In Tuesday’s indoor season opener, the men’s tennis team did not lose a set, beating UNC-Charlotte 7-0.
Getting over some early-season rustiness in the opening games of the first set, Ludovic Walter, Duke’s top singles player, won easily defeating Roy Sichel 6-3, 6-0.
In the second flight Jonathan Stokke was impressive in his straight-set win. The junior nailed powerful forehand winners and corner-catching volleys, leaving his opponent shaking his head on several occasions.
“Stokke’s playing really well,” head coach Jay Lapidus said. “He has improved his fitness and his movement.”
Stokke tracked down a number of his opponent Jonathan Clark’s drop shots and sprinted to deprive the 49er several potential down-the-line winners. Stokke said he has improved his quickness after altering his diet.
“I used to eat fast food. I would go to ’Dillo every night,” Stokke said of the on-campus Mexican eatery. “And I haven’t had ’Dillo in a month, so my diet’s changed and I feel like I am moving better. My movement’s gotten a lot better and I’m playing better.”
Every Duke player handled his respective opponent with relative ease. Jason Zimmermann hustled especially hard in what was the closest match in the singles bracket, trading games and staying on serve in most of the final set. Zimmermann had the attention of everyone inside of the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center, as his match was the last to finish, showing off his powerful serves in the win.
Stephen Amritraj gave up only four games, winning 6-2, 6-2. Freshman Ned Samuelson also was able to shake off early jitters during his earlier doubles match loss with partner Peter Shults to win handily, 6-0, 6-1. Shults matched his partner’s dominance, winning by the same score.
In the earlier doubles portion of the match, the No. 1 pairing of Stokke and Peter Rodrigues overcame the 49ers’ top duo 8-2. Amritraj and Zimmermann handled their opponents similarly, 8-5.
The No. 3 doubles team had the most difficulty. Samuelson looked a little nervous giving up some key points with unforced errors into the net. He and Shults dropped the match by a score of 8-5 to the Indonesian and Mauritian duo Marlo Santoso and Jonathan Vencatachellum.
Lapidus said after the match that he considered Charlotte’s third doubles team the most challenging. Nonetheless, Duke earned the doubles point and only needed three wins in the singles competition to ice the match.
Lapidus seemed happy with his team’s overall performance looking at the match as more of a gauge for the rest of the spring season.
“We got a couple new people so we tried to get a feel for the new season,” he said.
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