After a 7-0 set-back in frigid Ann Arbor, Mich., last weekend, the Blue Devils warmed up a bit back in the South Saturday afternoon, but not enough to capture a win.
Vanderbilt upset No. 25 Duke 5-2 Saturday afternoon at Currey Tennis Center, Nashville, Tenn. After winning the doubles point for the first time in six matches, the Blue Devils were overwhelmed in singles action, losing five of the six single matches en route to another loss that continued their prolonged slide to start the spring season.
“As a team, I didn’t feel like we competed our best. As a coach that is probably the most disappointing thing that can happen,” Duke head coach Ramsey Smith said. “We didn’t show the heart that we needed, and I know this team has it, but I didn’t see it today. Obviously it was very discouraging.”
Smith reconfigured his doubles pairings to open the match, and it seemed to pay immediate dividends.
The court three tandem of freshman Jason Lapidus and senior Daniel McCall—competing together in a dual match for the first time this spring—could not establish a clear advantage against Vanderbilt's Daniel Valent and Tate Allwardt in the first six games. But after tying the match 3-3, Lapidus and McCall found momentum in the next three games and dispatched the Commodores 6-3.
On court one, freshmen Vincent Lin and Adrian Chamdani struggled against Rhys Johnson and Cameron Klinger. After falling into a 2-0 hole, the Blue Devil duo never recovered, eventually falling 3-6 and evening the doubles score at a court apiece.
All eyes shifted to court 2, where sophomore captain Nicolas Alvarez and freshman Ryan Dickerson cruised through the first four games, grabbing a 4-0 lead against Baker Newman and Pen Binet. But the Commodores (4-3) bounced back later in the match and narrowed the Duke lead to 5-3. In the next game, both sides battled through long rallies and Alvarez and Dickerson came up on top, clinching a 1-0 lead for the Blue Devils (2-6) heading into the singles.
Alvarez had been paired with Lin on court one, but Smith decided a lineup shuffle was in order Saturday.
“We have three totally different double teams,” Smith said. “After losing a couple of double points [in the last match], we rearranged our teams and I thought they played aggressive doubles and those were big improvements on the last couple of matches.”
But whatever spark the doubles point gave Duke was quickly doused by the start of singles play, where the four freshmen in the Blue Devil lineup could not keep pace with their Commodore counterparts. On court four, Klinger overpowered Chamdani in the first set, blanking the Santa Clara, Calif., native 6-0. Chamdani did not win his first game of the match until late in the second set, when he trailed 4-1. Three games later, Klinger sealed the deal 6-2 to even the score, 1-1.
On court three, Newman dispatched Lin with crisp 6-1, 6-0 wins and vaulted the Commodores into the lead. The advantage soon expanded to a 3-1 after a 6-2, 6-1 victory for Vanderbilt freshman Alex Ross against Duke senior Josh Levine at No. 5 singles.
On court one, No. 17 Alvarez quickly fell behind 3-0 early in the first set against No. 97 Valent. The Lima, Peru, native slowly worked to fill the deficit, but his effort was not enough to stop Valent from taking the set, 6-3. After a short break, Alvarez found himself quickly in the second set and nursed a tight lead before Valent tied the match at 3-3. The Zurich native completed his upset with a dominant performance in the next four games, claiming a 6-4 victory that clinched the win for the Commodores.
On court two, No. 91 Mateas led through the majority of the first set but Rhys Johnson slowly climbed his way back to tie the game, 5-5. The Vanderbilt senior had no trouble taking the next two games and claimed the first set 7-5. He went on to hand a 6-4 defeat to Mateas in the second set.
Dickerson registered the lone singles victory for the Blue Devils on court six, topping Allwardt 6-3, 6-0.
Duke will return home to host N.C. A&T and Charlotte for a dual meet Saturday.
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