Last weekend, the men's tennis team traveled to Georgia Tech and clinched the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season title. Essentially going through a revolving door, Duke (16-6, 8-0 in the ACC) will return to Atlanta tomorrow to claim the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament.
Recently,the No. 12 Blue Devils have been a dynasty in the tournament, winning four years in a row and five out of the last six. With the top seed in the tournament and a 14-game ACC winning streak, they seem poised to replicate their previous victories.
"We've built a tremendous tradition in the conference," head coach Jay Lapidus said. "You always look back at the ACC Tournament as something that's really special."
Although Duke boasts a perfect 8-0 record in the ACC this year, the Blue Devils have hardly steamrolled over the opposition. Towards the end of the season, Duke made a habit of barely squeezing by ACC competition in close matches, winning 4-3 against Virginia, North Carolina and Clemson.
"It's going to be competitive," Lapidus said. "There's no way that you could say it's a sure thing that we're going to win the tournament."
The Blue Devils have also learned through watching other Duke teams this year that a regular season ACC title does not guarantee a victory in the tournament.
"It's just like basketball," freshman Porter Jones said. "We just have to keep our mindset that no matter how the regular season turned out, anything can happen in the tournament."
The field in the tournament is especially strong this year, with five ACC teams ranked in the top 40. Clemson, North Carolina, Georgia Tech and Virginia have brought respectability to the ACC-not perennially a national power in men's tennis.
"There are some teams that are really dangerous." Lapidus said. "It may be a matter of once again coming through in a couple of close matches."
In particular, Duke must deal with its ever-present rival, UNC. The match against the No. 31 Tar Heels on April 9 was Duke's toughest ACC competition of the season. The teams, both unbeaten at the time, met in Chapel Hill, and with the score tied at 3-3, Alberto Brause rallied to defeat Robert Tedesco, 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 to give Duke the victory.
Brause, ranked No. 31 nationally, has been rock solid in the No. 2 singles position of late, coming through in key matches. At the No. 1 singles spot freshman Doug Root broke a five-match losing streak against Georgia Tech on Saturday.
Sophomore Dmitry Muzyka has been playing at No. 3 singles since returning from a stress fracture in his left foot that sidelined him for most of the season. Muzyka, still recovering from his injury, has yet to win in singles play, but Duke is optimistic about his progress.
"If we get Dmitry back to 100 percent and if Doug's playing well, I don't think any team can beat us," Jones said.
In doubles competition, Duke's No. 1 team of Root and sophomore Jordan Wile has been strong throughout the season. Ranked seventh in the nation, the duo is 7-1 in ACC play.
The tournament was originally slated to take place in Greenwood, S.C., but was relocated to Atlanta to coincide with the ACC women's tennis, men's and women's track and men's and women's golf Tournaments.
Duke will begin play at 3 p.m. on Friday at the Racquet Club of the South. The Blue Devils will face the winner of today's match in Atlanta between N.C. State and Maryland, the No. 8 and No. 9 seeds in the tournament.
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