Duke kicked off its spring season over the weekend with a strong showing at the Duke Invitational held at Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center.
Playing Elon Saturday, William and Mary Sunday and No. 20 North Carolina Monday, the No. 10 Blue Devils combined to go 19-2 in singles matches and 9-1 in doubles throughout the weekend tournament that will not factor in their dual match record.
“The goal of this weekend was to get a lot of matches under our belt and really focus on doubles,” head coach Ramsey Smith said. “We tried some new doubles teams and I was really happy with how all four doubles teams looked. I thought we made some big improvements from the fall…. It was the perfect weekend to get things going.”
With 19 points, Duke senior Torsten Wietoska finished the tournament tops in singles play. The Leer, Germany native improved to 11-3 on the season, winning all three of his weekend matches.
“Torsten had a very good end of the fall. He’s finally healthy and he’s playing with a whole lot of confidence,” Smith said. “He stepped up and played two and three for us in this tournament. The last couple of years he has played more in that five range so I’m really excited about him. He’s going to be an important part of our team this year.”
Tied for second in the singles tournament were Blue Devil junior Henrique Cunha and Tar Heel junior Jose Hernandez, with 16 points each. Cunha, ranked seventh nationally, beat the 30th ranked Hernandez Monday in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4.
“I played pretty aggressive today,” Cunha said. “That was my game plan. It played well at the beginning of the match. I got the early break and that was important for me.... I was dictating the points.”
The pair of Cunha and sophomore Fred Saba won the doubles portion of the tournament with 12 points. The duo won all three of their matches by scores of 8-4, 8-0 and 9-7. This weekend was the first time the two had played together in competition, having never even practiced together until last Wednesday, Smith said.
Duke will now begin their dual match play next Saturday in Ann Arbor, Mich. against the Wolverines. Smith expressed confidence that sophomore Chris Mengel—who retired after one set Monday due to a nagging wrist injury—would be available for the match.
“The last two years we’ve reached the [NCAA tournament] round of 16 and lost,” Smith said. “This year I think we’re ready to take it that one or two steps further. The last two years it was something where we hadn’t really made the round of 16 so it was kind of a big deal to get there. Now—it’s not assumed—but I think everyone really believes we belong in that mix…. I’m excited about how far we can go.”
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