Georgia Tech Holds Off Duke, 4-3

Sunday, April 19

Atlanta, Ga.

12:00 PM

Duke University

Georgia Tech

Georgia Tech Holds Off Duke, 4-3

4/19/2015 1:47:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

ATLANTA – Trailing 2-0 with five singles matches remaining, the No. 8 Duke men's tennis team rallied to even the match at 3-3, but could not get the final point it needed, falling 4-3 at Georgia Tech on Sunday afternoon inside the Ken Byers Tennis Complex. The Blue Devils used singles victories from junior Josh Levine, senior Jason Tahir and junior Bruno Semenzato to even the match, but a three-set decision on court two went in favor of Georgia Tech to end the match.

Duke closes the regular season with a 21-5 record and 8-4 mark in ACC matches.

The doubles point Sunday was extremely close, with all three courts even at 5-5 at one point. Georgia Tech (12-11, 4-8 ACC) ended up coming away with the point, winning a tiebreaker on court one to decide it.

The Yellow Jackets took the first doubles match as Christopher Eubanks and Michael Kay topped sophomore TJ Pura and Semenzato, 8-5, on court two. Eubanks and Kay started strong, getting out to leads of 3-0, 4-1 and 5-2 before Pura and Semenato fought back with three straight wins to even the set at 5-5. From there, it was Eubanks and Kay who made the final run, winning the last three games to take the set. Pura and Semenzato fell to 4-4 overall and 3-3 in league matches. This was the pair's first match of the year on court two.

Duke answered with a win on court three from senior Raphael Hemmeler and junior Daniel McCall, who defeated Casey Kay and Nathan Rakitt, 8-6. Hemmeler and McCall fell behind 4-2 before winning two straight to even the set at 4-4. With the set tied 5-5, Hemmeler and McCall broke and held to seize control of the match and go ahead 7-5. Georgia Tech cut it to a 7-6 lead, but Duke closed out with one more win. It was the first match of the year McCall and Hemmeler had played together in doubles. The win for Hemmeler was the 114th of his doubles career, good for sole possession of fourth on the Duke all-time chart, surpassing current assistant Jonathan Stokke. It was also the 29th of Hemmeler's ACC career, putting him alone in second in the Blue Devil record book.

The point went down to court one, where No. 88 Carlos Benito and Eduardo Segura came away with an 8-7 (2) victory against Levine and Tahir. Neither team had more than a one game lead during the set as it went into the tiebreaker at 7-7. In the tiebreaker, Benito and Segura cruised, 7-2. It was the first ACC loss for Levine and Tahir, who had their nine-match winning streak snapped. Levine and Tahir are now 16-5 overall, 6-1 in the ACC and 3-1 on court one this year.

In singles, Georgia Tech pushed its lead to 2-0 with a victory on court six, where Segura downed McCall, 6-2, 6-3. Playing his first ACC singles match of the year, McCall fell behind 5-0 in the opening set before taking two games from Segura. In the second set, McCall was down 2-1 and 3-2 and tied it at 3-3 before Segura won the last three games to end the match. McCall dips to 9-6 overall and 2-1 in dual matches.

Duke cut the deficit in half with a victory from Levine on court four, where he downed Michael Kay, 6-4, 7-6 (3). Levine opened up a slim 4-3 lead in the opening set and pushed it to 5-4 before winning the final game on a break to close the set. In the second set, neither player had a lead of more than one game, resulting in a 6-6 tie that forced the tiebreaker. From there, Levine got a four point victory at 7-3. Levine is now 17-13 this year with three ACC wins. He is also 3-0 on court three this spring.

