Mengel Clinches As Duke Downs Louisville, 5-2

Friday, April 17

Louisville, Ky.

4:00 PM

Duke University

Louisville

Mengel Clinches As Duke Downs Louisville, 5-2

4/17/2015 7:42:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – As the regular season winds down for the Duke men's tennis team, the Blue Devils have pieced together two of their finer performances in the last two matches as the squad defeated No. 30 Louisville 5-2 on Friday evening at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center. Eighth-ranked Duke (21-4, 8-3 ACC) won the doubles point and captured singles triumphs on courts two, four, five and six to complete the victory.

Duke recorded its eighth ACC win, marking the sixth straight season the Blue Devils have won eight or more league matches. It is the second-longest such streak in program history, behind a seven-year stretch from 1997-2003. Duke's 21 overall wins are just one shy of entering the program's top-10 single-season wins chart. The Blue Devils also registered their 16th victory of the year against a ranked foe, tied for the ninth most in a year in program history.

Individually, a trio of seniors helped Duke to the win and moved up the school's career record charts. Raphael Hemmeler earned the 113th doubles win of his career to tie for fourth on the program's all-time list with current assistant coach Jonathan Stokke. Hemmeler's doubles triumph was also his 28th in ACC action, tied with Stokke for the second most by a Blue Devil. Senior Jason Tahir also moved up the Duke record charts, tying for 10th in career singles victories with the 103rd of his career and tying for the fourth most career ACC singles wins with his 31st. Tahir's win in doubles was also the 25th of his ACC career, tied for the eighth most in program history. Redshirt senior Chris Mengel clinched the match with his 107th career victory, tied for the eighth most in Duke history, and 30th ACC singles win, the fifth most by a Blue Devil.

Duke got off on the right foot Friday, winning the doubles point for the fourth time in five matches. The Blue Devils took the match on court one as No. 14 Hemmeler and freshman Nicolas Alvarez downed No. 72 Alex Gornet and Jeffrey Brown, 8-4. With the set tied 3-3, Hemmeler and Alvarez went on a three-game run to go up 6-3. Louisville got within 7-4, but Duke took the final game to end the set. Hemmeler and Alvarez improved to 16-8 and have five wins versus ranked opponents.

Duke clinched the point on court two, where junior Josh Levine and Tahir downed Van Damrongsri and Albert Wagner, 8-6. Much like on court one, it was a swing in momentum when the set was tied 3-3. From there, Duke earned a break and took a 5-3 lead that was the margin of victory needed. The Cardinals' pair answered to make it a 6-5 Blue Devil lead, but Levine and Tahir responded with wins in two of the last three games to end the set. Levine and Tahir won their eighth straight match and are now 16-4 overall and 6-0 in league action. The pair has not lost since Feb. 15 against No. 19 Ole Miss at the ITA Team Indoor Championship.

On court three, Louisville's Sebastian Stiefelmeyer and Chris Simich led Duke junior Bruno Semenzato and sophomore TJ Pura, 6-3, when the action was stopped.

Tahir kept the momentum going for Duke in singles, making it a 2-0 Blue Devil lead with a 6-2, 6-0 victory against Gornet on court two. Tahir, ranked No. 51 this week, turned a 2-1 lead in the opening set into a 5-2 advantage and closed out for the victory. He breezed through the second set to up his overall record to 23-16 and 6-5 in ACC matches.

The Cardinals (23-7, 7-4 ACC) cut the deficit to 2-1 with a Wagner 6-4, 6-3 win versus Hemmeler on court three. The loss snapped Hemmeler's nine-match ACC winning streak, tied for the longest run by a Blue Devil in league matches in program history. No. 59 Hemmeler took a 3-2 lead in the opening set, but No. 100 Wagner stormed back with four wins in the last five games to take the set. In the second set, Hemmeler fell behind 3-1 and 4-2 before Wagner finished the match. Hemmeler dipped to 33-8 and 9-2 in ACC action.

The Blue Devils regained their two-point lead at 3-1 as Semenzato defeated Simich, 6-3, 6-3, on court four. Semenzato took an early 2-1 lead in the first set and turned it into a 4-1 advantage en route to the win. With the second set even at 1-1, Semenzato won the next two games to open up a lead he would not relinquish. He extended the lead to 5-3 before closing out the set. Semenzato is now 27-11 overall and 7-4 in league matches. He is also 10-4 on court four this spring.

It was Mengel who clinched the match for Duke as he defeated Michael Lippens, 6-4, 6-4, on court five. Mengel fought back from multiple deficits in the first set for the win. Mengel was behind 2-1 and 4-3 before winning three consecutive games to close the set. In the second set, Mengel held the upper hand throughout with 2-1, 4-3 and 5-4 advantages. Mengel has won three straight matches and is 16-6 overall, 4-1 in the ACC and 10-1 on court five.

Louisville earned its final point for a 4-2 Duke lead on court one, where Alvarez and Stiefelmeyer staged a lengthy, three-set clash between two of the top 12 players in the country that went to Stiefelmeyer, 6-2, 3-6, 7-5. Alvarez, ranked No. 11 this week, trailed 2-1 in the opening set before Stiefelmeyer, ranked No. 7 after beginning the spring at No. 1, opened things up and took a 4-1 lead and then ended the set. Alvarez responded in the second set and turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 advantage. He went up 4-3 and won the last two games to end the set. The third set had Alvarez out to an early lead of 2-1 that was pushed to 4-1 before Stiefelmeyer started the comeback. Stiefelmeyer cut the deficit to 4-3 before Alvarez made it a 5-4 set. Stiefelmeyer ended the match by winning the final three games. Alvarez fell to 29-9 and 4-5 in league action.

Duke finished the match with a comeback win on court six from Pura, who defeated Luis Elizondo, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 1-0 (8). The opening set was tied throughout and went into the tiebreaker, where Elizondo won narrowly, 7-5. In the second set, Pura jumped out to a 3-1 lead and extended it to 5-2 before closing out the set. With the overall match already determined, the two went to a first-to-10 tiebreaker for a third set. There, Pura came away with the close victory. Pura improved to 18-9 overall and 8-3 in the ACC.

Duke plays its final regular-season match of the year Sunday at Georgia Tech. First serve is set for 12 p.m. ET.

#8 Duke 5 #30 Louisville 2
April 17, 2015 at Louisville, Ky. (Bass-Rudd Tennis Center)

Singles competition
1. #7 Sebastian Stiefelmeyer (UL) def. #11 Nicolas Alvarez (DU) 6-2, 3-6, 7-5
2. #51 Jason Tahir (DU) def. Alex Gornet (UL) 6-2, 6-0
3. #100 Albert Wagner (UL) def. #59 Raphael Hemmeler (DU) 6-4, 6-3
4. Bruno Semenzato (DU) def. Chris Simich (UL) 6-3, 6-3
5. Chris Mengel (DU) def. Michael Lippens (UL) 6-4, 6-4
6. TJ Pura (DU) def. Luis Elizondo (UL) 6-7 (5), 6-3, 1-0 (8)

Doubles competition
1. #14 Raphael Hemmeler/Nicolas Alvarez (DU) def. #72 Alex Gornet/Jeffrey Brown (UL) 8-4
2. Jason Tahir/Josh Levine (DU) def. Van Damrongsri/Albert Wagner (UL) 8-6
3. Sebastian Stiefelmeyer/Chris Simich (UL) led Bruno Semenzato/TJ Pura (DU) 6-3

Match Notes
Duke 21-4, 8-3 ACC; National ranking #8
Louisville 23-7, 7-4 ACC; National ranking #30
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (2,3,4,5,1,6)
T-3:08 A-152

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