The men's tennis team went into Seattle relatively unheralded on the collegiate tennis scene, but by the end of the USTA/ITA National Indoor Championships, Duke served notice that it may very well be a contender for the NCAA title.
The 10th-ranked Blue Devils (4-2) staged two upsets and reached the semifinals at the tournament, hosted by the University of Washington.
Duke came away with two victories over top-10 opponents before falling to the eventual tournament champions, No. 5 UCLA, 4-2, in the semifinals. Despite the loss, Duke coach Jay Lapidus was pleased with the team's overall performance over the weekend.
"It was a great tournament for us," Lapidus said. "We beat two really strong teams, and I think we really played to our potential this weekend."
The Blue Devils started out strong against the Bruins by winning the doubles point. Although Duke's top doubles tandem of Pedro Escudero and Doug Root lost, Dmitry Muzyka and Jordan Wile beat the eighth-ranked duo of Jason Cook and Brandon Kramer, 8-6. In the deciding match, No. 37 Andres Pedroso and Ramsey Smith beat Chris Sands and Marcin Rozpedski, 8-6.
The Bruins, however, came back against the Blue Devils in singles as UCLA took four of the five matches. Jean-Noel Grinda defeated Root in straight sets, and Escudero fell to Zach Fleishman in a three-set match, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. At the No. 3 spot, Muzyka easily defeated Cook in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2, but the Bruins rallied with victories by Sands and Jong-Min Lee over Porter Jones and Marko Cerenko.
"It was a tough loss for us," Lapidus said. "We were really emotionally tired after playing two seeded teams. We had a chance, but [UCLA] just played really well in singles."
Prior to the loss against UCLA, the Blue Devils earned victories over No. 7 Texas and No. 2 Georgia in the first two rounds of the tournament. The match against the Longhorns was highlighted by Duke sweeping all three doubles matches as well as three come-from-behind victories in singles.
The 48th-ranked Root upset No. 22 Jack Brasington in an especially arduous match. After losing the first set 1-6, Root rallied to beat Brasington in two straight tie-breakers for his third consecutive victory over a higher-ranked opponent.
"Root showed a lot of heart in that match," Lapidus said. "It was a situation where his opponent was really hot and he had to fight tooth and nail to get the win."
In the quarterfinals, Duke pulled off its second upset by taking out No. 2 Georgia, 4-2. The victory was especially sweet since it was the Bulldogs who knocked Duke out in the second round of last year's tournament.
Duke swept Georgia in doubles, while Root and Escudero both took care of ranked opponents in singles. Root defeated No. 12 Hisham Hemeda while Escudero beat No. 15 Chad Carlson in straight sets. The Blue Devils clinched the match after Talito Corrales retired with leg cramps from the No. 5 singles match against Jones.
Despite falling short of the finals, the Blue Devils were pleased with their performance over the weekend. Duke raised some eyebrows with its impressive play, as Lapidus expects bigger and better things for the rest of the season.
"Going into the tournament we were really optimistic because of the way we played against Illinois," Lapidus said. "Historically, we don't do well in indoor tournaments, but with our performance, people will respect us more, and we figure to be ranked in the top five."
With many of the elite programs losing their top players from last year, Lapidus also feels good about Duke's chances for postseason success, as he considers the Blue Devils' talent level to be on par with other teams around the country.
"A lot of the top players a year ago have either graduated or moved on to play professionally, so we have a better chance for success this year relative to the field," Lapidus said. "We still are improving, so we haven't reached our potential yet, and that gives me high hopes for the rest of the season."
Next up for the Blue Devils will be its home opener at Duke Tennis Stadium against Florida Mar. 8 at 1:30 pm.
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