After recording two convincing road wins last weekend at Clemson and Georgia Tech, the No. 9 Blue Devils (18-4, 6-1 in the ACC) return home Sunday to take on Sunshine State foe Miami (13-8, 2-4). Sunday’s match marks one of Duke’s last three regular-season contests before the ACC Tournament in two weeks.
Coming off a 7-0 shutout of Boston College in Coral Gables, Fla., the Hurricanes will get their dose of blue this weekend at North Carolina Friday night before traveling down the road to face the Blue Devils.
“I think [having just one match to focus on this week] has been really beneficial,” Duke head coach Ramsey Smith said. “Especially later in the season… to have only one match during a week, it gives us extra time to work on a couple more things. I feel like we have been taking advantage of it. I expect us to be fresh and eager [when we take the court Sunday].”
Miami currently has no singles players ranked in the top-125 in the nation according to the collegetennisonline.com polls. The Blue Devils, on the other hand, have five players within that range in No. 3 Henrique Cunha, No. 26 Fred Saba, No. 43 Michael Redlicki, No. 71 Raphael Hemmeler and No. 112 Chris Mengel.
Duke also boasts three doubles tandems ranked in the top-90 in the nation. Cunha and Hemmeler are currently ranked No. 1 in the nation and have been for a few weeks now. Redlicki and Jason Tahir are ranked No. 17, while Mengel and Saba sit at No. 61. Despite Miami’s absence in the national rankings, Smith knows that there is no reason to count out the Hurricanes.
“We are absolutely not going to overlook them,” Smith said. “Every ACC match counts the same… for seeding purposes.”
Miami’s singles players have an overall record of 74-49, and its doubles teams have gone just 26-32. Cunha, on his way to a groundbreaking senior season and career for that matter, is currently undefeated in singles play this season.
“It’s been a really special year for Cunha,” Smith said. “He is playing his best tennis and puts a lot of pressure on himself to perform well, especially his senior year. He feels really fresh this year. He has managed himself well and has been working incredibly hard off the court and is in a really good place right now. I’m happy for him.”
When the teams met in Coral Gables last season, Duke hammered the Hurricanes 7-0 on their home court. The Blue Devils hope to repeat last year’s success and protect their undefeated record at home.
“This match counts just the same as Virginia,” Smith said. “I am not worried about the guys not being focused [when they come out to take on Miami]. Our guys know that [the Hurricanes] are very good.”
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.