Preparing for the biggest indoor tournament of the fall, the Blue Devils had a strong showing at regionals and had three of the four semifinalists in singles in the 64-man bracket.
Duke concluded play at the USTA/ITA Carolina Regional tournament Monday, with senior Jason Tahir falling in the singles championship. Depending on other regional tournaments, Tahir could join freshman Nicolas Alvarez in competing at ITA National Indoors beginning Nov. 6.
The Blue Devils dominated the event, with No. 4 seed Tahir, No. 9 seed Alvarez and senior Raphael Hemmeler making the semifinals in singles, and the doubles tandem of Alvarez and Hemmeler making the semifinals. Tahir and redshirt senior Cale Hammond also played well as a duo, making the quarterfinals before falling to the draw’s top seeded-team.
“Overall, it was a great tournament for our team and certainly the best event of the fall so far,” head coach Ramsey Smith said. “I was proud of the way our guys competed. We had multiple guys come back from match point down and tough situations. We played some really good tennis.”
Tahir dominated his first three matches of the event, downing opponents from Gardner-Webb, N.C. State and UNC Greensboro in straight sets to move to the round of 16. The Rochester, N.Y., native lost the first set in his round of 16 match to North Carolina’s Jack Murray 6-4, but recovered to win the next two sets 7-5 and 6-1 to march on to the quarterfinals after overcoming multiple match points.
Tahir’s quarterfinal match also went the distance, with the 6-foot-3, 193-pound veteran eventually prevailing against No. 5 seed Hunter Harrington of Clemson in three tough sets. Tahir got a break in the semifinals when his teammate, Alvarez, retired with the score 1-1 in the first set, giving Tahir the opportunity to join him in qualifying for nationals during Monday’s championship.
But Tahir’s exciting run ended swiftly against top-seed Brayden Schnur, 6-3, 6-2, meaning that Tahir will now have to wait for the rest of the regional results to find out if he can get into the main draw as an at-large player.
“[He’s] a little disappointed with not winning the final today, but overall it was a heck of a tournament for him,” Smith said. “He was injured at the end of the summer and beginning of the fall, played at All-Americans and lost first [in singles] and first [in doubles] there and was pretty down about his game. He did a great job turning things around. The best thing he did was compete extremely well. We’re hopeful he’ll get one of those at-large spots.”
Like Tahir, Alvarez dominated his early round matches in straight sets before gutting out victories in three-set matches against N.C. State’s Nicky Horton in the round of 32 and No. 2 seed Ronnie Schneider of North Carolina in the quarterfinals. The Lima, Peru, native also knocked off No. 6 seed Austin Powell of N.C. State in straight sets in the round of 16.
Alvarez had already qualified for nationals by making the quarterfinals of the ITA All-American tournament earlier this fall, and will look to have another strong finish at the ITA National Indoors in a few weeks.
“[He’s] had a fantastic freshman year,” Smith said. “It’s been really incredible and how much he’s improved. He’s playing at such a high level. The biggest thing is his mental toughness. He’s extremely professional on the court and handles difficult situations very well. His game is [just] extremely solid. I couldn’t be more excited.”
Hemmeler’s road to the semifinals was more tumultuous than his teammates’ during the event’s first day. The senior had to come from behind to notch a three-set win in the opening round before winning three consecutive straight-set matches on his way to the quarterfinals.
Hemmeler lost the first set in the quarterfinals to North Carolina’s Oystien Stero in a tiebreaker, but recovered to win the next two sets 6-3 and punch his ticket to the semifinals. Hemmeler’s run was also stopped by the freshman Schnur 6-4, 6-4, as North Carolina’s standout freshman showed why he earned his No. 26 junior world ranking before committing to the Tar Heels.
“It was a huge tournament for [Hemmeler],” Smith said. “In the first round, he faced match point in the second set. He fought his way through, gained some confidence and started playing some really good tennis toward the end. [I’m] really, really happy with his level.”
But Duke’s three semifinalists in singles were not the only standouts. Sophomore T.J. Pura—who missed the beginning of the fall season due to injury and only recently returned to the court—made a surprising run to the round of 16, winning his first three matches in straight sets before taking on North Carolina’s second-best singles player, Schneider.
But Pura fought the No. 2 seed in the draw hard, taking the first set in a tiebreaker before dropping the last two 6-1 and 6-4 to be knocked out of the event.
“[He] had a breakthrough tournament,” Smith said. “He hadn’t won a match until this tournament. He played some great tennis, so that was exciting.”
The Blue Devils’ doubles performances were also encouraging, as the fourth-seeded duo of Alvarez and Hemmeler—playing together for the first time—made the semifinals. The tandem dominated its first two matches 8-2 and 8-4 before overcoming a determined Clemson duo 8-7 (7-5) in a dramatic tiebreaker to make the quarterfinals.
Hemmeler and Alvarez dominated a team from North Carolina 8-2 in the quarterfinals before falling in a third-set, 10-point tiebreaker to Robbie Mudge and Ian Dempster of N.C. State in the semifinals. The format of doubles matches after the quarterfinals was best-of-three sets, with the third set as a 10-point tiebreaker. After splitting the first two sets, the Wolfpack dominated the tiebreaker 10-2, winning the last eight points.
Tahir and redshirt senior Cale Hammond also had an encouraging showing in doubles, winning their first three matches 8-2, 8-6 and 8-3 en route to the quarterfinals before falling to the top-seeded team of Schnur and Brett Clark in a match that was decided in a 7-4 tiebreaker.
“We’ve had our ups and downs [in doubles, but] there were definitely some bright spots this tournament,” Smith said. “I thought [Hammond] really stood out and had the best event of his college career. [Alvarez and Hemmeler] looked really strong and their games complemented each other well. We still have work to do [in doubles]. That’s going to be a big focus going forward.”
Although Tahir, Hammond, Hemmeler, Alvarez and Pura were the standouts, juniors Bruno Semenzato, Josh Levine and Daniel McCall also competed and got more matches under their belts as the fall season draws to a close.
The Blue Devils that won’t be competing at ITA National Indoors will be playing in the Dick Vitale Clay Court Classic in Bradenton, Fla., starting Nov. 7. After that, Smith and his experienced, talented squad will prepare for its demanding spring schedule and what they hope will be a long postseason run in NCAA play.
“We obviously have a lot of depth this year [and] a lot of senior leadership,” Smith said. “Overall, I’m very happy with the team and really excited for the rest of the fall and the spring.”
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