It has been more than a week since Duke’s disappointing weekend at the ITA National Indoor Championships. The Blue Devils, who headed to Charlottesville, Va., planning to defend their title from last year's event, went 0-3 against the nation’s best competition.
No. 16 Duke is now prepared to regroup, intending to avoid its first four-game losing streak since 2006. But the Blue Devils will have their hands full this weekend, looking to snap the recent skid against No. 2 Florida and No. 10 Stanford this weekend at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center in Gainesville, Fla.
“I think that we're ready to play,” head coach Jamie Ashworth said. “We're ready to be better than we were two weeks ago. We're excited for the opportunity to be a part of a weekend like this.”
At the ITA event, the Blue Devils dropped the doubles point in two of their three contests. Senior Annie Mulholland and freshman Samantha Harris won all three of their doubles matches, though, and will look to help stake the Blue Devils (4-3) to an early 1-0 lead this weekend.
Led by No. 38 Ester Goldfeld and No. 94 Rachel Kahan, Duke is also looking to bounce back in singles play. Goldfeld went 2-1 at the ITAs, giving the Blue Devils their lone point in the 4-1 loss to then-No. 7 Alabama on the tournament's final day. Kahan was defeated in all three of her matches.
Bouncing back will be a difficult task against the Gators and Cardinal. The programs have combined to win four of the last five national championships and head into the weekend matchups playing their best tennis of the season.
After falling to eventual champion North Carolina 4-0 in the semifinals at the ITAs, Florida recently knocked off in-state rival Florida State 4-3. The Gators (6-1) have a dangerous singles lineup as each of their top three players—Brooke Austin, Jose Kuhlman, and Brianna Morgan—are ranked in the top 15 in the country. In doubles, the duo of Austin and Kourtney Keegan lead the Gators with six victories.
“They're competitive matches," Ashworth said. “[Florida and Stanford] both have great traditions. They both have a history of winning NCAA championships and we think of ourselves in that same light, perennially, as one of the top teams in the country.”
Stanford is also undefeated in six non-conference matches against opponents ranked No. 54 or higher. The Cardinal followed up their sweeps of No. 19 Notre Dame and Ohio State with a 4-3 victory against No. 11 Vanderbilt.
Like Florida, Stanford has three singles players among the nation’s top 20 in No. 10 Carol Zhao, No. 14. Taylor Davidson and No. 16 Caroline Doyle.
The Cardinal hold an 8-1 all-time against Duke and boast two of the best doubles tandems in the nation in the No. 5 pairing of Davidson and Zhao and the No. 12 duo of Doyle and Ellen Tsay.
For Duke, the upcoming matches are an opportunity to prepare for the scoring system and atmosphere of in-conference and NCAA tournament match play.
The ITA championship-scoring system did not count adds, and doubles matches consisted of one six-game set. The no-add system put extra pressure on players when games were tied at deuce.
That system proved costly for the Blue Devils, as several players failed to capitalize off several opportunities in games knotted at 40-40 throughout the matches against TCU, Vanderbilt and Alabama.
“You look at the format of the [ITA Indoor Team Championship] scoring,” Ashworth said. “We had opportunities in a lot of matches, and we just didn't take advantage of them. Literally seven or eight points here or there and we win at least two matches.”
The Blue Devils’ matches with Florida and Stanford will feature eight-game pro sets in doubles as well as the regular scoring system of conference and NCAA tournament play.
After months of indoor play, Duke will be back outdoors against the Gators and Cardinal. With limited practices outside due to inclement weather, the Blue Devils will have to quickly adjust to the demands of outdoor tennis. But Ashworth is confident that his team will be able to make the necessary adjustments.
“Our girls grew up playing outdoor tennis, so it's nothing new for them,” Ashworth said. "I think we're definitely a much better outdoor team than we are indoors. You have to be mentally a little stronger than you do indoors. You have to grind the points a little more.”
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