RALEIGH - Up 6-2 in a first set tiebreak, men's tennis star Michael Yani tossed the ball into the air and unwound for a trademark serve that sent his Clemson opponent Sander Koning reeling. After a couple of off-balanced shots, Yani took control, as he crushed a soft lob with an overhead smash to win the first set 7-6.
Then on the third court a few moments later Blue Devil No. 3 Ludovic Walter broke Clemson's Jarmaine Jenkins and went on to hold serve and take the first set 7-5. Another few minutes and couple courts down, Jonathan Stokke took the first set of his match and at No. 6, Peter Shults would soon wrap up a 6-2, 6-2 victory.
Shults' win tied the score at one, and after Yani and Zimmerman won their respective matches, Walter finished dealing out a 6-2 second-set shellacking to give No. 9 Duke men's tennis (20-5, 11-0 in the ACC) its 11th ACC Championship with a 4-1 victory over Clemson (24-10, 8-3) Sunday at the Millbrook Exchange Tennis Center in Raleigh.
"It was a big momentum shift when Mike and Ludo both won their first sets within five minutes of each other," head coach Jay Lapidus said. "We knew we had Peter [Shults] winning [at No. 6 singles], so these matches started to become a factor....
"It all came together in
Duke began singles play in the hole after a pair of Blue Devil teams lost their eight-game pro-sets and the doubles point. At the third flight, Stokke and Shults, ranked 48th nationally, lost to Koning and Brett Twente.
Then, at No. 1 doubles, Clemson's Nathan Thompson teamed with Jenkins to down the fourth-ranked tandem of Phillip King and Yani, 8-6. Having taken two-of-three matches, the Tigers won the point.
"I wasn't really upset after doubles play, they played really well in doubles...." Lapidus said. "I told the guys that we have to get out there in singles and show a lot of heart.... We showed a lot of heart out there today."
The Blue Devils got off to a rough start in singles as King fell down an early 2-0 break at the No. 1 slot. And although he rallied to break Thompson back, he was unable to win the set.
Duke countered on the opposite end of the spectrum as Shults dominated Ash Misquith with an early, quick break to get to 4-1 in the first set.
Meanwhile, the Blue Devils were struggling on the center courts, finding themselves constantly clawed by their Clemson counterparts as they tried to pull away in the first sets. In the end Duke was successful, and the Blue Devils used their newfound momentum to control many second sets.
At No. 1, King was able to salvage a split taking the second set, 6-4. Yani, playing second singles, churned out what Lapidus called one of the best sets he had ever seen from a Duke player play to win the match, 7-6, 6-0.
Zimmerman and Walter then won, giving Duke the match and leaving King's and Stokke's singles contests unfinished.
A senior co-captain, Yani was named ACC Championships MVP after the Blue Devils received their fifth trophy in six seasons.
"This feels unbelievable," Yani said of winning MVP honors. "The first few years I was here I only played doubles and watched the older guys get all the awards. But I worked hard and finally got there."
Lapidus said the Blue Devils will now take an easy week before getting ready for the NCAA tournament which begins May 9. As a top-10 team and ACC champion, Duke expects to be hosting a "regional" - the first two rounds of a 64-team tournament.
"We're starting to play well at the right time," Lapidus said. "Hopefully we're not peaking too early and we're still playing well so we can put it all together come May."
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