Duke heads to the biggest regular season tournament of the spring on an impressive roll.
The No. 10 Blue Devils (3-0) lost only two sets en route to winning the ITA Kickoff Weekend at Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center this weekend. Going a combined 10-0 against Virginia Commonwealth (5-2) and Washington (5-1) in singles and doubles, Duke dominated play and earned one of the 16 spots in the ITA National Team Indoor Championship, held Feb. 17-20 in Charlottesville, Va.
“Well [the ITA Championship] is the second biggest event of the spring,” head coach Ramsey Smith said. “To advance relatively comfortably without dropping a match gives us a lot of confidence.”
In the final against the Huskies, Duke gained momentum early with a comeback victory from the doubles tandem of Chris Mengel and David Holland. Only six points away from losing the match, Holland and Mengel overcame a 6-4 deficit to storm back and win the match 8-6 to secure the doubles point.
“They dug themselves a bit of a hole but did a good job picking up their energy and going after their shots,” Smith said.
In singles, seventh-ranked Henrique Cunha got it started with a convincing victory over 15th-ranked Kyle McMorrow of Washington, 6-3, 6-4 to secure the first singles point.
“I just started the match pretty focused on holding my serve and try to get the early break,” Cunha said. “I got the break the second game of the first set and that set the tone for my match.”
The other two singles points came from 17th-ranked Mengel and Fred Saba, who both won their matches in straight sets to give the Blue Devils an insurmountable 4-0 edge.
Like Washington, Virginia Commonweath was no match for Duke when they faced off in the semifinals of the tournament. Duke easily won the doubles point and proceeded to win five of the six singles matches in straight sets to win 6-0 and advance to the finals.
Senior Torsten Wietoska led the charge against the Rams, winning his doubles match with freshman Raphael Hemmeler and the clinching singles match.
“He adds a lot to our lineup,” Smith said. “He has the ability to beat the top players. It’s been really nice to see him healthy, confident and playing well.”
With Wietoska raising his level of play this year, Duke looks to build upon last year’s semifinal run at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship and go even further.
The Blue Devils will prepare by taking on a trio of opponents this weekend—Illinois, Notre Dame and N.C. Central.
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