Last weekend, the Notre Dame men’s tennis team flew down to Cary, N.C., where it competed in the 2026 ACC Men’s Tennis Championship. Despite facing one of the best fields in college tennis, the Irish had all the momentum and firepower to cause some chaos at the tournament. No. 3 Notre Dame received the coveted double-bye, along with Wake Forest, Virginia and Stanford, granting the teams an automatic spot in the quarterfinals.
In the quarterfinals, the men faced off against No. 11 North Carolina, who swept Virginia Tech in the first round and beat No. 6 Clemson in second round. Notre Dame held on in a turbulent matchup, defeating the Tar Heels 4-3 to book a meeting with No. 2 Virginia. While the Irish kept things closer than they did a month ago, they remained unable to keep up with the Cavaliers in the deciding moments and crashed out of the tournament in a 1-4 loss.
In the doubles competition, Notre Dame started off poorly against North Carolina, despite senior Sebastian Dominko and graduate Perry Gregg defeating Roan Jones and Anthony Wright 6-4 in the opening match. Logan Zapp and Ian Mayew responded for the Tar Heels, beating juniors Evan Lee and Chase Thompson 6-4. North Carolina’s Niels Ratiu and Chris Xu clinched the doubles point, grinding out a 6-4 win against sophomores Peter Nad and Luis Llorens Saracho.
Moving into the singles competition, Llorens Saracho quickly avenged his doubles loss, defeating Zapp 6-1, 6-2, putting Notre Dame on the board. Gregg followed up with a 6-2, 6-1 blitz against Roan Jones, giving the Irish a 2-1 lead. Dominko capitalized on the momentum and extended the Irish lead, beating Chris Xu 6-3, 6-4. Mayew upped the pressure on the Irish, beating sophomore Giuseppe Cerasuolo 6-4, 6-2. Ratiu tied things up for the Tar Heels with a clutch 7-5, 6-3 victory over Nad.
Facing an early elimination, Notre Dame junior Kyran Magimay remained calm under duress and battled out a 7-5, 6-4 win against Constantinos Djakouris. The win sent Notre Dame to the semifinals of the tournament, where a dominant Virginia team awaited.
Unlike against their previous encounter, the Irish got off to a brilliant start in doubles against the Cavaliers. Nad and Llorens Saracho delivered a flawless performance to oust Dylan Dietrich and Andrés Santamarta Roig, 6-3. Gregg and Dominko sealed the doubles point with another solid performance, defeating Jangjun Kim and Måns Dahlberg, 6-3.
Notre Dame was unable to keep the lead during the singles events, with Kim racing past Nad to even up the score, 6-3, 6-2. Dahlberg fought past Llorens Saracho 6-4, 6-2, handing Virginia the lead. No. 1 Dietrich affirmed his place at the top of collegiate tennis, dismantling No. 18 Dominko 6-4, 6-2, putting the Cavaliers one win away from advancing. Roig finished the job for Virginia, beating Cerasuolo 6-3, 6-4. After their dominant singles performance against Notre Dame, Virginia went on to face defending national champions Wake Forest in the final, falling 4-2.
Although Notre Dame was not able to complete the upset against Virginia, the tournament yielded largely positive results. Gregg and Magimay both led before their respective matches were abandoned, meaning that if just one player had a better performance, the dual could have swung in Notre Dame’s favor. Additionally, the doubles victory against Virginia bodes well for the upcoming NCAA Championship, where that singular point can often determine the result of a matchup.
There are certainly things to work on before May comes around, but Irish fans should be feeling confident about the team’s chances at a deep run in the season’s closing stages.
