Freshman Peter Ayers got set in the ad court to deliver a thunderous serve. He and his partner, fellow freshman Rob Chess, were struggling to rally back to win their doubles match against the Miami Hurricanes on Saturday afternoon at the Duke Tennis Stadium. Winning at least two of the three doubles matches -- which are played before the singles matches this year as part of a new format -- would have give Duke a 1-0 cushion going into singles play.
Ayers fully extended his 6-2 frame and delivered his serve at full power. But the sound that followed was not the clean strike of a tennis ball smacking the hard court. Unfortunately, the next surface that the ball smacked was the back of Chess' head. It was that kind of afternoon for the doubles teams.
"Doubles pretty much sucked," senior Dave Hall said. "It was very negative, horrendous. I didn't feel like we were getting the support that we needed . . . It was a very negative experience."
The Blue Devils dropped two out of three doubles matches. But then they settled down, winning all but one of their singles matches to take the match by a score of 5-2. The Blue Devils were coming off their fourth straight 7-0 decision, a non-conference bout with West Virginia on Friday, and they started a little slow against Miami.
"Doubles was not good today," head coach Jay Lapidus said. "It's tough [with this year's format]. We're having trouble getting out and getting fired up right from the beginning in doubles. Especially with pro-set doubles, it's tough, because if you go down an early break, you're struggling to catch up the whole time.
"Against good doubles players, it's so hard to break serve anyway. When you're down an early break, you put yourself at a huge disadvantage."
Hall and senior Willy Quest lost at first doubles, but then they both came out and had solid performances in their respective singles matches. Quest won in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1. Hall manhandled Tonny Pieterman, 6-1, 6-1, at No. 1 singles. The win was an opportunity for Hall to return a favor. Pieterman had faced Hall earlier in doubles.
"Once the doubles was over, I pretty much put it out of my mind completely," Hall said. "It didn't even enter my mind at all, which is, I think, why I was able to play a little better in singles."
Sophomore Chris Pressley made it through the afternoon unscathed, notching wins in both his singles and doubles matches. Pressley paired up with freshman Jordan Murray, and the pair posted an 8-3 victory at No. 3 doubles. Pressley felt that this year's new format contributed to Duke's difficulties against the Hurricanes.
"The doubles is something that we really need to work on," Pressley said. "It's a little different going out there right from the bat and playing doubles.
"I just think some of the guys [in doubles] are lazy, just not into it. If things don't go well, they get a little negative and it just spirals down . . . Sometimes, I think we just go out there flat."
From a spectator's standpoint, it was clearly a day to sit back, enjoy the sunshine and watch Ayers. During one stretch this season the freshman from Charlotte played five straight split-set matches. Saturday he was up to his old tricks, winning in three sets, 6-7, 6-4, 6-3.
"I've played a ton of matches like that this year," Ayers said. "I was up in the first, 5-2, and let it slip away in a tie-breaker. I had to really buckle down and stay with it. I just think I loosened up a bit once the team clinched the match."
Ayers' coach is not concerned about his young player's long-term approach to the game.
"Peter [Ayers] just is notorious for pulling out close matches," Lapidus said. "He has long matches, but he always wins them. That's a great sign."
Lapidus was pleased to pull out the win, but he was clearly disappointed in the way the first part of the match went for his team. At one point, he even voiced his concern to his first doubles team.
"If you don't want to play, why don't you just leave?" Lapidus asked.
Lapidus was concerned about the lack of enthusiasm that his team showed against Miami. He was not exactly angry, but he knew that he had to make his team understand the need to maintain their focus.
"I was upset because I didn't feel like the effort was very good [on first doubles]," Lapidus said. "Everyone's working so hard. When you feel like the effort isn't there, it gets very frustrating sometimes."
With some tough matches on the horizon, Lapidus is acutely aware of the need for his players to raise their level of intensity, and he felt that that may have been lacking in the early going against Miami.
"Even if you don't feel like being fired up, you have to pretend your fired up," Lapidus said. "Try to put forth a good effort. We need to do that against good teams."
The ninth-ranked Blue Devils will not need to feign their hunger this week. On Wednesday, Duke will take the short trip to Chapel Hill to do battle with the 13th-ranked Tar Heels. UNC barey defeated the Blue Devils, 5-4, last year in the ACC championship match, a contest that will surely be weighing on the minds of players wearing both shades of blue.
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