After playing its first match of the year, the men’s tennis team is back in action today at the North Carolina Invitational in Chapel Hill.
As was the case a week ago, this weekend is more about player development than team results. Duke will send a trio of freshmen and some of its less experienced juniors to the event.
“This [tournament] is important to give individuals a chance to work on their game,” head coach Jay Lapidus said.
Lapidus will send freshmen Ned Samuelson, Alex Stone and Vincent Perna to the tournament. Samuelson is coming off a strong showing at Georgia’s Southern Intercollegiate Tournament last weekend, where he reached the quarterfinals and beat the second-seeded player. Stone and Perna will see their first college match experience this weekend in Chapel Hill.
Juniors Stefan Rozycki, Stephen Amritraj and Christopher Brown also hope to polish their games after the summer break. Amritraj and Brown were regular starters in the Blue Devils’ lineup last season, Amritraj competing in doubles while Brown played singles. Rozycki is looking to make a bigger contribution this season.
“Brown has been playing very well,” Lapidus said. “He had a good tournament last weekend.”
Although it is still early in the fall season, the strong competition in the tournament should give Lapidus a good indication of where his team stands.
“We can try to assess where we are and what we can improve upon after this weekend,” Lapidus said.
Duke’s top players Ludovic Walter and Jason Zimmerman, both named to the ITA Collegiate All-Star Team, will wait another week to kick off their fall seasons. They will start action next weekend at the important ITA All-American Tournament.
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