Duke Falls 6-1 at Virginia Tech

Sunday, March 8

Blacksburg, Va.

11:00 AM

Duke University

Virginia Tech

Duke Falls 6-1 at Virginia Tech

3/8/2015 3:24:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

BLACKSBURG, Va. – The No. 2 Duke men's tennis team opened the Atlantic Coast Conference season with a 6-1 setback at No. 44 Virginia Tech on Sunday morning. The Blue Devils (13-2, 0-1 ACC) won the doubles point, but the Hokies (10-1, 2-0 ACC) took all six singles matches to rally and secure the victory.

The loss was Duke's first in an ACC opener since falling 5-2 at Clemson on March 24, 2007. The Blue Devils had won 17 of their last 18 league openers.

Despite the setback, Duke's 13-2 overall record is tied for the best 15-match mark in program history. The 1951, 1975, 1977, 1988, 2005 and 2012 squads all began the campaign 13-2.

Sunday in doubles, Duke claimed the point for the 12th time in 15 matches this spring. Virginia Tech earned the first decision as Edoardo Tessaro and Joao Monteiro topped junior Bruno Semenzato and sophomore TJ Pura 8-3 on court three. The Hokie duo got out to 2-1 and 4-1 leads and closed out the victory.

The Blue Devils evened the doubles action with an 8-4 triumph on court two from senior Jason Tahir and junior Josh Levine against Hunter Koontz and Florian Nicoud. Tahir and Levine jumped out to leads of 2-1 and 4-2 before expanding the advantage to 7-3 and holding on for the win.

The point was determined on court one, where freshman Nicolas Alvarez and senior Raphael Hemmeler held off Andreas Bjerrehus and Amerigo Contini, 8-5. The Duke duo, ranked No. 11 in the latest ITA poll, led 3-1 before Virginia Tech answered to even the match at 3-3. Alvarez and Hemmeler then won three straight games to regain the lead at 6-3. The two teams held serve for the remainder of the match with a Hemmeler overhead slam providing the winning point for the Blue Devils. The victory was Hemmeler's 108th of his doubles career, just one shy of tying Jordan Wile (1996-99) for fifth on the Duke all-time chart. The triumph was also the 25th of Hemmeler's career in ACC doubles, tied for the eighth most in program history.

In singles, Virginia Tech swept Duke to capture the match.

The Hokies quickly evened the match at 1-1 overall as Nicoud dispatched Levine 6-1, 6-3 on court five. Nicoud jumped out to a 3-1 advantage in the opening set and never looked back. The setback was just Levine's third of the dual match season, and first playing on court five.

Virginia Tech then took its first lead at 2-1 when Aaron Gomez defeated Pura 7-6 (5), 6-0 on court six. Pura held 2-1, 4-2 and 5-3 advantages in the opening set, but Gomez fought back and pushed the set into a tiebreaker, which he won, 7-5. The loss was only Pura's second of the dual match campaign, both suffered on court six.

The Hokies pushed the lead to 3-1 with a Bjerrehus 7-6 (7), 6-4 victory against Alvarez on court one. The two stayed on serve in the first set until Bjerrehus broke and took a 3-2 lead. No. 8 Alvarez answered with a break and took a 4-3 lead and the two remained on serve to the tiebreaker, which No. 74 Bjerrehus won 9-7. In the second set the two also remained on serve until game nine, when Bjerrehus broke and gained a 5-4 advantage. He held serve in the final game to win the match. The loss snapped Alvarez's team-high five match winning streak and was his first setback suffered at No. 1 singles. Alvarez is now 9-2 in dual matches and 25-5 overall.

The extremely close tennis continued as the remaining three matches all went to third sets.

Virginia Tech clinched the victory with a three-set triumph from Tessaro on court four as he downed Semenzato 6-3, 4-6, 7-5. Semenzato fell behind 2-1 in the first set before evening the set at 3-3. Tessaro responded with three consecutive wins to take the set. In the second set, Semenzato led 5-3 and held on for the 6-4 victory. Tessaro led 2-0 and 3-1 in the third set before Semenzato claimed four consecutive games to take a 5-3 lead. Tessaro responded again, taking the last four games to claim a 7-5 win. Semenzato had won five consecutive decisions heading into Sunday's action.

Koontz extended the Hokie lead to 5-1 on court three by defeating Hemmeler 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-3. In the opening set, Hemmeler earned a break to go ahead 5-3. Koontz answered and tied the set at 6-6 before winning the tiebreaker 7-5. The two were on serve in the second set until Hemmeler, ranked No. 99 in the last ITA poll, broke Koontz in the final game to win the set 6-4. In the third set, Koontz broke to take a 2-1 lead and made it stand in the 6-3 win.

In the final match of the day, Virginia Tech finished its singles sweep with Monteiro coming back to defeat No. 32 Tahir 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7) on court two. In the first set, Tahir took a 3-1 lead. Monteiro cut it to a 4-3 and 5-4 deficit before Tahir served out for the win. Monteiro was the one with the early lead in the second set, going ahead 4-1 and 5-3 and serving out for the win. The two remained on serve throughout the third set and went to the tiebreaker at 6-6. In the tiebreaker, Monteiro won 9-7.

Duke has a week off before returning to action for its ACC home opener Sunday, March 15, against Miami. First serve is set for 12 p.m. ET inside the Ambler Tennis Stadium.

#44 Virginia Tech 6, #2 Duke 1
March 8, 2015 at Blacksburg, Va. (Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center)

Singles competition
1. #74 Andreas Bjerrehus (VT) def. #8 Nicolas Alvarez (DU) 7-6 (9-7), 6-4
2. Joao Monteiro (VT) def. #32 Jason Tahir (DU) 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (9-7)
3. Hunter Koontz (VT) def. #99 Raphael Hemmeler (DU) 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-3
4. Edoardo Tessaro (VT) def. Bruno Semenzato (DU) 6-3, 4-6, 7-5
5. Florian Nicoud (VT) def. Josh Levine (DU) 6-1, 6-3
6. Aaron Gomez (VT) def. TJ Pura (DU) 7-6 (7-5), 6-0

Doubles competition
1. #11 Nicolas Alvarez/Raphael Hemmeler (DU) def. Amerigo Contini/Andreas Bjerrehus (VT) 8-5
2. Jason Tahir/Josh Levine (DU) def. Hunter Koontz/Florian Nicoud (VT) 8-4
3. Edoardo Tessaro/Joao Monteiro (VT) def. Bruno Semenzato/TJ Pura 8-3

Match Notes
Virginia Tech 10-1, 2-0 ACC; National ranking #44
Duke 13-2, 0-1 ACC; National ranking #2
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (5,6,1,4,3,2)

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