The men’s tennis team chalked up a win and a loss this past weekend, first falling to No. 5 Illinois 5-2 Friday and then beating No. 25 Notre Dame 6-1 Sunday.
Ludovic Walter led the team with two singles and two doubles wins this weekend. Against Illinois’ Ryler DeHeart, the nation’s No. 2 singles player, Walter did not lose a service game, winning 6-2, 6-2.
“I’ve been serving well and returning well,” Walter said. “I didn’t lose my serve all weekend and had few unforced errors.”
Friday’s win was Walter’s second victory in a week against a top-10 singles player. He beat Old Dominion’s ninth-ranked Izak van der Merwe Jan. 28 in Durham.
“He is playing really well, with lots of confidence, and he is moving well,” head coach Jay Lapidus said.
Walter and doubles partner Charles Brezac edged out Illini Evan Zeder and Monte Tucker, 8-6. But Duke’s first and second doubles tandems lost, and Illinois picked up the doubles point. The 15th-ranked pairing of Peter Rodrigues and Jonathan Stokke lost 9-8.
After Walter tied the match at 1-1 with his singles win, Illinois came back with a victory in the third flight as Kevin Anderson defeated Duke’s Stephen Amritraj in straight sets.
Rodrigues’ singles win then tied the match at two, but the balance of the singles matches went to the Fighting Illini.
Despite the loss, Lapidus was pleased with the play of his team given the caliber of competition.
“I felt we played pretty well,” Lapidus said. “Illinois is probably one of the hardest places to play indoors. They have great fans, and the team is probably the second best of all teams indoors.”
Duke rebounded Sunday to defeat Notre Dame, 6-1. Walter’s play was again solid as he took his singles match in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4. Walter and Brezac won the deciding doubles match, 9-7, after Stokke and Rodrigues picked up the first doubles win. Amritraj and Jason Zimmermann fell to the Irish pairing of Eric Langenkamp and Sheeva Parbhu.
“Once we won doubles, we felt comfortable,” Lapidus said.
The Blue Devils went on to win all but one singles match. Stokke defeated Stephen Bass in swift fashion, 6-1, 6-4. Rodrigues handled his opponent with similar ease, 6-2, 6-1. Walter then completed his match, giving Duke its fourth point and the overall victory. Peter Schults and Brezac won their matches, 6-3, 6-4, and 7-5, 4-6, 10-6, respectively.
“We took care of business nicely against a top-25 team,” said Lapidus. “Overall, we did a nice job this weekend.”
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