Men's tennis head coach Jay Lapidus sat back and enjoyed a well-played and closely contested championship match between two members of the men's tennis team Monday. Senior Michael Yani defeated freshmen Ludovic Walter 6-3, 7-5 in the finals of the Adidas Inivitational.
"It is tough to go into a competitive atmosphere against a friend," Yani said. "We played a tough, hard match, and I just got a little lucky in the end."
The pivotal moment in the championship match occurred when Walter was serving at 5-5 in the second set after Yani had secured the first. With Walter in position to hit a volley, Yani smashed a passing shot that skimmed off the top of the net and jumped over Walter's racket. Yani proceeded to break Walter and serve out the match.
"Mike played really well the whole weekend," Lapidus said. "He was very relaxed. He was the No. 1 seed, which can bring a lot of pressure, but he handled it well."
This weekend's tournament was the first for Yani since the NCAAs last spring.
"I was a little rusty during my first match but I got back into the rhythm," he said. "In the first two matches my return was a little off but by the semis and the finals my timing on my return and serve starting clicking. It was a really good weekend finding my game again."
Lapidus noticed a new maturity in Yani's game--which in previous seasons had relied on power, but now mixes strength with control and finesse.
Lapidus was also very encouraged by Walter's play. He thought Walter may have been tired for the final after playing four matches the previous day, beating two ranked players in the process.
"He is going to be a great one for us and a big factor this year," Lapidus said. "Besides a big serve and a booming forehand, he fights well on the court and is mentally very strong."
In other singles action, Jason Zimmerman and Peter Shults both reached the quarterfinals, with Shults falling to Walter.
The successful weekend was not limited to the singles play as Jonathan Stokke and Zimmermann reached the finals of the doubles draw before falling in a close contest to a Northwestern team.
The Duke teammates had a 5-1 lead in an eight-game proset when, Lapidus said the Northwestern squad came on strong after Stokke and Zimmermann let up a bit. Lapidus was disappointed that the team was unable to pull out the victory but was still impressed with its overall play.
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