No. 11 Duke Comes Back To Win At No. 30 Northwestern

Sunday, February 1

Chicago, Ill.

12:00 PM

Duke University

Northwestern

No. 11 Duke Comes Back To Win At No. 30 Northwestern

2/1/2015 3:18:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

EVANSTON, Ill. – The No. 11 Duke men's tennis team used five singles victories to down No. 30 Northwestern 5-2 in a hard-fought Sunday morning match. For the second time this weekend, junior Josh Levine earned the match-clinching point with a three-set singles victory. At No. 8 Illinois on Friday, Levine dropped the first set only to win the next two and he repeated the feat Sunday in Evanston.

The win pushes the Blue Devils to 6-0 on the season, marking just the third time in the last 15 seasons the club has started 6-0, joining the 2011 and 2012 squads.

All of Duke's matches this season have been against ranked opponents, the most to begin a season since seven straight in 2008. With the victory, the Blue Devils have claimed their last 10 true road matches against ranked opponents. Overall, Duke's last 16 matches have been against ranked foes with the Blue Devils going 14-2.

For the first time this season, lost the doubles point, but it was not without a fight. Redshirt senior Chris Mengel and junior Bruno Semenzato earned a quick 6-2 victory against Mihir Kumar and Alp Horoz on court three. The Blue Devil pair took a 2-1 lead and then won four of the next five games to take the set. Mengel and Semenzato are 3-0 in dual match play this spring.

Northwestern answered with hard-fought victories on courts one and two to capture the doubles point. Alex Pasareanu and Sam Shropshire earned a 7-5 victory against senior Jason Tahir and Levine. The setback was the first for Tahir and Levine in dual match play. Neither team was able to capture a break until the final game, which gave the Wildcats the set victory.

On court one, Fedor Baev and Strong Kirchheimer sent senior Raphael Hemmeler and freshman Nicolas Alvarez to the tiebreaker and won in a lengthy 7-6 (11) battle. The match was tied 4-4 and 5-5 before Northwestern took a 6-5 advantage, only to have Duke win again and force the tiebreaker. It was just the second setback in dual match play this season for Hemmeler and Alvarez.

In singles, Duke took the first three decisions to claim an overall lead of 3-1. No. 103 Hemmeler tied the match at 1-1 with a 6-1, 6-4 triumph against Logan Staggs on court three. Hemmeler led 4-1 in the second set before Staggs cut it to a 5-4 deficit, but Hemmeler won the next game for the victory. The victory was the 98th of Hemmeler's career. He looks to become the 13th player in Duke history to reach the 100-win plateau.

Minutes later on court four, No. 112 Semenzato gave Duke its first lead of the day at 2-1. Semenzato topped Kumar 6-2, 6-1. Semenzato trailed 2-1 in the first set and then won 11 of the next 12 games. The victory snapped a two-match losing streak for Semenzato.

Alvarez on court two pushed the Duke lead to two points with a 6-4, 6-2 victory against No. 108 Kirchheimer. Alvarez, ranked No. 18, earned his team-leading ninth victory of the campaign against a ranked opponent. Alvarez's 21 singles victories are nine shy of entering the Duke top-10 list of singles victories by a freshman.

Northwestern made it a 3-2 deficit with Shropshire's 6-1, 7-6 (10) victory against No. 37 Tahir on court one. Neither player had more than a one-game lead in the second set.

On court six, Levine worked his three-set magic again to clinch the victory, downing Horoz 2-6, 6-3, 6-2. Horoz cruised in the first set and held a 2-1 lead in the second set before Levine stormed back with 11 victories in the next 14 games to win the match and clinch the contest for Duke. The win was the ninth straight in singles for Levine.

Minutes after Levine secured the Blue Devil victory, Mengel earned the final point with a three-set win over Baev, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, on court five. Baev took the first set 6-3 before Mengel returned the favor with a 6-3 triumph in the second set. In the third set, Mengel and Baev held serve until Baev earned a break and took a 4-2 lead and pushed it to a 5-2 advantage. From there, Mengel took control, winning five straight games for the 7-5 win. The win was the 99th in singles of Mengel's career.

Duke will return home to face No. 22 Tennessee on Friday, Feb. 6, at 6 p.m. ET. The Blue Devils will then host No. 48 Michigan and North Carolina Central for a doubleheader on Sunday, Feb. 8. Action begins against the Wolverines at 12 p.m. ET and versus the Eagles at approximately 5 p.m.

#11 Duke 4, #30 Northwestern 3
Feb 1, 2015 at Evanston, Ill. (Combe Tennis Center)

Doubles competition
1. Fedor Baev/Strong Kirchheimer (NU) def. Nicolas Alvarez/Raphael Hemmeler (DU) 7-6 (13-11)
2. Alex Pasareanu/Sam Shropshire (NU) def. Jason Tahir/Josh Levine (DU) 7-5
3. Chris Mengel/Bruno Semenzato (DU) Mihir Kumar/Alp Horoz (NU) 6-2

Singles competition
1. Sam Shropshire (NU) def. #36 Jason Tahir (DU) 6-1, 7-6 (12-10)
2. #18 Nicolas Alvarez (DU) def. #108 Strong Kirchheimer (NU) 6-4, 6-2
3. #103 Raphael Hemmeler (DU) def. Logan Staggs (NU) 6-1, 6-4
4. #112 Bruno Semenzato (DU) def. Mihir Kumar (NU) 6-2, 6-1
5. Chris Mengel (DU) def. Fedor Baev (NU) 3-6, 6-3, 7-5
6. Josh Levine (DU) def. Alp Horoz (NU) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2

Match Notes
Duke 6-0; National ranking #11
Northwestern 2-4; National ranking #30
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (3,4,2,1,6,5)
T-2:50 A-90

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