Duke’s year of high expectations started off on the right foot Saturday, as the No. 19 Blue Devils (1-0) opened their season with a 7-0 sweep of Elon (0-1) at the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center.
The two teams met the week before at the Duke Invitational, an exhibition tournament held on campus. In that contest, three of Duke’s top players—junior Reid Carleton, freshman Henrique Cunha and sophomore Torsten Wietoska—did not participate, and the Blue Devils were not at their best, dropping No. 1 doubles and Nos. 5 and 7 singles to Elon.
With the return of those three, Duke’s strength and skill could not be matched by the Phoenix. The Blue Devils jumped out to an early lead, winning the doubles point by sweeping all three matches. Cunha and Carleton, the eighth-ranked doubles team in the nation, led the Duke charge, topping Elon’s Philip Nemec and Chatse Helpingstine, 8-6.
The Blue Devils never faltered in singles and managed to sweep Elon in every match throughout the evening.
“Elon is a good program, but we just took care of business and looked great,” head coach Ramsey Smith said. “It was the perfect start to the season. I couldn’t have asked anything more from the guys.”
17th-ranked Cunha crushed Elon’s Nemec in the No. 1 singles match, 6-1, 6-2. Carleton followed suit and was one game away from sweeping Helpingstine in the No. 2 singles match, 6-0, 6-1.
“Today was a really good start to the season,” Carleton said. “I played him in 12-and-unders and beat him 6-0, 6-0. I pretty much started exactly where I left off. This was really good because I didn’t get to play last week, so this was a good way to get back into the swing of things.”
Junior Jared Pinksy had an impressive performance for the Blue Devils as the fifth seed. Pinsky topped Elon’s Carlos Arboleda, 6-0, 6-1 in a mere 40 minutes, scoring Duke’s second point of the evening.
“We looked great one through six,” Smith said. “I am really excited about this year because I don’t really see any holes in our lineup. This is the most complete team we have had for a couple of years.”
The Blue Devils travel to Tuscaloosa, Ala. Jan. 30 for the ITA Kick-off Weekend to play No. 18 Alabama and No. 23 Auburn. This match will place Duke outdoors, where players will face imperfect conditions, but the Blue Devils will spend the week practicing outdoors to prepare for the elements. They will also have their first chance to compete against top-25 teams, giving fans their best look yet at the team’s talent.
“We are going to continue to work on our doubles. I think that is the key for us this year,” Smith said. “As you can see, we have six good spots in singles. If we can get those doubles playing, we are going to be really tough to beat, even with top-25 teams.”
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