Very few teams can claim to have won anything-much less an ACC title-seven out of the last 10 years. The men's tennis team, however, struts into the season with that claim attached to its current No. 4 ranking.
"I don't really think anyone else in the ACC can contend this year," junior Marko Cerenko said. "We're better than everyone else [in the conference]. This year, our goal is a national championship."
The Blue Devils had their first chance to prove that statement this weekend. And prove it they did, pounding Charleston Southern, a team they beat in the NCAAs last year, 7-0 for their first win of the spring season.
Duke has been even more convincing against better teams. During the winter season, in singles, it had three out of the four semifinalists in the ACC Indoor Championship.
Currently, Duke has five players in the top 62 ITA rankings. Two of the team's three seniors, Doug Root and Pedro Escudero, rank 33 and 36, respectively. Meanwhile, the junior triumvirate of Andres Pedroso, Ramsey Smith and Marko Cerenko stand 44, 59 and 62 in the NCAA rankings.
While many individuals appear to be loaded with talent, team accomplishments supersede any individual ones.
"I'd like to make the NCAAs this year," Pedroso said. "That's my goal, but this is a team sport and I will do my best to fill my role on this team."
As for the team itself, Duke currently ranks behind only UCLA, LSU and Stanford
"I don't really have any individual goals," said Cerenko. "I want to do my part for the team so we can win a national championship."
Last year, Duke went into the NCAA tournament with a national ranking of No. 2, but lost in the quarterfinals to LSU. This year, the Blue Devils hope to improve upon that finish, and believe they have the tools to do so.
Of last year's top six players, Duke only lost Dmitry Muzyka.
"We have a lot of good players on the team," Cerenko said. "We play each other in practice and we make each other better. On most teams the one and two guys have almost no competition, but our one and two guys have a lot."
For example, Cerenko plays No. 5 singles for the Blue Devils, but would likely start in the top three for most teams. Because of the steep in-practice competition, Duke will likely change around its ladder for the first part of the season.
"Coach [Lapidus] has made it real clear that we will mix the ladder around," Pedroso said. "There is no set order; whoever is playing better will get the nod. That way we will always be giving teams a different look."
Not only are the Blue Devils deep on the singles side, but their doubles ability also goes way past only one great pair-just ask the rest of the ACC. At the ACC Indoor, the Blue Devil teams of Root and Smith, and Ted Reuger and Cerenko, created an all-Duke final, which Root and
"Last year, I really only played singles," Cerenko said. "But this year I will play doubles too. That should really make me more of a better singles player because I'll have that match before to get warmed up and get a feel for the competition."
As far as the rest of the ACC goes, UVa ranks 21st and Clemson is 25th, but it looks like they will be competing for second place while Duke returns to its usual spot at the top of the standings.
"We're definitely a better team than anyone out there," Pedroso said. "But we're not entirely unstoppable. It's going to come down to whoever wants it more."
The Blue Devils will get their first real spring-season test when they travel to Richmond, Va., Thursday to take on Virginia Commonwealth. The Rams currently are ranked ninth in the country and should provide some tough early-season competition. Last year, the Blue Devils beat the Rams in a close match 4-3.
No matter how that contest ends, Duke's best competition this year might be during practice. Very few teams in the nation have five or six players who can all compete with each other, but the Blue Devils believe they have such a team.
"It's definitely a plus when there is great competition in practice," Pedroso said. "If you know that anyone can beat anyone else you always have to play your hardest. You can't afford to have a bad day because if you do, someone could take your spot."
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