With temperatures heating up and spring break just around the corner, the Blue Devils are packing their bags for South Florida.
Duke will play two duals this weekend in the Sunshine State, traveling first to Coral Gables Friday to play Miami in a 2:30 p.m. match before turning north for Tallahassee to play Florida State Sunday at noon. The two matches will be the Blue Devils first conference road contests this season, after Duke opened conference play last Sunday against Georgia Tech, which came back from a 2-1 deficit to beat the Blue Devils 4-3.
“Obviously, the finishing part wasn’t quite there [against Georgia Tech],” Duke head coach Ramsey Smith said. “We have to have that kind of killer instinct so that when we’re on top of a guy we stay focused and stay locked in…. We really need to step up and commit to playing aggressive and just playing on our terms a little bit more.”
The Blue Devils (6-7, 0-1 in the ACC) had no trouble asserting themselves against Miami and Florida State last season when they were the No. 6 team in the country, but this year brings fresh challenges.
Key to earning wins against both the Hurricanes (6-5, 1-0) and Seminoles (9-4, 1-1) will be for Duke to get top performances from its rookies. The Blue Devils’ roster includes five freshmen, and at least three first-years are expected to see game action this weekend—Vincent Lin, Ryan Dickerson and Catalin Mateas.
Lin and Dickerson have been top producers for the Blue Devils at the four and five singles spots. Lin leads the team with a 4-1 record on court four, and Dickerson was perfect 3-0 on court five before losing to the Yellow Jacket's Daniel Yun in straight sets.
Mateas has earned a 3-0 ledger on court four, and played on court two in Duke’s match against Georgia Tech, winning the opening set before ultimately seeing his opponent rally back to win 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.
The first full weekend of the ACC play should bring its fair share of challenges for the Blue Devils’ freshman class, but a busy non-conference schedule has provided ample preparation.
“Sometimes, I think it’s a lot nicer to be on the road, just in terms of getting away from the distractions,” Smith said. “Especially, this weekend is the start of spring break, so the guys aren’t having to worry about school too much…. It’s good to get [the freshmen] in a really focused environment and get them focused 100 percent on their tennis.”
The weekend road trip will also bring environmental challenges that the Blue Devils will need to deal with. Duke’s players will need to adjust to playing in the sticky Florida heat, and endure blustery conditions at Miami’s chronically windy home court.
Coach Smith’s team did have the opportunity to practice in the heat this week, as a front bringing 80 degree temperatures swept through Durham and gave the players a chance to sample what awaits them in Tallahassee. The chance of wind in Miami remains a factor that the Blue Devils will need to anticipate, however.
“Obviously, with the wind you have to be a little more patient,” Smith said. “You have to play with a little more margin and make sure to move your feet. You have to realize that it’s not going to be perfect, clean tennis. But you have to realize that it’s the exact same for both players, and you have to handle it better than they do.”
The weekend is an important one for junior TJ Pura and senior Josh Levine as they continue to mend after taking time off due to injury. The pair of upperclassmen performed well in the ACC opener—with Pura winning his singles match—and will look to continue that improvement on the road.
After stepping in for Pura and Levine during their absences, senior Daniel McCall will return to court six this weekend. The San Francisco native originally entered the singles lineup as a stand-in, but has since earned his spot in the lineup, compiling a 3-1 ledger.
“[McCall’s] been awesome,” Smith said. “He’s taken advantage of the situation and stepped up in singles and in doubles. In singles, he’s struggled in past years…but he’s been phenomenal this year, and he’s definitely getting a lot of confidence from the consistency he’s playing with.”
McCall, alongside freshman Jason Lapidus, is also one half of Duke’s best performing doubles team. Winning the doubles has been a point of emphasis for the Blue Devils in practice as of late, and Smith is still tinkering with different combinations in order to nail down the team’s best three pairings.
“We’re just looking to fine tune some things,” Smith said. “Doubles is so fast, I’ve been saying that all year. It really just comes down to a couple points here or there. If we can take care of a couple loose points, obviously that’s going to help…. The goal is to win the doubles point.”
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