Reid Carleton and Henrique Cunha gave both the current and former No. 1 players in the country all they could handle this weekend. Unfortunately, the contest’s result was already decided in Tennessee’s favor by the time the duo’s matches reached the third set.
Led by top-ranked Rhyne Williams, the No. 3 Volunteers defeated No. 14 Duke 7-0 Saturday night at Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center. Tennessee’s depth and experience ultimately proved too much for the Blue Devils (7-2) to overcome, as the Volunteers (5-0) displayed the talent that propelled them to a second-place finish at last year’s NCAA Tournament.
Despite the lopsided overall score, head coach Ramsey Smith could not fault his squad for lack of effort.
“Overall I’m proud of the guys,” Smith said. “I know the score was 7-0, but I think everyone knows it was a much closer match than that. It really just came down to a couple points here and there on every court.”
Tennessee came storming out of the gates in the doubles competition, making quick work of Duke at the No. 1 and No. 3 spots. The Blue Devils’ top pairing of Carleton and Cunha—ranked No. 12 in the nation—had yet to suffer a defeat in the spring season. But Volunteers Boris Conkic and John-Patrick Smith dispatched Carleton and Cunha 8-4. The No. 3 team of David Holland and Chris Mengel did not fare better, falling to Matteo Fago and Edward Jones by a score of 8-3.
“I think we could have done a little bit better in doubles to kind of get more momentum going,” Smith said. “We didn’t quite execute the way we needed to at No. 1 and No. 3.”
With the doubles point secured, Tennessee wasted no time making its mark in the singles ladder as well. The Volunteers took the first set in all six matches, and their overall lead soon ballooned to 3-0 with a pair of straight-set victories. Fred Saba could not hold off Fago and fell 6-4, 6-3. Jared Pinsky also had his hands full with Conkic, breaking the Serbian multiple times in the second set but eventually losing 6-4, 6-4.
Tennessee clinched the victory when Edward Jones beat Luke Marchese in three sets, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3. Even though the match was out of reach, the remaining Blue Devils continued to battle until the bitter end. No. 1 singles player Cunha got another crack at John-Patrick Smith, who finished last season as the top-ranked player in the nation. Cunha seemed on the brink of defeat as he trailed 5-2 in the second set, but the Brazilian launched an impressive comeback and took the second 7-6.
Mengel, playing at No. 3, found himself in a similar situation and also rallied from a 5-2 deficit in the second set to win 7-6. Not to be outdone, Carleton showed resilience by breaking Williams when the latter was serving for the match. He held on to beat Williams 7-6 in the second set as well.
Cunha, Mengel and Carleton all lost by a narrow margin in their third-set super tiebreakers. Nevertheless, their performances show that Duke can hold its own against the top teams in the country.
“I think it’s hard for the guys right now, but we have to look at the positives,” Smith said. “It’s very, very early in the season, so we’re going to have our shots.”
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