Hernandez forced to abandon match in Tar Heels’ ACC tournament loss

CARY — When Jose Hernandez was a freshman, he wasn’t good enough to be paired against Duke’s Henrique Cunha on the tennis court.

Hernandez watched from the second flight as Cunha, then also a freshman, picked apart UNC’s best player, senior Clay Donato, on court one in the Tar Heels’ regular-season and NCAA tournament matches against the Blue Devils.

But as a sophomore in 2011, No. 22 Hernandez has been all over No. 7 Cunha in team play.

“Jose’s been working hard all year,” coach Sam Paul said. “He deserves to be where he is.”

Hernandez led UNC to an emotional comeback win against Duke on April 13 by beating Cunha in the deciding match.

When the two players met Saturday in the Tar Heels’ 4-0 ACC tournament loss to the Blue Devils, Hernandez was in command again when the match was cut short.

Hernandez won the first set 6-4 and was ahead 4-3 in the second when Cunha rolled his ankle and collapsed trying to chase down a Hernandez winner that set up a break point for the Tar Heel.

Cunha took a medical timeout for his ankle, removed his shoe and sock and was likely about to retire and concede the match. But during the timeout, Duke won its fourth point on court two to clinch the team win.

Instead of Cunha forfeiting, the match was abandoned with Hernandez on the verge of notching his second straight win against the Blue Devil.

Hernandez controlled points with his powerful forehand throughout the match, hitting winner after winner against one of the country’s best players. He also ran down most of Cunha’s shots and successfully handled the Blue Devil’s powerful serve.

At one point early in the second set, Cunha, who in general is exceptionally calm on the court, grew so frustrated by Hernandez’s play that he screamed and cursed at himself in Portuguese.

Hernandez said his success against Cunha has come as a result of his preparation off the court.

“I’m just fighting a little bit more,” Hernandez said. “I’m working the points more, being more patient and that’s it.”

He said he was happy with the way he played individually and that he didn’t need to work on anything specific in practice other than starting to get ready for the NCAA Championships.

“Today, I executed the points very well, I did what (assistant coach Tripp Phillips) told me to do, and it turned out pretty well,” Hernandez said.

But he was visibly dejected after the team loss. With the rest of the Tar Heels waiting on the team bus, Hernandez sat alone on a curb in the tennis center’s parking lot.

“It was bad luck, a bad day,” Hernandez said. “But we’ve got NCAAs and I still believe in my team.”

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