After suffering their first loss of the season, the Blue Devils bounced back to notch two top-25 victories—all in one weekend.
No. 6 Duke fell 4-1 to Baylor Friday in the opening round of the ITA Team Indoor Championship, but came back in the following two days to defeat No. 17 TCU and No. 19 Mississippi.
The Blue Devils, having climbed up six spots in the most recent ITA rankings, carried a perfect 9-0 record into their opening-round match against the Bears.
The Bears struck first blood in the contest, winning a pair of doubles matches. The Baylor team of Julian Lenz and Diego Galeano defeated Duke’s Josh Levine and Jason Tahir by a score of 6-2, while Baylor’s Vince Schneider and Felipe Rios also took down Chris Mengel and Bruno Semenzato by the same score. A third doubles match, which pitted Duke’s Nicolas Alvarez and Raphael Hemmler against Baylor’s Tony and Mate Zsiga, was left unfinished.
“They got us down early by winning No. 2 and No. 3 doubles,” head coach Ramsey Smith said. “They played exceptionally well, and won decisively. We probably would have won No. 1 singles, though, but it was left unfinished.”
Duke responded in singles with a win by No. 9 Alvarez, against No. 10 Lenz in the No. 1 singles spot by a score of 6-4, 6-2. Three close wins by Baylor athletes, however, propelled the Bears to victory. No. 67 Max Tchoutakian defeated No. 38 Tahir by a score of 7-6 (9-7), 6-4, No. 27 Tony Lupieri defeated No. 77 Hemmler with a score of 6-4, 6-7 (2-7), 6-2 and Schneider defeated Levine in a match 7-6 (7-1), 3-6, 6-3.
“Their singles were phenomenal,” Smith said. “The singles won the match for them, but I’m still proud of our team. We competed hard, and, yes, another top-10 win would have been nice, but the match was still a valuable experience for us.”
Duke’s 4-1 first round loss to Baylor eliminated the Blue Devils from contention for the ITA Championship, so Duke had to spend the remainder of its stay in Chicago playing in consolation matches. The Blue Devils’ first contest was against TCU, which they won 4-2.
Against the Horned Frogs, Duke secured the doubles points with wins in No. 1 and No. 3 doubles by the teams of Alvarez and Hemmeler (6-4) and Mengel and Semenzato (7-5), and a flurry of singles victories. Alvarez defeated No. 18 Cameron Norrie by a score of 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, Hemmeler won against Arnau Dachs by a score of 6-2, 7-6 (7-2) and Semenzato defeated Will Stein by a score of 7-5, 6-1.
“It is always hard to come back after a devastating loss, like the one against Baylor, and compete the next day,” Smith said, “But it is just part of the game, and our boys did an excellent job of that. Hearing the talk of [the ITA] semifinals and finals all around you, and not being a part of it can be discouraging, but we didn’t let it get us down, and we played some of our best tennis the next two days.”
Duke’s last match of the trip was against Ole Miss, which the Blue Devils won handily by a score of 4-0. Duke won the doubles point behind victories by Alvarez and Hemmeler and Mengel and Semenzato yet again, and then won three quick singles matches to secure the win.
Tahir defeated No. 78 Stefan Lindmark by a score of 6-4, 6-3, Hemmeler downed Gustav Hansson with a score of 6-3, 6-2 and T.J. Pura beat Vinad Gowda by a score of 6-1, 6-1.
“Everyone was a little banged up, a little tired, but everyone still showed up,” Smith said. “I was really impressed with how we came out in singles, and really took it to them in a couple of different spots. I also have to commend Pura for playing great in his first match of the weekend.”
After the conclusion of the Blue Devils’ weekend showing at the ITAs, their record is 11-1. The last time that Duke men’s tennis started off a season with a better record was 1933.
“We performed really well on a national stage, with the top 16 teams in the country,” Smith said. “To only lose to a really good team in Baylor is excellent for us, and I am certainly happy with our overall record.”
The Blue Devils will continue their historic start to the 2015 season with a doubleheader against Coastal Carolina and UNC-Charlotte Feb. 28.
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Jacob Weiss is a Trinity senior. His column, "not jumping to any conclusions," runs on alternate Fridays.