The men's tennis team just keeps getting better and better.
Its improvement culminated this weekend at the ITA Region II Indoor Championships, held in Chapel Hill. It was the final event of the season for Duke, and the team certainly made it count.
Five of the eight Blue Devils among the 64-man singles field won at least one match. Sophomore Ramsey Smith garnered four wins to earn a berth in the finals. Along the way, Smith took out the tournament's No. 1 seed, Guillaume Legat of South Carolina, in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Smith defeated Myles Clouston of Wake Forest, 7-6, 6-2.
By making it to the finals, Smith, along with fellow finalist Brian Vahaly of Virginia, qualified for the Rolex National Indoor Championships, which take place in February. Since both players qualified for the national event, their match was not contested.
Smith's performance came as no surprise to Duke coach Jay Lapidus.
"Ramsey's no slouch," Lapidus said. "He had the best record on our team last year. Since then he's shown a lot of improvement and maturity."
In addition to his mental development, Smith has made some mechanical changes, switching from a two-handed to a one-handed backhand return and dramatically improving his net play.
Lapidus believes that come spring, Smith, currently ranked 96th, could take his place among college tennis' elite.
"I wouldn't be surprised to see him in the top 20 in the country," Lapidus said.
Duke's other standout in the singles draw was junior Doug Root, who made it to the quarterfinals before bowing out to Vahaly, 3-6, 6-1, 6-1. Root, ranked 13th before the season, will have to consistently play the way he did this weekend if the team is to make any noise in the spring.
Root also fared well in the doubles draw, teaming with senior Jordan Wile to advance all the way to the finals. The duo, however, succumbed there to Legat and Jerome Jordan, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4.
Last year the team made a disappointing showing on the national scene. This time around, it hopes to advance much further. With strong showings in both singles and doubles of late, the team is poised for a good run in the spring season.
"All of our guys have shown tremendous improvement and are certainly more experienced," Lapidus said. "I feel that this is the best team we've ever had here at Duke."
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