In several of its matches this season, the men's tennis team has struggled with its doubles play.
But when the ninth-ranked Blue Devils (10-4, 2-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) needed to win the doubles point to capture a victory over No. 30 Kentucky on Sunday, Duke stepped up its play and took the 4-3 contest from the Wildcats.
"When it came down to clinch time in the doubles, I thought we actually played very well," head coach Jay Lapidus said. "When the pressure was on, we really rose to the occasion."
In men's collegiate tennis matches, the doubles matches are normally played before the singles matches, but threatening weather conditions made Lapidus and the Wildcats' coach decide to tackle the singles first.
"There was rain coming in and they only have four indoor courts," Lapidus said. "Their women had a match before [our match], so we decided the day before that we were going to have singles first-that way we wouldn't run into huge problems.
"Most of the times it's unusual that it goes three-up, if it was over in singles we would have just been done with it.... As the luck would have it, it went three-all so we had to play the doubles."
This time, the Blue Devils came through with wins at the first and second doubles spots to ensure them of their 10th victory of the season.
"When we have a real sense of urgency in doubles, I think we play a lot better," Lapidus said. "I think that's one of the problems with our doubles. If we play it first, we sometimes don't think that it's going to come down to that.... When it's three-all, and we play the doubles, I feel like the guys obviously know that it's do or die at that point."
Seniors Rob Chess and Peter Ayers, who are ranked sixth in the nation in doubles, finished off their opponents at No. 1 doubles, while junior Sven Koehler and freshman Dmitry Muzyka also won at the No. 2 slot. The third match was suspended, since it was no longer relevant to the outcome.
"Rob and Pete are playing really, really well right now," Lapidus said. "They're just beating people badly. They're playing well, and [Muzyka] and Sven have been solid, and at three we're starting to play better. I'm feeling more confident about our doubles now."
The Blue Devils uncharacteristically dropped two of its top three singles matches, as Chess and Koehler fell at the first and third spots, respectively. Kentucky's Cedric Kauffmann downed Chess in a two-setter, 7-6, 6-2, while Wildcat Ludde Sundin needed three sets to squeeze past Koehler, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.
"It was kind of a match where as a group we didn't play our absolute best tennis, but I thought we fought," Lapidus said. "We looked a little lethargic at a couple of positions in singles, but then when our back was against the wall, we picked it up a notch."
Kentucky's Patrik Johansson knocked off freshman Jordan Wile at the sixth position, 6-7, 7-6, 6-2.
"[Johansson] just played well," Lapidus said. "Jordan was just having a little bit of an off day."
Although Lapidus did not cite one specific reason that his players dropped three of their singles matches, he did say that fatigue figured into the scenario.
"A couple of the guys said they really felt kind of sluggish and tired," Lapidus said. "We were a little bit tired as a team almost in the singles, but I think the adrenaline kicked in for the doubles."
After traveling back from Lexington, the Blue Devils have little time to rest, as they are set to return to conference play this afternoon in Raleigh. Duke takes on N.C. State at 2 p.m.
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