No. 12 Duke Advances to ITA Team Indoor Championship

Saturday, January 24

Durham, N.C.

6:30 PM

Duke University

Memphis

No. 12 Duke Advances to ITA Team Indoor Championship

1/24/2015 9:08:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – For the fifth straight year, the Duke men's tennis team has qualified for the ITA Men's Team Indoor Championship. The 12th-ranked Blue Devils defeated No. 23 Memphis 4-0 on Saturday evening to receive the automatic bid to the main event. Duke took the doubles point and singles matches on courts two, five and six to earn the victory.

Duke improves to 4-0 this season and has won all four matches against ranked foes. It is the first time the Blue Devils have started 4-0 with all four victories versus ranked opponents since 2011.

"I thought our depth was the key to today," head coach Ramsey Smith said. "We were missing Bruno [Semenzato] today, but like I told the guys in the locker room, I didn't think we missed a beat. TJ [Pura] did a great job stepping into doubles and providing a spark."

For the fourth time in four dual matches, Duke won the doubles point. The Blue Devils and Tigers held serve through the first three games on all three courts. On court one, Memphis' Connor Glennon and Kai Lemke broke senior Raphael Hemmeler and freshman Nicolas Alvarez in game four to take a 3-1 advantage. The Tiger duo went on to win the set, 6-3. It was the first doubles loss of the spring for Alvarez and Hemmeler and just their second of the year as they are now 11-2.

Court three did not have a break until game nine, when redshirt senior Chris Mengel and sophomore TJ Pura broke Andrew Watson and Louis Assner and took a 5-4 lead. Mengel then quickly served it out for the 6-4 victory. Mengel is undefeated in doubles this spring at 3-0 while it was Pura's first dual match win of the spring.

"There was a sense of urgency Chris and I felt at 4-4," Pura said. "We really needed to get the first few points of that next game to get the break. I think that was critical to shift the momentum to our favor."

The doubles point then came down to court two. Duke senior Jason Tahir and junior Josh Levine broke Patrick Mayer and Ryan Peniston and took a 3-2 advantage right after Hemmeler and Alvarez were broken on court one. Both teams on court two held serve for the rest of the set, with Tahir and Levine earning a 6-4 victory. Tahir and Levine won both their doubles matches this weekend.

Pura gave Duke a two-point lead with the first victory in singles. He cruised to a 6-0, 6-2 victory against Shakeel Manji on court six. Pura, who at one point held a 4-0 lead in the second set, earned his first singles decision of the spring.

"I was sticking to the game plan," Pura added. "I was pretty lucky to win 10 games in a row. I had a few no-ad situations when it could have gone either way. It was great to win 10 in a row, but I was trying to play every point the same way."

Finishing just behind Pura was court five with Levine, who took a straight-set decision against Lemke, 6-3, 6-3. Levine shifted up a spot to the fifth slot and improved to 3-0 this spring in dual match play. He took a 4-1 lead in the second set and held on for the victory.

"That was by far Josh's best match of the fall or spring," Smith said. "When you're without one of your top players, you typically think you're going to struggle at No. 5 and 6 with new guys coming in. But I thought Josh and TJ did a great job. They were our first two singles points off the court. I think that relaxed everybody else."

Clinching the match for Duke was Alvarez, ranked No. 18, on court two. He earned a 6-3, 6-4 decision against No. 23 Watson. It was the second-straight match Alvarez earned Duke's winning fourth point. Alvarez trailed 3-4 in the second set and was behind 30-40 in the ninth game before coming back to take the break and earn the victory. He did not yield a point in the deciding game.

"Nico [Nicolas Alvarez] has proved himself as Mr. Clutch so far this year," Pura said. "When it came down to the nail biters, there's no one else I'd rather have out on the court than who we did today."

The victory was also Alvarez's eighth of the campaign against a ranked opponent. He recorded his 20th overall singles triumph, just 10 away from entering Duke's top-10 freshman wins list.

The other three singles matches were halted when Alvarez secured the Blue Devils' fourth point. On courtt three, No. 103 Hemmeler led Mayer 7-6 (7-2), 2-2. Memphis was leading on the other two courts with No. 79 Glennon ahead of No. 36 Tahir on court one 7-6 (7-5), 2-3 and Pinston up on Mengel 6-3, 3-5.

Duke has nearly an entire week off before returning to action Friday with the first of now two trips to the Chicago area. The Blue Devils play at Illinois at 7 p.m. ET on Friday before traveling to Northwestern for a 12 p.m. ET Sunday match.

#12 Duke 4, #23 Memphis 0
Jan. 24, 2015 at Durham, N.C. (Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center)

Doubles competition
1. Connor Glennon/Kai Lemke (MEM) def. Raphael Hemmeler/Nicolas Alvarez (DU) 6-3
2. Jason Tahir/Josh Levine (DU) def. Andrew Watson/Louis Assner (MEM) 6-4
3. Chris Mengel/TJ Pura (DU) def. Patrick Mayer/Ryan Peniston (MEM) 6-4

Singles competition
1. #79 Connor Glennon (MEM) led #36 Jason Tahir (DU) 7-6 (7-5), 2-3
2. #18 Nicolas Alvarez (DU) def. #23 Andrew Watson (MEM) 6-4, 6-4
3. #103 Raphael Hemmeler (DU) led Patrick Mayer (MEM) 7-6 (7-2), 2-2
4. Ryan Peniston (MEM) led Chris Mengel (DU) 6-3, 3-5
5. Josh Levine (DU) def. Kai Lemke (MEM) 6-3, 6-3
6. TJ Pura (DU) def. Shakeel Manji (MEM) 6-0, 6-2

Match Notes:
Memphis 1-1; National ranking #23
Duke 3-0; National ranking #12
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (6,5,2)
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