No. 6 Duke Topples No. 12 Wake Forest, 4-3

Sunday, March 22

Durham, N.C.

3:00 PM

Duke University

Wake Forest

No. 6 Duke Topples No. 12 Wake Forest, 4-3

3/22/2015 8:12:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – A singles rally lifted the No. 6 Duke men's tennis team to a 4-3 victory against No. 12 Wake Forest on Sunday evening inside Ambler Tennis Stadium. The Demon Deacons captured the doubles point and the first completed singles competition, but Duke won the next four singles contests to take the match and improve to 16-2 overall and 3-1 in conference play.

The 16-2 record is tied with the 1977 squad for the best 18-match mark in program history. The Blue Devils have captured seven of their last eight matches and improve to 12-2 against ranked foes this year. Duke is also 15-1 in its last 16 home matches, with four victories against top-25 clubs. The Blue Devils' 11 home wins this season are tied for the ninth most in a year in program history.

“I'm really proud of the team,” head coach Ramsey Smith said. “That was one of those special matches. I have so much respect for Wake Forest. They're a really, really good team. I'm proud of the way we hung in there. We haven't lost too many doubles points this year. We got down in singles early, but everyone stepped up and competed hard. We gave ourselves a chance and it was a great win for us.”

Individually, senior Raphael Hemmeler gave Duke the lead it did not relinquish at 3-2 and captured the 108th victory of his career, tied with Andres Pedroso (1998-2001) for the sixth most in Duke history. Freshman Nicolas Alvarez clinched the match with a three-set comeback win on court one against Noah Rubin. It was the second time this season Alvarez has clinched the match against Wake Forest as he did the same Jan. 23 during the ITA Kick-Off Weekend in Duke's 4-1 win versus the Demon Deacons.

“We played them earlier in the year and it was a very tough match,” Alvarez said. “We came back [tonight] from losing doubles, pretty easily on two courts, including mine. We played great tennis in singles. Everybody gave their best. What makes it so special is coming back from doubles against a very good team here at home.”

On Sunday, Wake Forest took a 1-0 lead by capturing the final two doubles matches to take the point. Duke won the first doubles match to finish as senior Jason Tahir and junior Josh Levine cruised to an 8-2 victory on court two against Jonathan Ho and Rubin. The Blue Devil pair went ahead 4-1 and, after a Demon Deacon victory, won the final four games of the match. Tahir and Levine improved to 13-4 overall, 3-0 in ACC matches, and have won five-straight decisions.

On court one, Wake Forest's pair of Skander Mansouri and Christian Seraphim returned the favor with an 8-3 victory against Duke's Alvarez and Hemmeler. The Demon Deacon pair, ranked 13th in the latest ITA poll, led 4-1 and then 4-2 before rattling off three-straight victories to take a 7-2 advantage. Duke got a game back, but Wake Forest served out for the win. Alvarez and Hemmeler, ranked 11th, fell to 15-6 overall and 1-2 in league matches.

The doubles point came down to court three, where Wake Forest's Keivon Tabrizi and Romain Bogaerts downed Blue Devil redshirt senior Chris Mengel and junior Bruno Semenzato, 8-3. The Wake Forest pair took a 3-0 lead and then extended it to 5-2 before putting it away. The setback was just the third of the year for the Blue Devil pair as Semenzato and Mengel dipped to 12-3 overall and 2-1 in ACC action.

In singles, Wake Forest extended its lead to 2-0 with a court-five 6-1, 6-2 win from Seraphim over Levine. Seraphim led 5-0 in the first set and closed out for the win. In the second set, Levine led 2-0 before Seraphim replied with six-straight triumphs to end the match. Levine falls to 15-10 overall and 1-3 in league play.

Duke got its first point from court six to trail 2-1 with a 6-3, 6-1 victory by sophomore TJ Pura against Maksim Kan. Pura started the match with a quick 4-0 lead in the first set. Kan then won three of the next four to cut the deficit to 5-3, but Pura broke Kan in the final game of the set for the win. In the second set, Pura again took a 4-0 lead and held on for the win. Pura improves to 13-7 overall 3-1 in ACC matches.

The Blue Devils then evened the match at 2-2 with a 6-1, 6-4 victory by Semenzato against Mansouri on court four. Semenzato led 4-0 in the first set and then dropped his only game of the set before winning two more. In the second set, Semenzato led 3-1 before Mansouri won two in a row to even it at 3-3. Semenzato then held on his service game and broke Mansouri to go ahead 5-3. Mansouri broke Semenzato to make it 5-4, but Semenzato returned the favor to break Mansouri and end the match. Semenzato improves to 22-9 overall and 2-2 in ACC matches. Semenzato is 23-6 in his career playing in the No. 4 singles spot.

