Hardy fuels UNC in pair of wins

Stefan Hardy bounced back just in time for his Senior Day.

The North Carolina men’s tennis team (14-6, 9-2 ACC) swept a pair of weekend matches, beating Miami 5-2 on Friday and Florida State 5-2 on Sunday, the Tar Heels’ Senior Day.

Hardy, No. 19 UNC’s only senior starter, lost badly to No. 10 Duke’s Chris Mengel on Wednesday, but he rebounded to win all four of his weekend matches, both singles and doubles.

Hardy dominated No. 25 Miami’s Waylon Chin 6-3, 6-2, then broke Florida State’s Conner Smith twice in a row to close out the first set of a 7-5, 6-4 win in his final regular-season match at UNC.

Hardy was presented with a plaque commemorating his UNC career between Sunday’s doubles and singles matches.

“It’s been really special to play out here,” Hardy said. “It’s been a wild run.”

Coach Sam Paul said Hardy’s contributions to the Tar Heels during his career have been invaluable to the squad.

“Stefan had a great day as a senior,” Paul said. “He’s been a warrior for us.”

Both of Hardy’s singles wins were sparked by a trick shot — he hit a between-the-legs return in each match.

Neither shot went for a winner, but Hardy won both points. Chin returned the shot wide, and after Smith managed to put his return in play, Hardy ripped a crosscourt, backhand winner just inside the line.

The shot against Smith put Hardy in position for his final break of the first set — he closed out the set a few points later.

“I don’t try to hit those,” Hardy said. “It’s improv, really. The ball’s just right there in the right spot and I have to hit it that way. When you win those kind of points it feels amazing. That’s probably the most pumped up I’ve ever been on a tennis court.”

But while Hardy had his game back on track by the end of the weekend, UNC’ top player, No. 25 Jose Hernandez, struggled against the Seminoles. He won his match against the Hurricanes in straight sets, but lost to Florida State’s No. 23 Vahid Mirzadeh 6-2, 7-5.

Hernandez, frustrated with his forehand, went onto the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center’s indoor courts to practice as soon as the match ended. He didn’t hit a single backhand shot during the entire practice.

“I didn’t make one forehand the entire match, literally,” Hernandez said. “Every time I wanted to go for it I missed it long or missed it wide, and that’s my weapon so I can’t let it happen in a match.”

But he said there weren’t any problems with his physical game.

“It’s all mental,” Hernandez said. “Two days ago I played unbelievable tennis against a great player and won 6-2, 6-2. There’s no way that in the course of one day you should lose all that confidence. It’s just a matter of getting myself together.”

Paul said Hernandez losing to a quality opponent like Mirzadeh wasn’t something to be too worried about, especially because the Tar Heels won the match.

“Jose’s got a tough task every single time, and today that guy just played a good match,” Paul said. “And it’s been a very good week for us to beat Miami, Florida State and Duke in a one-week span.”

The win gave UNC the No. 2 seed for the upcoming ACC tournament, in which the Tar Heels will play Friday at noon.

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.