The snow might have delayed the Blue Devils' return to Durham, but it couldn't cool off their hot start to the season.
No. 11 Duke earned a pair of wins in the Midwest last weekend, taking down No. 8 Illinois and at Northwestern last weekend. The Blue Devils improved to 6-0 this season thanks to a 4-3 victory against the Fighting Illini and a 5-2 comeback win against the Wildcats.
Duke first took on Illinois—a team that entered the weekend undefeated at home—Friday and emerged victorious thanks to earning the all-important doubles point. Led by Nicolas Alvarez and Raphael Hemmeler in the top doubles spot, Duke swept Illinois to claim an early 1-0 lead. Alvarez and Hemmler defeated the No. 3 doubles team in the country in Ross Guignon and Tim Kopinski by a score of 6-3, while Jason Tahir and and Josh Levine took down brothers Aron and Jared Hiltzik by the same score. Chris Mengel and Brun Semenzato were up in their match by a score of 5-3, but play was left unfinished.
“[Alvarez and Hemmeler] had a huge match for us,” Duke head coach Ramsey Smith said. “They got us off to a great start against one of the better teams in the country, and all three doubles teams played exceptionally well.... It was the best match I have ever seen them play, and it was exciting to see them get their first big win together.”
Alvarez is ranked No. 18 in the country in singles but could not replicate his doubles success against Illinois. The freshman was upset by No. 31 Jared Hiltzik, losing the final two sets of his match by a score of 6-4 after winning the first 7-5.
Hemmeler and Semenzato also lost to ranked opponents, but the trio of Tahir, Mengel, and Levine each won their matches to secure the victory for Duke and hand the Fighting Illini their first home loss of the year.
“[This win] definitely set the pace for the rest of the season,” Smith said. “[Illinois] has been a place where we have struggled in the past, so it was great to win there. 2001 was the last time we beat Illinois at Illinois. We have had a lot of close and tough matches there, and now I am really proud of our guys.”
Levine clinched the match for Duke after staging a miraculous comeback against Illinois’ Guignon at the sixth singles position. Levine dropped the first set 6-0, and fell behind 5-1 in the send set, but battled back to a 5-5 tie, and ultimately won the tiebreaker. He won the match 0-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4.
“It was an incredible effort, incredible determination by Josh,” Smith said, “The guy lost the first nine games of the match 6-0, 3-0. and was on the verge of losing, but he really hung in there. Josh kind of just did what Josh does. It was not pretty, but he knew he had a chance. He knew that if he could just take that second set, he would be in really good shape, and he did. It was quite a turn around, and I am not sure that I have ever seen momentum change that much.”
After Duke took Illinois down Friday, the Blue Devils traveled north to Chicago to battle Northwestern on only one day of rest. It would not matter, as Duke defeated the Wildcats 5-2 despite losing the doubles point for the first time this season.
Just a day removed from upsetting the No. 3 doubles pairing in the nation, Alvarez and Hemmeler fell to unranked Fedor Baev and Strong Kirchheimer 7-6 (13-11). Tahir and Levine lost to Alex Pasareanu and Sam Shropshire 7-5, handing Northwestern (2-3) the 1-0 lead. Only Mengel and Semenzato won their match, a 6-2 defeat of Mihir Kumar and Alp Horoz.
“We need to constantly continue to fine-tune our doubles,” Smith said. “We have been playing doubles at a very high level, and even though we lost two of our three [matches], we have got to keep working on it, and maintaining the success we have had this season.”
In singles, the Blue Devils put forth a much stronger showing. Although Tahir lost in the No. 1 spot to Shropshire, Alvarez, Hemmeler, Semenzato, Mengel and Levine all claimed victories to secure the win. Only Mengel and Levine required three sets to beat the opponent, as the rest of the Blue Devils won handily.
“The Northwestern match was a really important match for us,” Smith said. “Coming off the big win, it might be natural to have a let down against a slightly lower-ranked team, but we did a great job putting the doubles behind us, and getting the job done in singles. Alvarez and Hemmeler were able to win quick after losses at Illinois, and I thought that really gave us a lot of momentum. Beating Northwestern consolidated a big weekend for us, and put us on our stride for a big weekend coming up.”
Duke will face off against No. 22 Tennessee at home Friday, and then compete in a double-header against Michigan and N.C. Central later in the weekend. The Blue Devils will look to take an undefeated record into the ITA final 16 come February 13.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.
Jacob Weiss is a Trinity senior. His column, "not jumping to any conclusions," runs on alternate Fridays.