The Blue Devils evened the match at 2-2 overall with a victory on court one from Tahir, who defeated Eubanks 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. Eubanks, ranked No. 62 this week, opened 4-2 and 5-2 leads in the first set. Tahir got a game back, but Eubanks closed it out to take the first set. In the second set, it was No. 51 Tahir who got out to a sizable lead, going ahead 3-0, 4-1 and 5-2. Eubanks won consecutive games to make it a 5-4 Tahir lead, but he won the next game to even the match at one set each. In the deciding third set, Tahir broke at 3-2 to go ahead 4-2, but Eubanks broke right back and evened it at 4-4. Tahir put it away holding on his service game and breaking Eubanks in the final game to end the set. Tahir improved to 24-16 overall and 7-5 in ACC matches. He also picked up his seventh victory of the year against a ranked opponent, good for the second most on the squad. Tahir's win was the 104th of his career, the 10th most by a Duke player. He also captured his 32nd career league victory, tied with Hemmeler for the third most in program history.

Georgia Tech regained the overall lead at 3-2 when Cole Fiegel defeated Pura, 6-3, 6-4, on court five. Fiegel turned a 2-1 lead in the first set into a 4-1 advantage. Pura got it back to 4-2 and 5-3, but Fiegel won the last game to end the set. In the second set, the two exchanged victories to make it a 4-4 tie, but Fiegel broke Pura and held on his service game to end the match. Pura fell to 19-10 overall and 8-4 in league matches. It was Pura's first loss on court five this year.

Duke quickly evened the overall match again at 3-3 with a victory from Semenzato on court three, where he defeated Rakitt, 7-6 (4), 6-3. Neither player led by more than a game in the opening set, sending it to the tiebreaker, which Semenzato won, 7-4. In the second set, Semenzato went up a break early in the set, turning a 1-1 tie into a 3-1 lead. Rakitt got within 3-2 and 4-3, but Semenzato took the final two games to capture the match. Semenzato lifted his overall mark to 28-11 and his ACC record to 8-4.

It all came down to court two, where Benito edged past Hemmeler, 7-6 (11), 3-6, 6-3. In the first set, the two were virtually even throughout and went to the tiebreaker with Benito coming away with a 13-11 victory to take the first set. The second set had No. 59 Hemmeler get a break early and went from a 1-1 tie to a 4-1 advantage. Benito came back to make it a 5-3 deficit, but Hemmeler ended it on his service game to force the third set. The two were on serve at 2-2 when Benito fought off five break points to hold on his serve and go up 3-2. He then broke Hemmeler to take a 4-2 lead. Hemmeler again had a chance to break Benito, but Benito held again, staving off two break points to go up 5-2. Hemmeler got a game back on his serve, but Benito served out for the match. Hemmeler fell to 33-9 overall and 9-3 in league action.

Duke now heads to the ACC Tournament in Cary, N.C. Seeds for the event will be determined after all the league's Sunday matches are completed. Duke will either play Thursday or Friday.

Georgia Tech #8 Duke
April 19, 2015 at Atlanta, Ga. (Ken Byers Tennis Complex)

Singles competition
1. #51 Jason Tahir (DU) def. #62 Christopher Eubanks (GT) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
2. Carlos Benito (GT) def. #59 Raphael Hemmeler (DU) 7-6 (11), 3-6, 6-3
3. Bruno Semenzato (DU) def. Nathan Rakitt (GT) 7-6 (4), 6-3
4. Josh Levine (DU) def. Michael Kay (GT) 6-4, 7-6 (3)
5. Cole Fiegel (GT) def. TJ Pura (DU) 6-3, 6-4
6. Eduardo Segura (GT) def. Daniel McCall (DU) 6-2, 6-3

Doubles competition
1. #88 Carlos Benito/Eduardo Segura (GT) def. Jason Tahir/Josh Levine (DU) 8-7 (2)
2. Christopher Eubanks/Michael Kay (GT) def. TJ Pura/Bruno Semenzato (DU) 8-5
3. Raphael Hemmeler/Daniel McCall (DU) def. Casey Kay/Nathan Rakitt (GT) 8-6

Match Notes
Georgia Tech 12-11, 4-8 ACC
Duke 21-5, 8-4 ACC; National ranking #8
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (6,4,1,5,3,2)
Match played indoors
T-3:33 A-250

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