Blue Devils down Old Dominion in season opener

The Duke men's tennis team began its spring dual-match season in style Sunday night, notching a 7-0 win over No. 66 Old Dominion.

The No. 8 Blue Devils (1-0) looked solid from top to bottom, dropping only one set between their three doubles and six singles matches. Despite the score, the Monarchs (5-1), who had won their first five dual matches of the season against unranked opponents, gave Duke's top four singles players tough matches.

"I thought we played with a lot of energy for our first match of the season," head coach Jay Lapidus said. "Old Dominion is a great team, and their top four players are a challenge for us. It was good that they pushed us in some spots so that we can see where we are as a team."

At the second singles position, Jonathan Stokke, who is ranked 20th nationally, was taken to three sets before pulling out a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 victory that completed the sweep of the Monarchs.

At the third spot, junior Joey Atas knocked off 90th-ranked Eidy Igarashi in straight sets. After taking the first set easily, Atas battled through a contested second set to capture the tiebreaker, sealing a 6-2, 7-6 (5) victory.

Senior Ludovic Walter, the ninth-ranked player in the nation, struggled in the second set before grinding out the 6-2, 7-5 victory over unranked Harel Srugo at the top singles position.

The Blue Devils had an easier time at the No. 5 and No. 6 singles positions, as well as in doubles action. At the sixth singles spot, freshman Kiril Dimitrov cruised to a 6-3, 6-2 victory in his first collegiate singles match in a dual meet, and senior Chris Brown followed suit at the No. 5 position with a commanding 6-1, 6-1 win.

Perhaps the most impressive win of the night was an 8-0 thrashing at the No. 2 doubles position by Walter and Atas over Old Dominion's 33rd-ranked doubles team.

Duke's third doubles pair followed the dominating win with an impressive showing of their own to secure the doubles point. The duo of sophomore Ned Samuelson and junior Peter Rodrigues took down their Monarch opponents, 8-4, and the Blue Devils' top pair of Stokke and senior Stephen Amritraj finished off the doubles sweep with a tight 9-8 (3) victory.

The depth shown in the blowout win Sunday may prove pivotal as the Blue Devils face tougher opposition in the coming weeks.

"We're strong down low-we're pretty deep," Lapidus said. "It was a good win to get feeling positive about things and get on track."

The Blue Devils will take on No. 4 Illinois at home Friday and will play host to No. 26 Notre Dame Sunday. Duke lost to the Illini, 5-2, last year in Champaign, but defeated the Fighting Irish, 6-1, in South Bend last season.

"Our schedule gets tough. We have Notre Dame and Illinois next and both are real good teams," Lapidus said.

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