By the time singles play rolled around in Duke’s meet against Pepperdine Saturday, the main attraction was arguably over.
After Henrique Cunha and Reid Carleton easily dispatched of their opponents 8-4, and Dave Holland and Chris Mengel fell 8-6, Duke’s doubles point was up to the pairing of freshman Fred Saba and senior Jared Pinsky.
They didn’t disappoint.
Playing on court two, the collegiate newcomer and seasoned veteran participated in a duel to the finish with Pepperdine’s Alex Llompart and Alfredo Moreno. Saba and Pinsky fell behind 8-7, but battled back with a series of timely shots and dramatic tiebreakers to take the match, 9-8 (10-8), amid the exuberant cheers of a standing room only crowd in Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center.
Their win gave No. 14 Duke (5-0) a point that would prove to be the meet’s deciding factor, as the Blue Devils topped the No. 21 Waves 4-3 to advance to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
“It was an amazing doubles point,” head coach Ramsey Smith said. “I’ve been around a lot of tight doubles points, and it was about as tight as they get.... Fred and Jared, Fred in particular, just willed them to that. I don’t know how they did it.... But it set the tone for the rest of the match.”
The doubles point—an hour-and-a-half in the making, easily Duke’s longest of the year—gave the Blue Devils the momentum they needed to defeat an aggressive Pepperdine (3-1) squad in singles.
Pinsky was the first Blue Devil off the court, taking his match against Mousheg Hovhannisyan, 6-1, 6-3. The senior was soon followed by Saba, who defeated Jenson Turner, 6-2, 6-4. Mengel fell to Llompart on court three in quick fashion, 7-5, 6-2, while Carleton was upset by No. 112 Finn Tearney, 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (16-14).
The Blue Devils had to deal with a strikingly vocal Waves squad during singles play. Smith was pleased that his team, which fell last season to Pepperdine, 6-1, wasn’t rattled this time by their opponent.
“They are probably the most vocal team in the country. That’s kind of their thing,” Smith said. “They beat us pretty bad last year in their place. We were coming off a loss and not ready for the emotional onslaught.... I told the guys to be prepared for anything [this time], and we did a good job not letting it bother us.”
While he didn’t seem bothered by the Waves, Cunha did struggle early against his opponent, the country’s No. 14 player Sebastian Fanselow. He lost the first set 4-6, but battled back to easily take the next two sets, 6-2, 6-1.
“I think that first set, he was a little bit careful... and his opponent was really aggressive,” Smith said. “I told him after the match that he always seems to raise his levels when it matters. He raised his level incredibly and played pretty much a perfect final set.
“I’m getting spoiled, I’m getting used to it.”
Spoiled of Cunha’s success or not, Smith will need his No. 1 player to come up big when Duke takes on the next stage of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships. The tournament, featuring 16 of the top teams in the country, is set to be held Feb. 18-21 in Seattle, Wash.
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