Whoever said that freshmen need time to adjust to college hasn't met the class of 2001 Duke men's tennis players. This weekend, a quartet of Blue Devil freshmen jumped right into their collegiate debuts at the North Carolina Classic in Chapel Hill like they were veteran collegiate tennis players.
Duke coach Jay Lapidus was "really pleased with the freshmen" and said that they definitely "showed promising signs for this year and for years to come."
Freshman Marcos Cerenko won his first two matches in straight sets before losing to the eventual champion, David Paradizik of the University of Michigan, in the third match by a score of 7-6, 2-6, 6-3.
Cerenko reacted positively to his first tournament experience and commented that, on a whole, the weekend was a good experience for both himself individually and the team in general.
"It was good to get out and finally apply the things we've been learning and working on in practice in an actual match," Cerenko said.
Being the "new guys on the court" did not seem to bother the freshmen. Although there were a few cases of the nerves during the first match, those butterflies burned off quickly and it was solid tennis from then on out.
"To see [how] the freshmen practice everyday is one thing, but to see how they react in a match is another thing," Lapidus said.
Andres Cerenko, another freshman, got off to a shaky start, losing his first match to Brook Blain of Michigan, 6-4, 7-6, while battling a case of first-match jitters. After that, however, Cerenko loosened up and went on to win his next three matches.
"Andres will be a great player this year and in the future," Lapidus said.
Ramsey Smith, yet another freshmen, made an impressive debut in knocking off Adam Seri, North Carolina's number one recruit, 6-3, 7-5.
Freshman Ted Rueger battled what Lapidus termed a tough draw but still showed promise and considerable ability.
It was not just the freshmen, however, who managed to make names for themselves at the North Carolina classic. Senior co-captain Ramin Pejan made it to the finals by winning four consecutive matches against players from Davidson, Notre Dame, UNC and Michigan.
Pejan lost to Jake Raiton of Michigan in the finals, 7-5, 6-4. According to Lapidus, Pejan played at a much higher level this weekend than he has in the past and has impressed the coaching staff this year with his strong work ethic in practice.
Sebastian Gobbi and sophomore Porter Jones also competed in the tournament, with Gobbi picking up a pair of match victories and Jones coming out on top in one match.
The Blue Devils' next action will come in the All-American Tournament on Oct. 16-19 in Austin, Texas.
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