Krug twins sign with Duke men's tennis

Lakewood Ranch-based tennis stars Connor and Jake Krug made it official Saturday, signing to play at Duke University.

The signing was held at Lakewood Ranch Country Club's tennis center, where the twins, who are academic seniors, started their training. According to the Tennis Recruiting Network, Connor Krug is currently ranked seventh nationally in the 2021 class while Jake Krug is ranked 19th. They originally committed to Duke in December 2019. 

Connor Krug said the twins chose Duke over Florida, Michigan and Notre Dame largely because of the coaching staff. Duke Coach Ramsey Smith has been great during the entire process, he said, making them feel at home. Jake Krug added that the academic possibilities that the school offers were another factor in their decision, as was getting to play in the elite Atlantic Coast Conference. 

It was a joint decision. The twins said they never considered going to separate schools. They have been doubles partners for so long, and with so much success, they did not want to give that up. Duke was a place where they could do that. 

"Luckily for us, we were both interested in the same schools," Connor Krug said. "It was never like I wanted to go here and [Jake] wanted to go somewhere else." 

Jake Krug said he and Connor are looking forward to being part of a team again. The twins have been playing individually for the last two years, but they were part of The Out-of-Door Academy's tennis team that won a state title in May 2018.