The No. 15 UNC men’s tennis team recovered from a shaky start Friday in its opening NCAA Tournament match, defeating Navy 4-1 to advance to the second round. The Tar Heels will face off with Arizona for a spot in the round of 16.

In a stunner, Carolina dropped the doubles point, with the team of Brian Cernoch and Mac Kiger falling 6-3 and Benjamin Sigouin and Peter Murphy dropping their set, 6-4.

Despite the setback, the Tar Heels then dominated the singles portion of the match, winning the opening set on all six courts to seize momentum. Sigouin and Kiger recovered from their doubles losses to each win handily in straight sets, giving Carolina the lead in the match, 2-1. Murphy wasn’t far behind in finishing off his Midshipman opponent in straight sets, moving UNC to within a point of the win.

Cernoch couldn’t win the second set in his singles match, but Logan Zapp quickly picked up the slack, breaking his opponent’s serve on the final point to take a 6-1, 6-4 win and advance the Tar Heels to Saturday.

The Tar Heels have advanced to the second round in eight straight NCAA Tournaments. Now 17-8 overall, Carolina will have less than a day’s rest before taking on Arizona on Saturday at 4 p.m. for a spot in the next round. The winner of that match will likely face No. 2 overall seed Florida. The Gators won the NCAA title last season.

 

Featured image via UNC Men’s Tennis on Twitter

Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our biweekly newsletter.

Related Stories
‹
UNC Women Win, Men Lose in 1st Round of NCAA Tennis Tournament
Both the UNC men’s and women’s tennis teams were in action in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday. The women won their opening-round match against Charleston Southern, while men fell to Michigan State and saw their season come to an end. The women, playing as the No. 5 overall seed in the field, […]
UNC Men's and Women's Tennis Teams Each Earn Bids to NCAA Tournament
Both the UNC men’s and women’s tennis teams will compete in the NCAA Tournament this year, as both earned bids during the selection show Monday. The women are the No. 5 overall seed in their field, while the men are an unseeded team. On the women’s side, the Tar Heels enter the tournament with a […]
UNC Men's and Women's Tennis Teams Both Earn NCAA Tournament Bids
The UNC men’s and women’s tennis teams will each go dancing this spring, as both Tar Heel sides earned bids to the NCAA Tournament on Monday. The women, having earned an automatic bid by virtue of winning the ACC Tournament title, are the No. 4 overall seed in the field and will host Navy in […]
UNC Men's Tennis Falls To No. 2 Florida in NCAA Tournament
The UNC men’s tennis team’s season came to an end Friday in Florida, as the No. 2 overall seed Gators ousted the Tar Heels in the round of 16 by a score of 4-0. Final: Florida 4, Carolina 0 A tough end to an extraordinary season.#GoHeels pic.twitter.com/jKPrMIXfQs — Carolina Men's Tennis 🐏🎾 (@carolinatennis) May 14, […]
UNC Tennis Programs Both Win Saturday in NCAA Tournament
It was a fun day to be a Carolina fan at Chapel Hill’s Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center Saturday, as both the No. 1 women’s tennis team and No. 15 men’s tennis team won their respective NCAA Tournament matches. The women’s team advanced to Sunday’s second round, while the men are through to the round of 16. […]
UNC Tennis Players Receive Individual Bids to NCAA Championships
In addition to both the UNC men’s and women’s teams receiving national seeds in their respective NCAA team tournaments, six players from either team and three doubles pairs also earned bids to the NCAA individual championships this week. On the women’s side, the doubles team of Elizabeth Scotty and Fiona Crawley, who won the 2021 […]
UNC Women's Tennis Falls to No. 4 Texas A&M in NCAA Quarterfinals
The UNC women’s tennis season came to an end Friday night in Georgia, as the No. 5 overall seed Tar Heels fell to No. 4 Texas A&M 4-3 in the NCAA quarterfinals. Carolina took an early lead in what proved to be a back-and-forth match, winning the doubles point thanks to victories on No. 2 […]
Multiple UNC Teams Post Perfect Academic Progress Rates, New Report Says
Several UNC sports programs posted perfect single-year and multi-year academic progress rates for the 2024-25 academic year, according to the NCAA’s latest report. Academic progress rate (APR) is used to track performance of scholarship students who compete on varsity teams, and the score measures eligibility and retention each semester. A perfect score is 1000, and […]
UNC Women's Tennis Sweeps South Carolina, Advances to NCAA Super Regionals
UNC beat South Carolina in the second round of the NCAA Tournament Saturday at the Chewning Tennis Center to advance to the tournament’s Super Regional round. It’s the 16th consecutive tournament in which the Tar Heels have advanced to the Super Regionals. Heels are headed to Supers‼️#GoHeels x @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/Z7SsPWUFqc — Carolina Women's Tennis 🐏🎾 […]
UNC Women's Tennis Falls to No. 1 Georgia in NCAA Semifinals
Playing without ACC Player of the Year Reese Brantmeier, UNC struggled in its national semifinal match against No. 1 Georgia in Waco, TX Saturday. The Bulldogs controlled the match throughout and defeated the Tar Heels 4-0, ending Carolina’s season. Georgia won the doubles point thanks to wins on No. 1 and No. 2 court. UNC […]
›