Down a set in four of their six singles matches, it appeared that the Blue Devils would go down to the wire Saturday.
But a capacity crowd at Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center propelled No. 3 Duke (5-0) to a decisive 6-0 comeback victory over No. 12 Northwestern (4-1).
The singles match at No. 5 between Mary Clayton and Linda Abu Mushrefova epitomized the Blue Devils’ resiliency. After losing a tight first set 6-4, Clayton fought back to capture the second set 6-2.
“After the first set, I was pretty disappointed with my performance and came out in the second set really determined,” Clayton said. “[Mushrefova] was hitting quite a few shorter balls, and I started to take advantage of those.”
The boisterous crowd began to play a significant role in Clayton’s comeback victory in the third set, drawing the ire of Northwestern head coach Claire Pollard. That did not deter the Blue Devil fans from helping will Clayton to a 6-3 third-set victory.
“The crowd honestly was awesome,” Clayton said. “Had it not been for the fans, I do not know if I would have gotten through the third set.”
Ester Goldfeld, Rachel Kahan and 35th-ranked Monica Turewicz—who was back in action after sitting out the previous three matches with a wrist injury—also earned comeback victories after dropping first sets.
“I think we competed really well,” head coach Jamie Ashworth said. “I am proud of the way we fought back. We have to do a better job to not lose four first sets but we fought back.”
The freshman Turewicz, who had not lost a set in 12 matches this season, completed her comeback with a convincing 6-2 third-set victory, and Kahan provided the clinching singles point with a 6-3 win in her third set.
The top two singles players, seventh-ranked freshman Beatrice Capra and sophomore Hanna Mar, did not provide the same drama as their teammates. At No. 1 singles, Capra easily disposed of 26th-ranked Kate Turvy, 6-1, 6-3, while Mar pulled out a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Brittany Wowchuk.
Although Duke lost a doubles match for the first time all season in dual match play, it still prevailed to capture the doubles point and gain an early 1-0 advantage. The duo of freshman Beatrice Capra and Kahan won a thrilling 9-7 match over Belinda Niu and Nida Hamilton of Northwestern, finally sealing the win on their third match point.
Coming off their first true test of the season, the Blue Devils look primed to make a deep run at the ITA National Women’s Indoor Championships in Charlottesville, Va. next weekend, where they are the No. 1 seed in a 16-team field.
“We are playing well but we needed a match like this. We have to know that we can win matches like this,” Ashworth said. “We are going up there with a target on our back.”
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