the Blue Devils with a familiar kind of frustration: they were close, productive and still not quite clean enough to finish the job. Penalties were a major reason the night slipped away, and the offense had to navigate a tougher script than usual with running back Nate Sheppard working through the game on a taped foot.
Even with that limitation, Sheppard still led Duke in both rushing and receiving yards, a reminder of how much the Blue Devils lean on him when the margins get tight. Walker Eget helped keep the offense moving with 259 passing yards and a touchdown, stepping up when Sheppard was clearly not at full strength, but Duke still ran into one big limit that showed up at the wrong time and cost it the chance to leave Atlanta unbeaten. [Read more 🡒]
Duke Suddenly Has A Troubling Issue Before North Carolina
Dukes unbeaten start came to an abrupt end with a 28-25 loss to Georgia Tech, and the way it happened left plenty for the Blue Devils to sort through before the rivalry game against North Carolina. The loss exposed issues in the trenches and around the quarterback, even as Nate Sheppard and Walker Eget turned in performances that kept Duke within striking distance deep into the game.
For a team that had been rolling, the concern now is less about one bad night than about what it revealed. Duke struggled to control the line of scrimmage, couldnt consistently generate a pass rush, and again came up short in late-game execution, a combination that turns next week into more than just another ACC game. North Carolina is arriving at a moment when Duke suddenly has to answer a much tougher question about how quickly it can clean this up. [Read more 🡒]
Duke Newcomers Are Embracing A Lineup Edge Fans Will Notice Fast
Jon Scheyer is leaving himself room to lean on a much deeper Duke rotation this season, and that approach was on display during a preseason scrimmage against Belmont. Freshman guard Deron Rippey Jr. and senior transfer guard John Blackwell both sounded encouraged by what they saw, pointing to a roster built with enough depth and versatility to keep the Blue Devils from relying on the same small group every night.
The short-term wrinkle is that Duke is still working through injuries to two players, though the expectation is that both will be ready for the season opener. Even so, the early feel around this group is that Scheyer could have more lineup options than usual, and the newcomers are already embracing the idea that competition for minutes will be part of the teams edge. [Read more 🡒]