The stars aligned over spring break for the No. 4 men’s tennis team, as Duke posted three consecutive 4-3 victories over No. 16 Texas, No. 12 Texas A&M and No. 32 Texas Christian.
The Blue Devils’ (11-2) toughest Lone Star State victory came against lowest-ranked TCU (5-5) Wednesday. Duke fell behind 3-2 with Stephen Amritraj down a break at 5-3 in the third set. Amritraj, playing the No. 3 position, broke back and pulled off the 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(3) comeback to even the score at 3-3.
Senior Peter Shults clinched the win for the second time in three matches, winning 6-3, 6-3 at No. 6 to give Duke its third triumph in five days.
“Stephen obviously made the match,” head coach Jay Lapidus said. “He showed a lot of heart after losing to Texas A&M in three sets, and the other team had the momentum at that point. It was a great effort, probably one of the best efforts we’ve had all year.”
Duke began the trip as a No. 5 team looking to show it deserved the acclaim. In the Blue Devils’ first match, however, the Longhorns swept the doubles competition without a threat, climbing to a 1-0 advantage.
Then the Blue Devils came alive, with the thrust coming from the bottom four singles positions. Shults sealed this win as well with a 6-3, 7-6 victory at the No. 6 spot. This followed straight-set triumphs by Amritraj, freshman Charles Brezac and sophomore Peter Rodrigues at the No. 3, 4 and 5 positions, respectively. Ludovic Walter, ranked second nationally, and Jonathan Stokke dropped three-set matches at the top two singles positions for Duke.
“Peter Shults won a pretty tough match at No. 6, ahead 3-2 with the other match very close,” Lapidus said. “He was really clutch for us.”
The match against the Aggies Monday in College Station, Texas, had the same suspense as the other two wins, but this time Rodrigues was the savior. With Duke leading 3-2 after a doubles sweep and straight-set wins from Shults and Walter, “P-Rod” blew away Yevgeny Supeko in the rubber set, claiming a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 victory.
Senior Jason Zimmermann, who started regularly a year ago, made his only appearance of the road trip, teaming with Walter at No. 1 doubles for an 8-4 triumph.
“Peter Rodrigues played so well for us all week,” Lapidus said. “The match was down to a third set, and Peter handled it easily.”
Lapidus also mentioned that the weather was not as much of a factor as it often is in Texas for the first two matches—the TCU match was indoors. Specifically, the coach said the wind can kick up in Texas, but it was relatively calm this time around.
With the victories, Duke is likely to remain in the top four nationally and appears ready for the heavy part of the conference schedule, which begins at home against Florida State March 27.
“The guys are really excited,” Lapidus said. “After Phillip King graduated, I thought we were a No. 15 or No. 20 team. But we’re pulling out matches, and we have 10 to 12 guys who can all play. We’re having great success, and hopefully we can keep it up.”
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