The men's tennis team traveled to the South Carolina Invitational this weekend and came away with a number of impressive finishes.
Junior Alberto Brause and freshman Porter Jones each won their singles bracket, and the doubles team of Jones and senior Adam Gusky claimed the A-1 doubles championship.
Brause, who is ranked 44th nationally, won four matches in straight sets to take the A-2 singles bracket, knocking off opponents Josh Osswald of Wake Forest 6-0, 6-2, Trevor Bethune of Charleston South 7-5, 6-1 and Alex Lenhoff of UNC-Greensboro 6-3, 6-2. Brause, a transfer from Michigan State, played Scott Lebovitz of Virginia in the finals on Sunday and defeated him 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
In the A-1 singles bracket, freshman Porter Jones dominated the courts, destroying Sasha Pare of UNC-Charlotte 6-1, 6-1 and Chase Hodges of UNC-Wilmington 6-1, 6-0 in the preliminary rounds on Friday. On Saturday Jones downed Juan DeAngolo of ETSU, 6-0, 6-4, and then moved on to vanquish Nicolas Lavallee of Charleston Southern 6-2, 7-5. Jones advanced to the final round Sunday, in which he defeated Robert Wojcik of South Carolina 7-5, 6-2.
The A-1 doubles team of Jones and Gusky crushed teams from Barton and Virginia in the first two rounds, advancing to contend with a tandem from North Carolina in the semifinals on Sunday. Although Jones and Gusky did not have many opportunities to practice together prior to the invitational, they overcame a formidable opponent in the Tar Heel team of Eric Saunders and Paul Harsanyi in a very close match, pulling it out in the end to win 9-8. In the final, they faced Adam McNab and Eric Gordon, another pair from Chapel Hill, whom they defeated in a default.
Jones, who injured his shoulder earlier in the fall, will spend the next two weeks focusing on improving his serve as well as spending more time playing doubles with Gusky. In order for him to be able to play without further aggravating his injury, Duke coaches changed his serve. Consequently, Jones feels that he will need to refine his serving technique to ensure a good showing throughout the rest of the season.
Like most other tennis tournaments during the fall semester, the purpose of the South Carolina Invitational is mainly to determine which players will compete in the spring tournaments. As there are presently 10 singles players on Duke's team and only six are eligible to compete in tournaments during the spring semester, Duke coach Jay Lapidus will decide which players will claim the top spots based on their individual performances in the fall.
"This was really an individual tournament," Brause said. "For the guys who won, it's a way of getting more matches in and getting ready for the spring. The fall is more individual, to get everyone ready for next semester."
The A-2 doubles team of Brause and freshman Doug Root did not fare as well, however. Brause and Root defeated a pair from Wofford 8-4, only to lose to Virginia Tech's doubles combination in the quarterfinal round.
In the A-2 singles bracket, Root advanced through the first two rounds, subduing Cullen deWindt of James Madison to slip by in two sets 7-6, 7-6. Root had no time to bask in the thrill of victory, though, as Tadej Senk of Georgia State defeated him 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.
Sophomore Ramin Pejan also competed in the A-1 singles. Pejan lost to Sreeniwas Puahbu of Georgia College 2-6, 6-0, 6-3 in the first round.
The Blue Devils will return to the courts on Nov. 7 when they will compete in the Rolex Indoor Qualifier in Chapel Hill.
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