Duke took the lead with Hemmeler's 6-2, 7-5 victory on court three against No. 69 Ho. Hemmeler went ahead 3-1 in the first set. Ho made it a 3-2 deficit, but Hemmeler won three-straight games to end the set. In the second set, Hemmeler fell behind 2-0, 4-1 and 5-2. He stormed back to win five consecutive games to end the match. Hemmeler improved to 27-7 overall, 13-3 in dual matches and 3-1 in ACC action.

“There were a lot of big momentum shifts,” Smith said. “Bruno being able to finish off the second set after saving some break points and Rafa [Hemmeler] down 5-2 in the second set and able to come back and win that gave us a huge, huge boost.”

The Blue Devils clinched the match with Alvarez's 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory against Rubin on court one. In the first set, the two were tied 2-2 and then No. 63 Rubin won four of the next five games to take the set. Alvarez responded by opening up a 4-1 lead in the second set and closed out the win. In the third set, No. 11 Alvarez got a break with the match tied 2-2 to take a 3-2 lead. He extended it to 4-2, but Rubin cut the deficit to one game at 4-3 and 5-4. Alvarez held his serve in the final game to record the match win. He is now 26-5 this season and a team-best 11-5 against ranked opponents.

“Nico [Alvarez] has done it [clinching matches versus Wake Forest] against two different guys who are two of the better players in college tennis in Bogaerts and Rubin,” Smith said. “Alvarez is so calm in the pressure moments like serving for the match. It's not the first time he's done it, but we've been missing him for a little bit. It's awesome to have him back in there. It was a special win for him.”

“It's tough coming back against a very tough opponent like Rubin is,” Alvarez added. “At first I wasn't in the rhythm of competition and he was playing well. Then I started coming back by giving myself some positive energy and seeing the other guys were doing great really helped me. I loosened up and started playing better. I changed my strategy a little bit and that helped me. I was able to pull it off in the end.”

The match ended with No. 12 Bogaerts defeating No. 34 Tahir 6-3, 3-6, 5-4 (5) on court two. Bogaerts snapped a 2-2 tie in the first set with three-straight wins to take a 5-2 lead. Tahir got a game back, but Bogaerts won again to end the set. Tahir answered in the second set by getting a break tied at 2-2 to go ahead 3-2 and then extend the lead to 4-2. Bogaerts held on his own service game to make it a 4-3 deficit, but Tahir won his game serving and broke Bogaerts to end the set. In the third set, Bogaerts opened up a 4-2 lead, but Tahir answered and tied it at 4-4. Due to darkness, the tiebreaker was started with the third set even at 4-4. Bogaerts took a 2-0 lead in the tiebreaker, but Tahir rallied and evened it at 3-3, 4-4 and 5-5. Tahir then hit consecutive returns long for Bogaerts to win. Tahir dips to 18-14 overall and 1-3 in league matches.

Duke returns to action next weekend with two road matches. The Blue Devils begin the weekend trek at 2:30 p.m. ET on Friday, March 27, at No. 64 Clemson and conclude the weekend at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 29, at No. 9 Virginia.

#6 Duke 4, #12 Wake Forest 3
March 22, 2015 at Durham, N.C. (Ambler Tennis Stadium)

Singles competition
1. #11 Nicolas Alvarez (DU) def. #63 Noah Rubin (WAKE) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
2. #12 Romain Bogaerts (WAKE) def. #34 Jason Tahir (DU) 6-3, 3-6, 5-4 (5)
3. Raphael Hemmeler (DU) def. #69 Jonathan Ho (WAKE) 6-3, 7-5
4. Bruno Semenzato (DU) def. Skander Mansouri (WAKE) 6-1, 6-4
5. Christian Seraphim (WAKE) def. Josh Levine (DU) 6-1, 6-2
6. TJ Pura (DU) def. Maksim Kan (WAKE) 6-3, 6-1

Doubles competition
1. #13 Skander Mansouri/Christian Seraphim (WAKE) def. #11 Nicolas Alvarez/Raphael Hemmeler (DU) 8-3
2. Jason Tahir/Josh Levine (DU) def. Jonathan Ho/Noah Rubin (WAKE) 8-2
3. Keivon Tabrizi/Romain Bogaerts (WAKE) def. Chris Mengel/Bruno Semenzato (DU) 8-3

Match Notes
Wake Forest 13-5, 3-2 ACC; National ranking #12
Duke 16-2, 3-1 ACC; National ranking #6
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (5,6,4,3,1,2)
T-3:33 A-237

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