Down a set and knotted at 3-3 in the second yesterday against South Carolina's Juan Gamboa, Marko Cerenko rolled his head back and stared up at the cloudless, bright blue sky, and then he laughed.
With a forced smile lining his face, the 6-foot-3 junior muttered three insincere attempts at finding humor in the gusty conditions that threw everyone a little off their game by carrying mis-hit balls everywhere but where they were intended.
Although Cerenko dropped his match 6-4, 6-3 minutes later, the only ones laughing at the end of the day were the fifth-ranked Blue Devils (16-5, 5-0 in the ACC), who have now won seven out of their last eight matches after defeating Clemson Saturday and South Carolina yesterday. Yesterday's 4-3 victory over No. 64 South Carolina (6-9) at Duke Tennis Stadium might have seemed like a foregone conclusion considering the disparity in the polls, but Duke coach Jay Lapidus said he told his team to be ready for a battle.
"South Carolina scared us more than any team we've played all year because they're good; their whole lineup is very good," he said. "I think they are the most talented team that we've seen. Their players were hurt early in the season; I don't know if they're just not motivated now or tanking or what.
"But individually these are four or five of the best individual players in the country. I think this is a top-10 team and it was a really scary match for us because I didn't know how we were going to play."
That question was answered early as the Blue Devils stormed through the doubles matches, sweeping all three to claim a 1-0 lead off the doubles point.
Doug Root and Ramsey Smith raced through the No. 1 doubles proset, while Michael Yanni and Porter Jones easily won at No. 3 doubles. With the doubles point already secured for Duke, the Blue Devils made a statement by winning a tight contest at No. 2 doubles.
Lapidus reshuffled his singles lineup and put Root, Duke's typical No. 1 starter who sat out Saturday's win over Clemson, in the three spot. Pedroso played in the top spot for the first time since early in the season, while Smith moved down to No. 2 after losing his match at No. 1 Saturday during Root's absence.
While Smith won in straight sets yesterday, Pedroso struggled early against the Gamecocks' Guillaume Legat. After dropping a first-set tiebreaker, however, Smith went on a tear as he won nine straight games, closing out a 6-7, 6-0, 6-1 comeback with an ace up the tee on the ad side that clinched Duke's victory.
"Dre has really been working on the mental side of his game," Lapidus said. "He has been working on, from the first point to the last point, really fighting the whole time and he doesn't have anymore lapses in his game.
"Once it got to the third set and it's not a pretty day out, it's a little cool, then it's just whoever wants it bad enough. I don't think [Legat] wanted it that bad."
Legat wasn't the only player to break down mentally as nearly everyone out there either tossed a racket or swore at the swirling wind, including Root, who allowed Robert Steckley to squeak out a three-set win after getting buried in the first set. Joel Spicher similarly experienced frustrations as he defaulted his match early in the third set in order to prevent further aggravating a sore foot.
Although the wind was a common complaint among all players, Lapidus said it shouldn't have been a factor.
"I think the wind is a perfect excuse," he said. "It's the same for both players, but what you choose to do with it and how you choose to let it affect you is what makes it a factor. I think when frustrations are high, they're going to look up whatever they can to place blame on.
"Today it's the wind, tomorrow it'll be the sun."
Actually, Saturday it was the rain. After beginning the match against Clemson at the outdoor Duke Tennis Stadium, heavy rains forced the Blue Devils to move the action inside to the Sheffield Tennis Center.
That didn't slow Duke down in the least, though, as it cruised to a 6-1 win over No. 35 Clemson (14-14, 4-2) to extend its ACC win streak to 23 games.
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