Upcoming Event: Men's Tennis versus Wake Forest Invite on October 31, 2025
Men's Tennis
vs Wake Forest Invite
Monday, October 3
Tulsa, Okla.
All Day
Duke University
vs
Day Three at ITA All-American Qualifying Rounds
Blue Devil Rookies Win Qualifying Matches
10/3/2011 11:00:00 PM | Men's Tennis
TULSA, Okla. - Two Blue Devil freshmen recorded victories over ranked opponents Monday to advance in the qualifying stage of the ITA All-American Championships, held at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Tulsa.
Rookie Jason Tahir opened play in Monday's first round with a victory over Alabama's Ricky Doverspike, who is listed at No. 108 in the ITA's preseason singles rankings. Tahir defeated Doverspike in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3, to advance to the second round of qualifying play on Tuesday. A product of Rochester, N.Y., Tahir will face 60th-ranked Nelson Vick of Ohio State at 9 a.m. EST.
Fellow freshman Raphael Hemmeler also picked up a ranked win to advance to Tuesday's second round. Hemmeler, who is listed sixth in the ITA's preseason newcomer/freshman rankings, defeated No. 122 Patrick Pohlmann of San Diego by scores of 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-2. With the win, the Zurich, Switzerland, native earned a matchup against 85th-ranked Kevin King of Georgia Tech on Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. EST.
Sophomore Fred Saba also saw action on Monday in Tulsa, drawing a matchup with Connor Smith of Ohio State. Saba, who is listed 93rd in the ITA's preseason rankings, won the first set, 6-3. However, he was unable to hold off Smith, falling 6-1, 6-4 in the final two sets.
Saba will now face New Mexico's Phil Anderson on Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. in a qualifying consolation match.
Three of Duke's doubles duos will begin qualifying play on Tuesday in the second round. Hemmeler and Saba will team up in a second-round match against top-seeded and 29th-ranked Emmett Egger and Kyle McMorrow of Washington Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. Sophomore Cale Hammond and Tahir also received a bye in the first round, and will face Ohio State's Devin McCarty and Ille Van Engelen at 3:30 p.m. Meanwhile, the tandem of seniors Luke Marchese and Torsten Wietoska is slated to take on Patrick O'Keefe and Nicholas Sayer of Richmond in a 4 p.m. second-round contest.
There are 79 doubles teams set to compete in the qualifying stage, with eight moving on to the main draw.
Play continues in Tulsa on Tuesday at 8 a.m. with the second round of singles, followed by doubles matches in the afternoon.
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