With a rough week behind the men's tennis team and a crucial match tomorrow, coach Jay Lapidus elected to rest his top three singles players against Maryland Tuesday afternoon at Duke Tennis Stadium.
Even without Alberto Brause, Dmitry Muzyka and Doug Root, No. 11 Duke swept the non-scholarship Terrapins, 7-0.
Instead, for the first time in his career, senior captain Jordan Wile assumed the top singles spot. Wile, who is more accustomed to the No. 1 doubles spot, had lost to Maryland's top singles player, Dale Cathell, earlier in the season.
Tuesday, Wile easily avenged his earlier loss, winning in straight sets 6-3, 6-3 and demonstrating the depth of the Blue Devils (7-3, 2-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference).
"I feel I can play any spot at any time," Wile said. "Everybody on our team can."
The match marked the second conference match for Duke following its 4-2 victory over Florida State this weekend.
"It's always nice to win an ACC match," Wile said. "Every match is important regardless of who we're playing."
In addition to downing Florida State last week, Duke defeated Miami 6-1 and narrowly lost to No. 6 South Carolina 4-3.
Because Brause, Muzyka and Root rested in singles play, several other Blue Devils got the opportunity to play.
Freshman Andres Pedroso, sophomore Porter Jones and freshman Ted Rueger took over at the No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 singles spots, all winning in straight sets. Pedroso defeated Kyle Cerminara 6-1, 6-1, Jones pounded Luan Nguyen 6-0, 6-1 and Rueger cruised to a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Dan Kenshale.
"It was nice to see the guys who haven't played much step in," Wile said. "Everybody today really did their job."
Brause, Muzyka and Root did compete in doubles competition. All three doubles teams won easily, giving Duke the doubles point.
Tomorrow Duke faces Notre Dame, in what may be a key match in determining whether it will qualify outright in the NCAA Tournament.
Last year the Blue Devils lost a 4-3 decision to the Fighting Irish early in the season, sending their ranking down and eventually forcing them to play in the NCAA Regionals to get to the Tournament.
Notre Dame, a young team, has won nine consecutive matches, including a victory over Harvard on Saturday.
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