No. 12 Men?s Tennis Wins 15 Matches

Thursday, January 8

Waikiki, Hawaii

3:00 PM

Duke University

Louisville

Men?s Tennis Heads To ITA All-American Championships

No. 12 Men?s Tennis Wins 15 Matches

1/8/2015 7:58:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

HONOLULU – Following Wednesday's 16 victories, the No. 12 Duke men's tennis team finished the Rainbow Warrior Classic on another high note Thursday, claiming 15 wins against No. 39 Louisville. Once again the Blue Devils played two rounds of doubles and one round of singles, winning seven of the eight singles matches and all eight of the doubles contests against the Cardinals.

Highlighting the action Thursday was the No. 1 singles match between senior Jason Tahir, ranked No. 36 in the country, and No. 1 Sebastian Stiefelmeyer. Stiefelmeyer took the first set 6-3 before Tahir fought back to take the next two sets 6-3 and 7-5 to win the match. The victory is Tahir's third of the 2014-15 season against a ranked foe. The highest ranked foe Tahir had previously beaten was No. 10 Brayden Schnur of North Carolina by a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 decision on April 20, 2014.

Duke won six of the other seven singles matches, suffering its only setback in the No. 8 slot. Freshman Nicolas Alvarez, ranked No. 18, took on No. 59 Albert Wagner in the No. 2 spot and earned a 6-4, 6-2 triumph. Alvarez is now 5-2 versus ranked opponents in 2014-15.

In the No. 3 singles slot, junior Bruno Semenzato topped Alex Gornet 6-2, 6-2. Senior Raphael Hemmeler was back in the No. 4 slot for the second straight day and picked up a 6-1, 6-4 win versus Michael Lippens. Sophomore TJ Pura moved up one spot to play at No. 5 and won a hard fought 7-5, 6-3 decision against Jeffrey Brown. Junior Josh Levine and senior Daniel McCall were both elevated one spot from Wednesday's action with Levine playing at No. 6 and McCall at No. 7. Levine took down Van Damrongsri 7-5, 6-3 and McCall defeated Santiago Salazar 6-2, 6-4. Freshman Andrew DeJoy made his Blue Devil debut to round out the action in No. 8 and fell 6-1, 6-1 to Stjepan Cagalj.

In doubles, Duke changed its teams slightly from Wednesday's action against Hawai'i. Alvarez and Hemmeler were again in the No. 1 spot and defeated Louisville's Stiefelmeyer and Lippens 7-6 (3). Tahir and Levine earned a 6-2 win versus the Cardinals' Wagner and Brown at No. 2. Semenzato and redshirt senior Chris Mengel downed Louisville's Gornet and Damrongsri, 6-1. Rounding out the opening set of doubles play was Pura and McCall with a 6-3 triumph against Courtney Lock and Cagalj.

In the second round of doubles, Tahir and Levine played in the No. 1 spot and recorded a 6-2 triumph versus Stiefelmeyer and Lippens. Alvarez and Hemmeler moved to the No. 2 slot and won 6-2 against Wagner and Cagalj. In the No. 3 hole, Pura and McCall fought through Gornet and Brown to earn a 6-2 victory. Semenzato and Mengel completed the doubles play with a 6-2 win against Damrongri and Luis Elizondo.

Duke will return home and open the dual match portion of the spring campaign on Jan. 16 versus No. 63 Michigan State. The match is slated to begin at 6 p.m. ET.

January 8, 2015
UH Tennis Complex – Honolulu

Doubles – Round 1
1. Nicolas Alvarez/Raphael Hemmeler (DUKE) def. Sebastian Stiefelmeyer/Michael Lippens (UL) 7-6 (3)
2. Jason Tahir/Josh Levine (DUKE) def. Albert Wagner/Jeffrey Brown (UL) 6-2
3. Bruno Semenzato/Chris Mengel (DUKE) def. Alex Gornet/Van Damrongsri (UL) 6-1
4. TJ Pura/Daniel McCall (DUKE) def. Courtney Lock/Stjepan Cagalj (UL) 6-3

Doubles – Round 2
1. Tahir/Levine (DUKE) def. Stiefelmeyer/Lippens (UL) 6-2
2. Alvarez/Hemmeler (DUKE) def. Wagner/Cagalj (UL) 6-2
3. Pura/McCall (DUKE) def. Gornet/Brown (UL) 6-2
4. Semenzato/Mengel (DUKE) def. Damrongsri/Luis Elizondo (UL) 6-2

Singles
1. No. 36 Tahir (DUKE) def. No. 1 Stiefelmeyer (UL) 3-6, 6-3, 7-5
2. No. 18 Alvarez (DUKE) def. No. 59 Wagner (UL) 6-4, 6-2
3. No. 112 Semenzato (DUKE) def. Gornet (UL) 6-2, 6-2
4. No. 103 Hemmeler (DUKE) def. Lippens (UL) 6-1, 6-4
5. Pura (DUKE) def. Brown (UL) 7-5, 6-3
6. Levine (DUKE) def. Damrongsri (UL) 7-5, 6-3
7. McCall (DUKE) def. Santiago Salazar (UL) 6-2, 6-4
8. Cagalj (UL) def. Andrew DeJoy (DUKE) 6-1, 6-1