The men’s tennis team travels to Chapel Hill today to compete in the ITA Regional Qualifying Tournament. In one of the final events of the fall season, the Blue Devils are playing to earn spots in the National Indoor Tournament held in Michigan in two weeks.
Duke has not played its entire team in other fall tournaments, but will bring its entire squad to Chapel Hill. The Blue Devils will be competing as individuals, and no team score will be kept. To advance to the National Indoor Tournament a player must reach the finals of the singles bracket or win the doubles draw—both of which are formidable tasks.
“There are a lot of really good players there,” junior Jonathan Stokke said. “It’s probably the strongest field we play all fall.”
Joining No. 8 Duke in the field will be every ACC team, including powerhouses No. 10 Virginia and No. 17 North Carolina. No. 37 South Carolina top the list of non-ACC teams that will compete this week.
By winning this tournament last year, junior Ludovic Walter and senior Jason Zimmermann have already qualified for the National Indoor Tournament in doubles. This year, Stokke pairs up with Peter Rodrigues and Stephen Amritraj teams with Peter Shults to form two teams with a chance to repeat Walter and Zimmermann’s feat.
“Doubles matches can really go either way,” Stokke said. “With the eight-game set it can be decided on just a couple points.”
Head coach Jay Lapidus expressed a lot of confidence in Stokke and Rodrigues’ chances to win the tournament. They played together last year and have had success so far this season.
“They are very dangerous,” Lapidus said. “If they play up to their capabilities they have a shot to do very well.”
Although all of the Blue Devil players will participate in the singles bracket, Walter, Zimmermann, Stokke, Amritraj and Rodrigues are the most likely to earn berths in the national tournament.
“We have a lot of guys who are dangerous, a lot of guys with the potential to do something,” Lapidus said. “It’s a matter of getting a good draw, staying healthy and getting hot.”
Most players and coaches view the fall season as primarily a warm-up for team play in the spring. To this point, the Blue Devils have not sent all their top players to any single tournament although all have seen action. With the whole team assembled, Duke can make a statement by playing well and getting players deep into the bracket.
“Hopefully we can get a couple of guys going to indoors,” Lapidus said of the ITA Tournament. “That would make it a nice weekend for us.”
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