Chronicle staff writer
Its regular season over, Atlantic Coast Conference title in hand, the men's tennis team prepares to take on the nation as it gears up for the NCAA Tournament.
Before Duke (14-5) can take on the big guns in the NCAA championship, it will probably have to win its regional competition, taking place May 15-17. The top eight seeds receive automatic bids to the national championship, but coach Jay Lapidus finds it highly unlikely that his team will be awarded the opportunity to bypass regionals.
"There won't be any chance we won't have to go to regionals," he said. "There are seven teams in the top eight that are really solid.... We'll probably end up somewhere in the 9-13 range. I'd be shocked if we were to make the top eight."
Both where and who the 15th-ranked Blue Devils will play depend on not only their own final ranking but also that of rival South Carolina. The Gamecocks, currently ranked No. 14, present the Blue Devils with their toughest competition in their region. Whichever of the two teams comes out higher when the next set of rankings is released will compete in Richmond, Va., while the other team will be shipped to another region farther away.
The NCAA selection committee won't have an easy time deciding which team is the better one. Duke has a better record than South Carolina (17-6), but when the two teams met in head-to-head competition on March 12, Duke dropped a tough 4-3 decision. The Blue Devils, however, have been on a tear of late, posting a 10-match winning streak-their last loss came to fifth-ranked Texas on April 4-while five of the Gamecocks' six losses came after their contest with Duke.
Nevertheless, the Blue Devils don't think a longer trip could have any adverse effects on their play.
"I'd definitely like to play in Richmond... but I don't think playing somewhere else would necessarily be more difficult," freshman Ramsey Smith said. "We're going to play good teams anywhere we go."
If Duke does play in Richmond, it can also expect some tough competition from Virginia, whom it defeated, 4-2, at last weekend's ACC Tournament.
In order to make a good showing at the NCAA Tournament, the Blue Devils will have to improve their doubles play. They have lost the doubles point in three of their last five matches. Duke's greatest weakness lies at No. 2 doubles, where the tandem of Smith and junior Dmitry Muzyka has lost five of its last six matches.
"They're two very good doubles players, but they haven't clicked at this point," Lapidus said of Muzyka and Smith. "I hate to keep rearranging things, but our doubles isn't up to par with our singles. We need to get our doubles up to that level, whether it's with the same teams improving their play, or with different teams."
Fortunately for the Blue Devils, Smith, Muzyka and their teammates have fared much better in singles. Smith posts the winningest record on the team with a 33-6 mark at No. 4 singles.
In the No. 3 spot, Muzyka has recently come into his own. After faltering early in the season, he clinched Duke's victory over Wake Forest with a three-set nail-biter in the last regular season match and went on to earn ACC Tournament MVP honors by winning all three of his matches in straight sets.
"Dmitry had been struggling with his confidence ever since he injured his foot last year," Lapidus said. "Winning that match at Wake Forest really motivated him.... His level of motivation has increased 50 percent in the last one and a half weeks, and when he turns on, he's exceptional."
Duke's singles hasn't been running as smoothly at all six singles spots, however. At No. 1, the 18th-ranked Doug Root suffered two upsets at the ACC Tournament, dropping matches to Virginia's Brian Vahaly and N.C. State's Roberto Bracone, ranked 55th nationally.
"I just kind of got off to some bad starts and never really recovered," Root said. "I just need to start faster."
Wherever the Blue Devils end up for Regionals, they expect to go far.
"We're a real dangerous team," Root said. "We've had some tight losses... but we can beat anybody on any given day."
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