If anyone knows the meaning of resilience, it's Chris Mengel.
The redshirt senior was a major contributor in his first three seasons for head coach Ramsey Smith's team and named an All-ACC performer his sophomore year. Last season was supposed to be a strong senior campaign for the Pittsburgh native, but it was quickly derailed by multiple injuries.
That's why it was fitting Monday when Mengel was the one who closed out No. 12 Duke's 5-2 road dual victory against No. 18 Kentucky at the Hillary J. Boone Tennis Complex in Lexington, Ky. The Blue Devils faced their fair share of adversity throughout singles and doubles but used a dramatic comeback to clinch the doubles point then took three consecutive singles matches to cap a resilient victory against a top-20 opponent.
"It's huge, this early in the season to kind of set the tone," Smith said. "Kentucky is a very good team and we've had some very tough matches with them over the years. We showed a lot of composure, a lot of fight and handled some very tough situations well today."
Mengel was the one that closed out the Wildcats (2-2), but he was also a big reason why Duke (2-0) got off to a strong start on the road. He teamed with junior Bruno Semenzato to dominate Kentucky's Trey Yates and Jake Stefanik 6-0 to set up a dramatic battle for the doubles point.
The Blue Devils' top doubles team of Nicolas Alvarez and Raphael Hemmeler fell behind 3-2 to Beck Pennington and Kevin Lai, and Duke's duo of Jason Tahir and Josh Levine struggled to find its footing against Jerry Lopez and William Bushamuka. Needing to win one of the two matches to earn the all-important doubles point, the Blue Devils' top tandem stepped up.
Alvarez and Hemmeler started playing more aggressively and attacking earlier in points, taking four of the last six games to prevail 6-4 and give their team early momentum.
"We were struggling a bit on [court number] two," Smith said. "The key was that Rafa and Nico were able to turn things around, just an incredible job of changing momentum because they were getting crushed at the beginning. They hung in there and started playing some great tennis. That was obviously big to win the doubles point on the road."
Singles followed an almost identical script, but with a major twist. The Wildcat tennis complex only has four courts, so rather than playing all six matches at once, the top four players for each team took the court while Nos. 5 and 6 waited for their opportunity. Mengel and Levine were put in the difficult position of having to watch their teammates play knowing that they would likely have to come up big to pull out a win.
Three of the first four singles matches were decided in straight sets, with Tahir and Semenzato struggling against Pennington and Bushamuka, respectively, and Hemmeler cruising against Lai. The crucial fourth match was between Alvarez and Lopez and the No. 18 player in the nation made it a turning point for his team.
A true freshman, Alvarez did not panic after dropping an opening set tiebreaker, settling down to dominate the final two sets 6-2 and 6-4 and give his team the overall lead back 3-2. The Lima, Peru, native is now 18-3 on the season.
"He just regrouped and changed his game plan a little bit and got off to a great start in the second set," Smith said. "He's shown incredible composure and maturity for a freshman."
And knowing his team needed just one more point to earn an enormous road win early in the spring season, the veteran Mengel used his experience to seal the win. Although he is still getting used to playing again because of his numerous injuries, Mengel overpowered the freshman Yates 6-3, 6-4 to earn his 96th career victory.
"I'm still kind of getting my feet wet and remembering how I like to do things," Mengel said. "It's becoming a little bit more natural each match."
For good measure, Levine took a 10-7 super tiebreaker to best Stefanik after the two split the first two sets 6-4 to reach the final 5-2 margin.
After showing the toughness it will need to handle a grueling schedule Tuesday, the Blue Devils will have little time to rest. Duke will host the ITA Kick-Off Weekend and will face another top-20 foe, Wake Forest, Friday before taking on either No. 23 Memphis or No. 24 Clemson Saturday.
Mengel and company may just be getting back in a rhythm early in the spring, but having his top six players active makes Smith like his team's chances moving forward.
"We have some specific things for each of the guys to work on," Smith said. "[But the important thing] is that we're healthy and the guys are playing well and feeling good."
Ryan Hoerger contributed reporting.
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