The Blue Devils may have had only one week of official practice, but they are more than ready to take the court on Friday.
This weekend, Duke will host the second annual Fab 4 Invitational in Cary.
This preseason tournament includes 18 schools—a mix of ACC, SEC, and other opponents—from across the country that will come armed with their top four singles players ready to compete for six possible championships in both the men’s and women’s draws. The Blue Devil men dominated last year, winning five of six titles, and the women added one. But, with the graduation of three seniors, including Reid Carleton, who played in the top doubles spot with Henrique Cunha last season, and the addition of two strong freshmen, this is the opportune time to test out the team’s chemistry.
“We are mixing up our doubles teams,” men’s head coach Ramsey Smith said. “This is the kind of start we need to see how teams mesh with each other.”
The women are in a similar predicament with the loss of three seniors and the addition of four new freshmen to the roster. This home tournament serves as a chance for Duke to gauge their strengths and weaknesses for the upcoming spring season.
New to the men’s roster are freshmen Raphael Hemmeler, the sixth-ranked freshman nationally, and Jason Tahir. The departure of Carleton, though, has left Cunha, currently ranked fourth nationally in singles, without a partner.
“Cunha needs a doubles partner,” head coach Ramsey Smith said. “We put him together with Reid for the first tournament his freshman year, and since then, they have essentially played every match together. So it’s really a great opportunity for the other guys on the team to play with one of the greatest players who has ever played here at Duke.”
Cunha will start off this season playing doubles with Chris Mengel, ranked forty-ninth nationwide. Mengel and Cunha, without playing a single match together, are ranked fifteenth in the preseason polls.
Other Blue Devils playing for Duke this weekend are Fred Saba, Cale Hammond, Torsten Wietoska, and captain Luke Marchese, who missed out on last year’s inaugural tournament with a wrist injury.
On the women’s side, since last year’s fourth-ranked partnership of Nadine Fahoum and Reka Zsilinszka graduated, the Blue Devils will mix things up by splitting last year’s 39th-ranked doubles team of Mary Clayton and Monica Gorny.
“Obviously the returning players, some of them haven’t played a match in a month or two,” women’s head coach Jamie Ashworth said. “[This tournament will get] their feet wet again for the start of the season.”
Clayton will play with Ester Goldfeld, the eighth-best freshman in the nation, and both will compete individually and as a doubles pair. Gorny is set to play with sophomore Hanna Mar.
Other Blue Devils taking part in the tournament are freshman Annie Mulholland and sophomore Rachel Kahan, who will play doubles together.
Beatrice Capra, the top-ranked freshman in the nation, and classmate Monica Turewicz, will not play this weekend.
“This is an individual tournament,” Smith said, “it’s really the perfect way to jumpstart the season and see where everyone is.”
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