Recovering from a score of illnesses that kept him out of singles play during the ACC indoor championships a week-and-a-half ago, freshman Phillip King bounced back this weekend to sweep both the singles and doubles titles at the adidas Tennis Classic in Orlando, Fla.
King knocked out two ranked opponents, including teammate Ramsey Smith in the finals, as he claimed his first collegiate singles title in his first collegiate singles tournament. His triumph in doubles with Duke senior Marko Cerenko, who is the second-ranked player in the nation, gave King an unexpected perfect weekend.
"I didn't expect to go in and sweep; I didn't think I was healthy enough, but I played a lot of tennis and I started to feel better and feel stronger every day," said King, who was recovering from multiple ailments that included the flu, strep throat and a couple infections.
In the quarterfinals and finals, King displayed no signs of ill effects as he proved capable of enduring the rigor of three-set matches in both rounds. He then had to follow up his singles championship with a close contest in the doubles final, a 9-7 victory for Cerenko and King over Pepperdine's Chase Exon and Al Garland.
King said he felt exhausted during the doubles play, while Cerenko withdrew from the singles draw after falling sick to food poisoning on the eve of the tournament. Despite their battles to stay healthy, the two rounded out an impressive weekend for Duke, which, in addition to King's two championships in the main flight, also boasted senior Ted Rueger's singles title in the B flight.
Still, the story of the weekend was not the team's success, but rather the stellar debut of Duke's talented freshman.
On his road to the singles championship, King dispatched Garland, a top-20 player for the Pepperdine Waves, in the quarterfinals. After dropping the opening set, King won handily in the next two sets with scores of 6-3, 6-2 before advancing through the semifinal round to reach the championship match.
He then found himself confronted with a familiar foe in Smith, who played on Duke's top doubles team last season and is currently ranked No. 11 in the nation.
"It was really weird because I trust him a lot," King said. "It's really weird to go from asking him for advice to a situation where I'm trying to figure out his weaknesses and exploit them."
Although No. 2 Tennessee, No. 12 Pepperdine and No. 51 Northwestern all had players in attendance at the adidas Tennis Classic, Duke coach Jay Lapidus was not surprised when his two stars collided in the finals. The veteran coach of the Blue Devils was obviously pleased that both his players had a good run through the tournament, but he also acknowledged that the teammate vs. teammate matches are not the most enjoyable for him or the players.
"It's kind of unfortunate because having teammates play each other is never a lot of fun," Lapidus said. "But they both had great attitudes about it and gave each other a good quality match."
King said the three-set match came down to no more than a handful of points, with the freshman pulling out a couple more big points than his elder teammate.
His coach, meanwhile, remained ecstatic about what King can contribute to a team that already has a lineup full of top-20 players.
"I knew he was a great player, but he is beyond the playing level," Lapidus said of King, who may take the mantle of Duke's No. 1 singles player from seniors Cerenko, Smith and Andres Pedroso when team dual play begins. "He is a great team kid and a great team player. He listens well to the things you're trying to tell him. He has a great attitude and the kid is a winner. He can rub off on the whole team and I couldn't be more excited about having him on our team."
In other action for Duke, Rueger and freshman Ryan Heinberg had a successful run in B doubles until Pepperdine's tandem of Stefan Suter and Gerold Wiring eliminated them in the championship round. Rueger's singles victory in the B championship match came over South African Simon Rea in a match the Duke senior won 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. Duke sophomore Alex Bose, who is considered among the top singles players on the team, lost in the opening round of the tournament in a disappointing 6-4, 6-0 defeat.
Note: Pedroso did not play this weekend because he pulled a back muscle and wanted to remain fresh for the national indoor singles championships this weekend in Dallas.
Kevin Lees contributed to this story.
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