Sports fans take heart. Basketball season may be over, but the men's tennis season is just starting to heat up.
After crushing the Miami Hurricanes 6-1 on Mar. 15, the Blue Devils earned their first Atlantic Coast Conference victory on Mar. 17 by defeating Florida State, 4-2. A match scheduled between Duke and Florida was canceled due to the weather.
Coach Jay Lapidus was pleased with the Blue Devils' victory at FSU.
"[FSU] plays well," he said. "They beat us 4-3 the last time we played them in Tallahassee, and they always get fired up to play us."
The Seminoles gave Duke a tough fight. Of the six singles matches, five went to three sets. The Blue Devils won three out of the five three-setters with Alberto Brause, Ramsey Smith and Marko Cerenko claiming victories. Doug Root was the only Duke player to win in straight sets, defeating Alex Golub 6-3, 6-4 in No. 1 singles.
Lapidus said that the Blue Devils did not concentrate that well in their matches but felt that this was understandable given the playing conditions. Rain interrupted play, and the contest had to be postponed until the following day. With clouds looming overhead as play continued Wednesday, Duke was able to beat the weather and FSU.
"A lot of things could have gone the other way," Lapidus said. "We're happy to get our first win in the ACC."
The Blue Devils and the Seminoles decided to start with singles play as opposed to doubles in hopes of speeding up the match. This worked in Duke's favor as the Blue Devils earned enough points to expedite doubles play.
Duke used the match against Miami to experiment with a new doubles lineup. The Blue Devils have been struggling at doubles, so Lapidus decided to shuffle around the teams. Lapidus teamed up Root and Dmitry Muzyka at No. 1 doubles, Jordan Wile and Smith at No. 2 and Ted Rueger and Sebastien Gobbi at No. 3. The new pairs performed well, and Lapidus said he will probably use this lineup the rest of the season.
"We're so deep," Lapidus said. "If we get the doubles point, it's crucial for our momentum."
Duke had no trouble keeping the momentum going as it went on to defeat the Hurricanes 6-1. Root scored an easy victory over Rudy Rake, the No. 1 junior player in the country, 6-2, 6-2. The rest of the Blue Devils fared just as well in their matches. Duke's only loss was at the No. 3 spot. Brause had an off day and could not come up with a win.
Although the Blue Devils would have liked to get in a third match over the break, they are in a good position heading into a long homestand. The Blue Devils will play Maryland at Duke Tennis Stadium today at 2:30 p.m.
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