What started out as a promising tournament for the men's tennis team became a slight disappointment when no Blue Devil advanced past the second round in the Reebok/ITA All-American Championships.
Sophomore Doug Root, No. 30 in the country, gave Duke a strong initial spark. In the first round of the tournament on Thursday, he upset third-seed Cedric Kauffman of Kentucky, 6-4, 6-4.
"It was a good matchup for me," Root said. "I hit the ball pretty hard and he had trouble handling it."
One turning point of the match came when the score was tied at three games apiece in the second set. Kauffman, ranked seventh in the country, threw his racket after a questionable call on a serve. The official gave Kauffman a penalty, which allowed Root to break his serve.
Root's victory contributed to the upset-ridden competition, which saw the first, second, and third ranked singles players fall in the first two rounds.
The second round was also fatal for Root, however, as he lost 6-1, 6-2 to UCLA's Jean-Noel Grinda. Grinda's No. 50 ranking is not entirely reflective of his abilities, however. For the past two years, Grinda has played professionally and has been ranked in the top 250 in the world.
"We both play really similarly," Root said. "He's just a little more consistent. He'll probably be ranked in the top 10 by the end of the season."
Senior Alberto Brause, ranked 28th nationally, also exited the tournament in the second round of play. After defeating Christian Jaeger of UT-Arlington 6-3, 6-4 in the first round, Brause fell to seventh-seeded Lee Pearson of Auburn, 6-2, 6-4.
The All-American Tournament is the second leg of the Collegiate Grand Slam and is generally regarded as by far the most difficult hard court competition of the fall.
Root and Brause received automatic bids to play in the main singles draw, and senior Dmitry Muzyka earned a spot through qualifying rounds. Freshman Andres Pedroso and junior Jordan Wile participated in the qualifiers but did not make it to the main draw.
"It's remarkable just to be there as a freshman," Root said of Pedroso. "It will be easier for him the rest of the year because he's already seen all the best players."
Both the seventh-ranked doubles team of Root and Wile, and the No. 22 duo of Muzyka and Pedroso gained automatic berths.
In doubles competition, the second round proved fatal for Root and Wile. The All-American combo advanced past a Texas-Arlington team in the first round, but fell to John James and Chris Westlin of South Alabama 6-3, 6-3 on Friday. Westlin and James finished second in the tournament.
Ironically, Wile had beaten Westlin in singles competition in the qualifying rounds of the tournament.
Muzyka and Pedroso fell in the first round of the main draw to Dvoracek and Kuarac of Oklahoma State.
The Blue Devils' next competition of the fall season is the South Carolina Invitational in Columbia, S.C. from October 24-26.
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