UNC's Jose Hernandez loses to Duke's Henrique Cunha in tennis rivalry match

Last year, there was no clear winner in Jose Hernandez and Henrique Cunha’s rivalry.

The North Carolina and Duke juniors, their respective teams’ top players, played three times in 2011. Hernandez won once and lost once, and the final match went unfinished. Each player’s record against the other was 1-1-1.

Perfectly even.

But on Monday, in their first meeting this season, an unlucky let might have cost Hernandez a shot at another win.

Playing on the last day of the preseason Duke Invitational tournament, No. 30 Hernandez lost to No. 7 Cunha in straight sets, 6-2 6-4. But the match could have been a lot closer than it ended.

Hernandez was sloppy early on. Cunha broke him the first two times he served in the first set and won the set easily.

The second set was closer, but Cunha went up a break and had the chance to serve out the match ahead 5-4.

But Hernandez won the first point. On the next point, he looked like he ripped a winner down the line to go up 0-30 — two points away from a break and holding all the momentum.

Only the point didn’t count.

A ball from the match to Hernandez’s right bounced onto the court, and the umpire called a let — a do-over. Hernandez’s point was taken off the board.

Calling a let when a ball from another court interrupts play is an ordinary decision for a player or umpire. But the call came just after Hernandez had hit his shot, a hard forehand to Cunha’s left and well out of reach of his backhand.

Cunha had no chance of returning the ball. When the chair umpire made the call, Hernandez’s immediate reaction was to shout in protest.

After the game, he was much more measured.

“You can’t control that,” Hernandez said. “It just happened, and you have to keep your head straight. It shouldn’t affect your game, but it definitely changed the momentum.

“I would’ve had all the momentum up 30-0, but stuff happens and you just have to deal with it.”

The momentum of the game swung back to Cunha, who won the point when it was re-played. Instead of Hernandez being up 0-30 and in position to extend the set and the match, the game was tied 15-15.

Cunha won the next two points, put the game away and took the match in two sets.

It was an unusually short match for Cunha and Hernandez, who are both among the best in the country.

Cunha has been ranked No. 1 overall multiple times during his two seasons with the Blue Devils, and Hernandez was an All-America last year.

“They both are great sportsmen,” UNC coach Sam Paul said. “When they play, you don’t see any bad stuff. They both give each other respect and they just play tennis. And it’s really great for college tennis to watch both of them play.”

In each of last season’s matches, Hernandez gave Cunha all he could handle. Cunha’s win was in three sets, and Hernandez won the rematch in a back-and-forth three-setter.

In their unfinished match, Hernandez had a one-set lead, was dominating the second set, and Cunha looked like he was about to retire with an ankle injury. But while Cunha was taking an injury timeout, Duke got the match-deciding win on another court, and the Hernandez-Cunha contest ended undecided.

On Monday, Cunha was clearly the better player for most of the match. And the bad luck of the let call helped put a quick stop to Hernandez’s best shot at a comeback.

“It’s always fun to play him,” Hernandez said. “He’s a really good friend of mine. But it’s UNC-Duke. It’s a rivalry in any sport. Outside the court we’re friends, but inside the court he’s my biggest enemy.”

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