Hopefully the Florida State Seminoles will bring the sunshine with them when they travel up the Atlantic Coast to take on the Blue Devils Saturday at 11 a.m. at Ambler Tennis Stadium in Duke’s second home outdoor match this season.
The No. 9 Blue Devils (15-4, 3-1 in the ACC) rank second in the ACC behind Clemson while the No. 18 Seminoles sit in fifth place in the conference. Duke split its contests last weekend, with a 4-3 loss to No. 1 Virginia in Charlottesville, Va. Friday and a 7-0 shutout of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va. Sunday.
“The UVA match was a really close match,” said Duke senior Henrique Cunha, who is ranked No. 5 in the nation. “I had a good win, but we were right there. And that just shows that we are ready, we are prepared for the best teams in the ACC…. We showed we play well and step up and don’t get down after a loss.”
Duke did have numerous bright spots in its loss to the Cavaliers, however. Cunha, then ranked No. 10, defeated then-No. 5 Jarmere Jenkins 6-4, 6-0.
“Overall, there were a lot of positives from last weekend. [We had] some great individual results,” Blue Devil head coach Ramsey Smith said. “And obviously being right there, having a shot, that gives us some confidence. We already did our rebounding from that match [against Virginia Tech]. I don’t think there is any more rebounding needed. We need to be 100 percent prepared for every match and need to go out there with a good attitude and let things take care of themselves.”
Cunha’s performance against Virginia garnered him ACC Player of the Week honors.
Duke junior Fred Saba also recorded an impressive 7-5, 7-5 win Friday against Alex Domijan—the top-ranked player in the country.
The Blue Devils will look to build on those notable victories when it takes on the Seminoles. When the teams met in Tallahassee, Fla. last season, the then-No. 4 Blue Devils came out on top of then-No. 26 Florida State 4-3. Duke lost the doubles point after the Seminole tandem of Blake Davis and Jordan Kelly-Houston defeated the then-No. 26 team of Cunha and Chris Mengel. Florida State’s Andres Bucaro and Benjamin Lock followed that up with a victory against Saba and Jason Tahir to clinch the doubles point for the Seminoles.
“They took it to us in doubles last year, and it’s a very similar team with just a few additions. They’ve had a great year,” Smith said. “They have had a couple top-20 wins, and they are playing with a lot of confidence…. [But] we are a different doubles team this year. Our doubles has been a major focus for us [this season] and we have done extremely well at all three positions.”
Cunha and Hemmeler are currently ranked the No. 1 doubles tandem and have been for a few weeks now. When asked what kind of pressure comes with being ranked on top, Cunha said it’s “fun.”
“It’s a fun pressure for me to have,” Cunha said “Every other team wants to beat us. We have fun on the court, and we are playing at a high level. We are very confident every match and that is why I think we are winning every match.” Smith praised the talented duo.
“They have been pretty dominant,” Smith said. “They show up ready to play every single match…. They’re on a roll and everyone is gunning for them. They do a really good job of getting ready mentally and physically for every single match and getting everyone’s best.”
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