The men's tennis team out-battled the Fighting Irish to gain a 7-0 win Saturday afternoon in South Bend, Ind.
The fifth-ranked Blue Devils improved their record to 3-0 behind a strong team effort. Duke head coach Jay Lapidus said he was extremely pleased with his team's overall performance against 15th-ranked Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish fell to 3-3 on the season.
"When you win 7-0, you know that everyone came through well," Lapidus said. "All-around, it was a good effort. All of our players either blew out their opponents or fought very hard to win in three sets."
Leading the way for the Blue Devils was senior Chris Pressley, who won his No. 1 singles match against Mike Sprouse, 6-2, 6-2. Pressley, who was ranked third in the preseason, continues to improve after returning from a shoulder injury that forced him to sit out the entire fall season. His return this spring has been slowed somewhat by an ankle injury which has hindered his mobility.
"Chris played a lot better," Lapidus said. "He's moving about 95 percent now, and he should be back to 100 percent by the end of this week."
Pressley also teamed with Nick Walrod to win his match at No. 3 doubles, 8-5. The Blue Devils swept all three of the doubles matches by the same 8-5 score, quickly gaining the first point of the match.
After the doubles victories, Duke easily earned the remaining three points necessary for the win with straight-set victories by Pressley, 22nd-ranked junior Rob Chess and senior Philippe Moggio. Chess defeated Ryan Simme, 6-2, 6-2, and Moggio scored a 6-4, 6-0 win over Jakub Pietrowski.
"Pressley, Chess and Moggio all played very well," Lapidus said. "They all won within an hour or an hour and a half, and each of them won while losing only four games."
The remaining three singles matches were all won by Duke players in three sets. Freshman Sebastien Gobbi turned in an especially strong performance in his 6-7, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Ron Mencias.
"Sebastien lost the first set in a very long, hard-fought set," Lapidus said. "He worked extremely hard to come back and win the match. For a freshman to come back and win a match like that is great."
Next up for the Blue Devils is the National Team Indoors, which begins this Thursday in Louisville, Ky.
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