The first leg of the collegiate grand slam gave the men's tennis team a chance to deal with an unfamiliar surface--and some unfamiliar names.
The T. Rowe Price National Clay Court Championships, held in Baltimore, presented the Blue Devils with some early-season challenges. This tournament is the only time Duke competes on clay courts.
Seniors Rob Chess and Peter Ayers teamed up to compete in the main draw of the doubles. The Duke duo is ranked No. 2 preseason, but received a surprise as unseeded and unknown Phil Cooper and Simon Evelyn of Wichita State downed the Blue Devils in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4.
"We came out there and we didn't know them as a team," assistant coach Dave Hagymas said of Cooper and Evelyn. "Maybe we took them too lightly because we'd never heard of them before. They came out on fire. They came out playing the best tennis that a lot of teams could play. Our guys were a little bit flat--they hadn't played doubles all year."
Chess, ranked No. 22 in the nation, also fell in the first round of the main draw to No. 19 Jan Hermansson from South Alabama, 6-1, 6-1.
"Hermansson played extremely well," Hagymas said. "Rob played OK--he didn't play that bad. Hermansson was just playing the best that he could play. He beat Rob pretty badly and then Rob started playing back draw matches."
Chess fared better in the consolation round, pulling out some tough matches to advance to the finals of that round. Louisiana State's Gus Fernandez bested Chess in a three-setter on Sunday in the finals.
"[Rob] beat some good clay-court players along the way," Hagymas said. "He improved with every match. [The match against Fernandez] was probably the best level of tennis I'd seen all week in any match--main draw or back draw. It was a great week for Rob. He learned a lot."
A bright point for the Blue Devils was the play of freshman Dmitry Muzyka. A native of Ukraine, Muzyka advanced all the way through the qualifying rounds to receive a spot in the main draw. After playing two matches per day to qualify, he could not get past his first-round opponent in the main draw, Mississippi's Johan Hede, who is ranked No. 11. The Bulldog edged Muzyka 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.
"We're definitely impressed with the way [Muzyka] qualified," Hagymas said. "He beat some very respected players along the way. When he got to the main draw, what really impressed me is that he was playing shot for shot with one of the best players in the country. The match could have gone either way."
Ayers also played in the qualifying round, but dropped his opening match.
Three other players squared off in their first fall tournament at the UNC Invitational in Chapel Hill this weekend. Senior Jordan Murray, sophomore Ramin Pejan and freshman Jordan Wile all advanced to the quarterfinals of the tournament.
Murray, who played sporadically last season due to illness and injuries, won two matches before falling to North Carolina's David Britt in a three-setter, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1.
"It's been nice to have Jordan back," head coach Jay Lapidus said. "He's really working hard and he's healthy. He played a couple of real good matches."
Pejan also fell to a Tar Heel in the quarterfinal round, losing to Paul Harsayni, 6-0, 6-1.
Wile, playing in his first collegiate tournament, lasted through a tough first-round match--one in which his opponent was serving for match point in the second set--and picked up another win before falling to Virginia's Scott Lebovitz in the third round.
"I was real happy with the way he played," Lapidus said. "He's a great fighter--he hits the ball real clean. He's got a lot of room for improvement in certain areas of his game."
Regardless of the results of the weekend's matches, the Blue Devils are concentrating on just getting matches in, to prepare them for the spring season of team competition.
"We just want to see what our players can do," Hagymas said. "This early in the year, we don't expect much more than [what they did]. We were pleased."
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