Senior Jason Tahir and Duke sure know how to start a tennis season.
The warm weather was not the only pleasant January surprise the Blue Devils received when they kicked their 2015 season off in tropical Hawaii, as Tahir also knocked off the top player in the nation in three sets to bookend a successful trip.
Men’s and women’s tennis played in the two-day Rainbow Warrior Classic and Rainbow Wahine Spring Invitational tournaments. The men’s team played Jan. 7 and 8, and the women’s team took to the courts Jan. 8 and Jan. 9.
“[The men’s tennis players] all went back to their own homes, in all different directions, before meeting in Durham on [Jan. 4th],” head coach Ramsey Smith said, “We departed for Hawaii the following morning at about 6:00 a.m.”
The biggest action of the trip came Jan. 8, when the No. 12 men’s team faced off against Louisville in the Rainbow Warrior Classic final. Duke cruised throughout the match, as the Blue Devils claimed 15 out of 16 possible matches against the Cardinals to win the tournament.
In the No. 1-seed singles match—which pitted Tahir, ranked No. 36 in the nation, against No. 1 Sebastian Steifelmeyer—Tahir came out on top 2-1 after dropping a tough first set. The win marked his third of the season against a ranked opponent and the biggest upset of his Blue Devil career.
“[Tahir] had an amazing victory over the top player in the country,” Smith said. “He won in three sets [3-6, 6-3, 7-5], and was composed throughout, especially after dropping that first set.”
Duke’s only loss of the day, and the tournament, was when freshman Andrew DeJoy lost to Stjepan Cagalj, playing eighth singles for the Blue Devils. It was DeJoy’s first start for Duke.
Prior to the the team's last-day success, the squad arrived in Honolulu, HI, Jan. 5, and used the two days before the start of the tournament to rest, adjust to the time change, and have a light practice.
The No.12-ranked Blue Devils faced off against the tournament’s host, Hawaii, at the University of Hawaii tennis complex. The first round format consisted of two rounds of doubles matches, each only one set, and eight best-of-three-set matches in the singles portion.
The Blue Devils swept all 16 matches against the Rainbow Warrios to advance to the tournament finals and face—and eventually dominate—Louisville. Duke was led by the strong play of freshman Nicolas Alvarez, who started on Duke’s No. 1 doubles team with senior Raphael Hemmler. The duo defeated Nils Schulmann and Carter Lam of Hawaii 6-3 in the first round of doubles play, then took down Chas Okamoto and Felix Albert 6-0.
Alvarez, ranked No. 18 in the nation, then won his singles match against Okamoto 6-3, 6-4 as Duke’s second seed, behind Tahir. Tahir played doubles with redshirt senior Chris Mengel and earned a 6-2 victory as Duke’s second-seeded doubles team.
“[Tahir] worked incredibly hard,” Smith said. “He put in a ton of effort before break, and in training during break, and it really showed on the court.”
Smith elected to switch up the doubles teams for the second round match-up against Louisville, and had Mengel play with junior Bruno Semenzato and Tahir play with junior Josh Levine. Both teams won both of their matches easily in the first and second doubles rounds.
“[Against Louisville], I opted to switch around some of the doubles pairings,” Smith said, “It was good to see that these tactical changes did not deter us in anyway. I expect that the flexibility of our doubles lineup will help us out tremendously in [upcoming matches].”
The second-ranked women’s team began play Jan, 8 in Maui, HI, facing singles and doubles pairs from No. 7 California and host Hawaii. Duke boasted a 3-1 doubles record and a 5-2 singles record.
Highlights included junior Beatrice Capra and freshman Samantha Harris taking down California’s fourth-ranked doubles team of Maegan Manasse and Denise Starr, and seniors Ester Goldfield and Annie Mulholland notching singles victories against Hawaii.
The next day, the women’s team went 3-1 in doubles play and 3-4 in singles play on the second day of the Rainbow Wahine Spring Invitational. Goldfield and sophomore Alyssa Smith earned a 6-3 win against Sarah Gealer and Paulina Petriskova of Hawaii. Mulholland and freshman Rebecca Smaller posted a 6-1 defeat of Hawaii’s Martina Kostalova and Klara Pribylova. Capra and freshman Samantha Harris, however, fell in their match to California’s Klara Fabikova and Zsofi Susanyi.
Before the Blue Devils could leave Hawaii, though, they had to take care of one last piece of business. Smith’s men tennis team enjoyed a helicopter tour of the island of Hawaii, as well as a kayaking tour, before heading back to Durham, N.C. to start the regular season.
The men’s team faces Michigan State Jan. 16, as the women’s team will travel to Williamsburg, Va., to face William & Mary in the team’s first dual match of the season.
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Jacob Weiss is a Trinity senior. His column, "not jumping to any conclusions," runs on alternate Fridays.