After being knocked out of last year’s NCAA tournament in the quarterfinals and suffering a number of injuries this fall, Duke is ready for a fresh start in 2014.
The No. 7 Blue Devils open the spring season with a trio of home matches this weekend at the Sheffield Tennis Center. Sandwiched between contests against Elon and N.C. Central, Duke will host No. 9 Kentucky, the team it defeated in last year's NCAA tournament round of 16.
Despite a quarterfinal run in the NCAA tournament last season, the team insists that the goals for this season have been set higher. But the pressure is on.
“The returning team was really excited and hungry for this year,” junior Jason Tahir said. “Everyone felt that [the NCAA tournament loss to UCLA] last year left a bad taste in our mouth and it was really disappointing. I know the guys here are ready to prove themselves this season.”
Elon is no strangers to Duke, as they fell 9-0 to the Blue Devils last season. But Cameron Silverman, an explosive player ranked No. 25 nationally, will ensure the Blue Devils do not overlook Phoenix in the opening match of the season.
Kentucky will be looking to avenge last year’s 4-2 loss to Duke in Sunday’s match and will look to a pair of nationally-ranked seniors, Tom Jomby and Kevin Lai, to lead the team this season.
“It is a good challenge,” head coach Ramsey Smith said. “Elon is not a bad team. That is a tough opening match. Kentucky after that was our best win last year. We are challenging ourselves early and we are getting into the season right away. I feel like the guys are prepared and ready to go.”
Although the Blue Devils are looking to get off to a hot start, the loss of Henrique Cunha, who was the all-time leader in singles and doubles wins, has left a crucial void to be filled.
Smith insists that each of his players has the ability to step up this season and play each of the team's top four spots.
“We have a lot parity with this team,” Smith said. “The last four years Cunha has been by far our best player. This year it is more wide open. Guys are jostling for positions. I don’t see a whole lot of difference between our one and four spots.”
Adding to the graduation of Cunha, Duke was hit hard by injuries during the fall season. Tahir sat out three months, and senior Chris Mengel will be redshirting this year due to injury. Mengel posted a 74-36 doubles record during his last three seasons.
“We learned how quickly sometimes tennis can be taken away,” Tahir said. “I was out for three months and those were tough times for me. We are definitely enjoying the sport a lot and having fun.”
The good news: The Blue Devils return two All-ACC players from last season’s squad, senior Fred Saba and sophomore Michael Redlicki. At No. 29, Redlicki is the team's highest rated player. Saba is unranked, and Tahir ranks No. 52.
Additionally, sophomore Bruno Semenzato is coming off an exceptional fall season in which he went 3-1 against ranked opponents, earning him a No. 95 singles ranking going into the spring season.
“Bruno really did well in the fall,” Smith said. “He came back in incredible shape. A different mentality—he had some experience on what to deal with in a college atmosphere. He had arguably the best fall on the team in terms of beating top players.”
No matter who is on the court this spring, Tahir said that it will take a team effort to push the Blue Devils past the NCAA quarterfinals and into the national semifinal for the first time in program history.
“Every match this year is going to be a battle, but if we can come together that is going to help our chances,” he said.
Matt Pun contributed in reporting.
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