It is becoming routine for the men's tennis team. Each Atlantic Coast Conference match has meant another blowout, as Duke has yet to lose more than one point against an ACC foe this season.
Saturday afternoon, the seventh-ranked Blue Devils made quick work of another opponent, this time downing Wake Forest, 6-1. Duke moved to 16-4 on the season and 5-0 in the ACC, while Wake Forest fell to 10-11, 3-3.
The Blue Devils had to perform without the services of sophomore number two singles player Chris Pressley, ranked 25th in the NCAA, who is out with a fractured wrist. It didn't make any difference, as three seniors, three freshman, and one sophomore combined for the victory.
"I thought the guys played well," head coach Jay Lapidus said. "Dave [Hall] kind of had an off day, but the rest of the guys kind of picked up the slack pretty well."
The conditions provided almost as many problems as the Demon Deacons did on the cloudy and windy afternoon.
"[The problem] was fighting the conditions," freshman Rob Chess said. "I just wanted to make sure that I didn't let everything else bother me, like it was kind of dark out, and then it would get sunny out, and it was just windy as hell."
The only point the Blue Devils lost on the day was Hall's match at number one singles. Hall, the No. 12 player in the nation, was never able to get his rhythm and was upset 6-3, 6-3 by unranked Siggi Degler.
"[Degler] looked like he was playing out of his mind," Lapidus said. "He played really well.
"It's exciting for these guys to come in and have an opportunity to play against Dave -- he's ranked so high. This guy was probably so excited to play against Dave that he came out, a very talented player, and played sort of above himself, and Dave didn't play as well, and that was the reason for the outcome."
Hall was constantly frustrated by Degler's consistency and shot-making ability and often made unforced errors when trying to overhit the ball.
"I had to avoid [Hall's] forehand," Degler said. "I didn't really try to just put it in. You have to put pressure on him. I just put pressure on him and approached at the right times, and it worked out."
Outside of that match, though, it was a fairly routine day for the Blue Devils. Duke did get out to a slow start in the doubles but managed to pull out two of three matches for the point.
At number two doubles, Chess and fellow freshman Peter Ayers continued their solid play together with an 8-4 win over Jason Marler and Scott Ashley.
"We're just playing with a lot of confidence now," Chess said. "We're having fun out there the way we're playing right now."
"I feel really confident at [the number two] spot right now," Lapidus said. "When [Chess and Ayers] are together, they're very tough to beat."
At No. 3, senior Willy Quest and sophomore Phillipe Moggio fell behind 4-1 to Suraj Batheja and Quentin Huff, but they made up the break and won 8-5.
"We started out a little slow," Quest said. "We haven't played together in a while. It took a while to feel each other out, and then we kind of cruised after that."
Duke did lose at the number one position, as freshman Jordan Murray teamed with Hall for the first time in a doubles match and lost 8-3 to Degler and Guhl.
In singles, Duke rolled at the two through six positions. At the second spot, senior Jason Rayman crushed Jeff Landau, 6-0, 6-2. Wake's usual No. 2 player suffered an injury in the doubles, so an ACC rule forced Landau, not normally in Wake Forest's starting lineup, to move all the way up to the second spot, and Rayman made quick work of the freshman.
Quest cruised by Lawrence Kiey, 6-2, 6-3, and Ayers downed Huff, 6-1, 6-3. Chess defeated Marler, 6-2, 6-4, while Murray dropped the first set but came back and won 3-6, 6-0, 6-1 over Athey.
The conditions made the matches more of a struggle than they might otherwise have been.
"When it's that windy it's best to just go ahead and get your win and get out of there," Ayers said.
The win followed Duke's 6-1 win over No. 14 North Carolina on Wednesday and was the first match without Pressley, who has Duke's best record this season.
"Obviously, Chris is a crucial part of our team," Rayman said. "But, I think that looking towards the ACC's [Apr. 23-25], we can still pick up the slack and win every match because this team is so strong and deep . . . We're going to miss Chris, but we'll be okay until he comes back."
Pressley is expected to miss at least another week and a half with a fractured right wrist he suffered in the UNC match.
"With Chris being out for a while, we're going to have to make due," Lapidus said. "We're hoping [to get him back for the ACC's. We'll just have to wait and see."
Duke will play its last home match of the season Tuesday at 2 p.m. against N.C. State. The Blue Devils will then finish out the regular season with three road matches, starting this Wednesday against a tough South Carolina team.
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