Tar Heel Will Jansen was locked in a back-and-forth match against Matthew Thomson of Wake Forest on the first Sunday of April, the sounds of the Englishman grunting with each stroke alternating with the pop of the yellow ball and squeak of the players’ shoes.

Spectators on both the north and south ends of the court leaned forward in their sparkling new seats (Carolina blue, no less, with seat backs and arm rests) taking in the twists and turns in the match, with Jansen scrambling back from a match point on deuce while trailing 3-5 in the third set.

Five of his teammates whose matches were complete watched from one court away and alternately pivoted in the other direction to follow the one match still going at the far end of the six-court configuration. After each Jansen point, as he reeled off winning three games in a row to take the lead in the third set, the spectating Tar Heels belted out the shouts of TAR … HEELS … TAR … HEELS … across the stadium, the fans answering with gusto.

And why not? It’s a perfect spring afternoon, Carolina blue courts to match the sky, a new $18.5 million facility at long last open, and the home team riveted in a tight match with an old rival.

To read more about this new game-changing facility, visit GoHeels.com.