In tennis, it's the least-gratifying way to win a game or even a set, much less an entire match.
But when Illinois' Jeff Laski double-faulted away the third-set tiebreaker of his No. 2 singles match against Duke's Ramsey Smith yesterday, the third-ranked Blue Devils (7-1) weren't about to complain.
With Duke leading the 10th-ranked Illini by a score of 3-1, the Blue Devils needed a win from in any one of the three singles matches still being played. Although Illinois would later win the No. 4 and No. 5 singles matches, Duke sealed a 4-3 victory, its first outdoor win of the season, when Laski's second serve fell just inches long at 5-6 in the decisive tiebreaker, capping a run of three straight points by Smith.
"He was up 5-4 [in the tiebreaker] and he had been serving really big," Smith said. "I knew I just had to stay with my serve and hang in there, and he kindly double-faulted there at match point."
Although Smith's duel with Laski ended up being the deciding contest, all eyes were on the action taking place on court one. In the most colorful and least-sportsmanlike match of the day, two of the nation's top-40 players were dishing out more verbal attacks than volley exchanges.
When 37th-ranked Doug Root learned he would face 25th-ranked Cary Franklin in the battle of No. 1 singles players, he knew he was in for an atypical afternoon.
"[Franklin] is not one of the most well-liked guys around," Root said. "I've known him for a while. He is traditionally like that-he makes questionable calls and he is totally obnoxious."
Early in the match, Root played well as he broke to take a 4-2 lead and then held serve to move within a game of the first set at 5-2. But then, with the first set well within reach, Root began to collapse and the Illini senior reeled off 12 unanswered points to win three consecutive love games and knot the game score at 5-5.
Franklin's open-court winner to hold to 5-3 was followed by a stare aimed directly at Root, which drew the crowd into the match as the fans began taunting Illinois' top player. Moments later, after Root dumped a backhand slice into the net to give Franklin back the break and make the score 5-4, Franklin turned to the crowd and for the second time mocked Duke's supporters by putting his finger to his lips.
The gamesmanship had begun, and it was a battle that Root would not survive. After both players held serve to force a tiebreaker, Root called a second serve at 2-0 long, but the umpire overruled Root and awarded Franklin the point.
Root never recovered from that point as Franklin dominated the tiebreaker, winning it at love, and jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the second set courtesy of Root's many mistakes. When Franklin ripped a crushing forehand up the line to complete the 7-6 (7-0), 6-3 victory, he turned to the crowd once again, this time smiling at them and derisively bowing amidst many jeers.
"It was funny because once the crowd got on Cary a lot, he started playing a lot better," Duke coach Jay Lapidus said. "So sometimes the crowd works against you by getting the other guy fired up. Doug just tried to stay out of it, keep his head down and not get involved in the verbal match, but in the end Cary just played better."
Despite Root's loss, the Blue Devils won three out of the six singles matches as Andres Pedroso and Marko Cerenko both crushed their opponents in straight-set wins. In the doubles action, Duke claimed the critical point by winning at both first and third doubles. Duke's combination of Porter Jones and Michael Yani defeated the No. 3 tandem from Illinois 8-4, while Root and Smith edged out Franklin and Graydon Oliver 8-6 behind two strong serving performances.
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