Duke Completes Day Two at ITA Carolinas Regional

Friday, October 14

Durham, N.C.

8:00 AM

Duke University

Day Two at ITA Regional Championships

Duke Completes Day Two at ITA Carolinas Regional

10/14/2011 11:54:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. - The Duke men's tennis team continued its success at the ITA Carolinas Regional Friday, with six Blue Devils advancing to the round of 32 in the tournament's singles draw.

Sophomore Cale Hammond earned a pair of victories on Friday, improving to 5-4 in fall action. In the first round, the Tulsa, Okla., native defeated Coastal Carolina's John Karle, 6-3, 7-5. He then advanced to the round of 64, where he faced Dymtro Kovalevych of South Carolina State. Hammond took the first set, 6-1, but Kovalevych responded with a 6-2 victory in the second set. However, it was Hammond who would prevail in the decisive set, 6-4, to earn a third-round matchup with No. 13 seed Austin Powell of NC State on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Also going 2-0 on the day was senior Torsten Wietoska, who opened singles play with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Coastal Carolina's Yusuke Kusuda. In the second round, Wietoska defeated Yvon Haessig of South Carolina Upstate by scores of 6-3, 6-1 to set up a meeting with the tournament's No. 2 seed, Brennan Boyajian, on Saturday.

Four other Blue Devils will join Hammond and Wietoska in the third round after winning their second-round matches. Junior Henrique Cunha - the top seed in the singles draw and the fourth-ranked player nationally on the ITA's preseason list - cruised to a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Appalachian State's Alain Humblet following a first-round bye. Cunha is set to face Adrien Langeard of UNC Asheville on Saturday in a 2:30 p.m. match.

Sophomore Chris Mengel won his second-round match with ease. The No. 3 seed dispatched UNC Greensboro's Randy Phillips in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1, to earn a third-round meeting with Chip Cox of South Carolina. Fellow sophomore Fred Saba - the No. 6 seed in the tournament - will also continue his run in singles play on Saturday after defeating Coastal Carolina's Matias Di Pasquale on Friday, 6-1, 6-0. Saba will square off against Peteris Vinogradovs of South Carolina State at noon on Saturday.

Fourteenth-seeded Jason Tahir posted a three-set win over South Carolina's Carl Eguez,6-1, 1-6, 6-3, in the second round after receiving a bye in the first round of action. The Duke freshman is now 4-2 on the fall season, and is slated to play William Parker of North Carolina at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in a third-round match.

Freshman Raphael Hemmeler fell in his first-round match to Clemson's Gerardo Meza, 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-3. Meanwhile, senior Luke Marchese - the tournament's No. 11 seed - battled to three sets with Adam Lee of Wake Forest in Friday's second round. After winning the first set, Marchese was unable to hold off Lee, falling by scores of 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (4).

Saturday's action kicks off in Chapel Hill at 10 a.m. with doubles rounds of 16 and semifinals, followed by the singles round of 32. Three Blue Devil pairs will continue their runs in the tournament after earning victories in Thursday's first two rounds of play. The top-seeded duo of Cunha and Mengel will face East Carolina's Nicolas Soriano and Jonas Vliegen, while senior David Holland will team up with Tahir against third-seeded Yannick Maden and Zac Rigsby of Clemson. Marchese and Wietoska will round out the competition for Duke, as they are set to match up against ninth-seeded Dominic Hodgson and Matt Thomson of NC State.

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