The eighth-ranked and eighth-seeded men’s tennis team fell to top-ranked and top-seeded Baylor 4-0 in the quarterfinals of the ITA National Team Indoor Championship in Chicago Saturday.
The win was defending national champion Baylor’s 30th straight, a streak that dates back to the middle of last season.
Junior Jonathan Stokke lost in straight sets to defending national singles champion Benjamin Becker, 6-1, 6-2. Becker, who Stokke said is known for his strong return game and groundstrokes, was matched up well against the serve-and-volleyer Stokke.
“He’s got really good returns and great groundstrokes,” Stokke said of his opponent. “He just took away my best weapon, the serve, and I couldn’t do anything to hurt him. It was really a systematic picking apart of my game.... He wasn’t national champion by accident.”
Stokke wasn’t the only Blue Devil that struggled against the Baylor team. Peter Rodrigues, hampered by tendinitis of the wrist, also lost in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, in his quarterfinal match and did not compete in the consolation match against Georgia.
The third singles point awarded in the match was to Baylor’s Michael Kokta after his three-set win over Duke’s Peter Shults. Shults, who was bothered by a shoulder injury, managed to take the first set 6-4, but then lost the final two 6-2, 6-2.
The doubles point also went to Baylor. The third doubles pairing of Stephen Amritraj and Shults fell to Baylor’s Becker and Jon Reckewey, 8-3, while Duke’s Stokke and Rodrigues lost in similar fashion, 8-4. The two wins for Baylor clinched the doubles point and the top doubles pairing of Ludovic Walter and Jason Zimmermann did not even finish.
In a consolation match, the Blue Devils faced Georgia. Duke won 4-1 with a reshuffled lineup featuring freshman Ned Samuelson, who played for the first time since the season opener and won 6-4, 7-5.
Amritraj and Zimmermann were the other singles winners, both of whom scored upset wins. Amritraj topped No. 28 Matic Omerzel.
Senior Jason Zimmermann defeated 49th-ranked Strahinja Bobusic. Zimmermann dropped the first set 3-6, but went on to down Bobusic 6-3, 6-1 in the final two sets.
Charles Brezac took the place of the ailing Rodrigues, winning in doubles with Stokke, but he dropped his singles match in straight sets. Amritraj and Shults clinched the doubles point with an 8-6 win.
Duke now has 10 days off before its next match at N.C. State March 2.
“We need to use these 10 days to get in shape and work on our weaknesses,” Stokke said. “We have gotten tired during this stretch in past years, but this year we have some time off to regain our focus and work hard.”
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.