Sunday’s match at Ambler Stadium began with a Senior Day ceremony. Shielding their eyes from the noonday sun, four Duke athletes stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the center of court one looking up into the stands. Each wore a beaming smile that grew bigger as fans rose to their feet to thank the seniors with a standing ovation.
Three-and-a-half hours later, the same four athletes found themselves together again—this time smiling for the camera in celebration of four senior victories and an undefeated season at home.
The No. 6 Blue Devils capped off an undefeated home season with a 7-0 sweep of Florida State Sunday, propelled by senior co-captain Jason Tahir’s eye-catching performance on Senior Day. After clinching the hotly contested doubles point with an ace, No. 42 Tahir gutted out a two-set singles win against the Seminoles’ only ranked singles player in No. 91 Michael Rinaldi to clinch the team victory.
Senior Raphael Hemmeler, redshirt senior Chris Mengel and junior Bruno Semenzato—who arrived at Duke with only three years of eligibility—each posted victories in their final appearances at Ambler Stadium, spurring head coach Ramsey Smith to gather his seniors for a post-match photograph.
“You could sense that it was a special day especially for the seniors,” Smith said. “You could just sense that [the seniors] have put so much into the program, and we got all four of their bests today, which was great.”
Mengel paced the Blue Devils (20-4, 7-3 in the ACC) in singles from court five, cruising past Florida State redshirt freshman Jose Gracia in two sets. The Pittsburgh native fell behind 2-0 in the first set, but fought back to force a 5-5 tie before winning the next two points to take the set 7-5. Mengel then rode the momentum of a strong finish in the first set to down Gracia 6-2 in the second set and capture the 28th ACC singles win of his career.
On court three, Hemmeler needed a third-set tiebreaker to overcome Seminole junior Marco Nunez. After dropping the first set 7-5, Hemmeler—ranked 58th in the nation in the ITA poll—broke away from Nunez in the second, winning four consecutive games to even the match, 6-2. In the tiebreaker set, the Zurich native became locked in a neck-and-neck battle with his Florida State opponent—with the score tied 2-2 after four games. But once again Hemmeler made a push down the stretch, working up a 5-3 lead before shutting out Nunez in the match point.
Semenzato—Duke’s most unconventional “senior”—also needed a tiebreaker to decide his match. A Sao Paulo, Brazil, native, Semenzato joined the Blue Devils after competing in international tournaments as both an amateur and a professional, resulting the NCAA granting him only three years of eligibility. Despite spending one fewer year with the team than the seniors, Semenzato has played an equally key role in developing Duke into a perennial top-10 program and guiding the Blue Devils to their highest ranking since 2000 with a No. 2 mark earlier this season.
On Sunday, Semenzato stormed out of the gate to take the first set 7-5, but lost a hard-fought second set to Seminole senior Cristian Gonzalez Mendez 6-7 after fighting back from a 4-1 deficit. With the outcome of the team match already decided, Semenzato and Mendez played a first-to-10 tiebreaker to decide a winner. In a repeat of the first set, Semenzato used a hot start to put away his opponent early, reaching a commanding 5-0 lead before ultimately putting away Mendez 10-1.
“[Semenzato and Hemmeler] are both very good fighters,” Tahir said. “Everyone in the facility can hear [Semenzato] grunting. He’s fighting hard. [Hemmeler] has been one of the best players in program history, so it’s very cool for them to go out winning on Senior Day.”
The man of the match though, was Tahir, whose ace to close out doubles play and gritty win in singles made this Senior Day just a little bit more memorable.
After the duo of Semenato and sophomore T.J. Pura throttled their Florida State opponents on court three 8-2, the tandem of Tahir and junior Josh Levine went back and forth with Seminole doubles partners Rinaldi and Mendez. With the score tied at 6-6 Duke broke ahead to make it 7-6.
Tahir put the match away with a bullet serve that sizzled past his opponents who watched the ball fly by them—stunned.
In singles, Tahir withstood a comeback attempt by Rinaldi to capture the first set 6-4 the second set 6-3, to lock up the victory against the Seminoles (18-7, 6-4). With the win, Tahir improves to 22-16 overall and 5-5 in league matches and now holds a 102-39 career mark in singles matches.
“[Tahir] really stepped up and served a great last game to come away with that ace [in doubles],” Smith said. “Clinching both doubles and singles really made today extra special for him. I’m happy for him and all the seniors.”
No. 11 Nicolas Alvarez powered Duke on court one. The freshman faced off against Florida State redshirt junior Benjamin Lock, winning an intense 7-5 battle in the first set before cruising to a 6-3 win the second to hand Duke its third singles point of the day.
Pura defeated Terrell Whitehurst in two sets, recovering from an early 2-0 deficit in the first to close out the Blue Devils’ scoring.
Duke has only one more week of the regular season remaining before the ACC tournament begins April 23 in Cary, N.C. The Blue Devils will have two more chances—against Louisville and Georgia Tech—to fine tune their skills before the post season.
“We’re all looking to get that one percent better,” Tahir said. “For myself personally…I am excited to keep improving and find my edge. I think the same is true of the team. Hopefully we can put it together heading into the ACC tournament.”
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