Duke Opens NCAA Team Championship with Sweep

Friday, May 8

Durham, N.C.

1:00 PM

Duke University

South Carolina State (First Round)

Duke Opens NCAA Team Championship with Sweep

5/8/2015 5:18:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – The Duke men's tennis team opened the NCAA Team Championship with a 5-0 victory against South Carolina State on Friday afternoon inside Ambler Tennis Stadium. The Blue Devils captured the doubles point and got singles victories from senior Jason Tahir, junior Josh Levine, sophomore TJ Pura and redshirt senior Chris Mengel to complete the sweep

“We had two weeks since our last match so we had a lot of time to prepare,” head coach Ramsey Smith said. “I thought we did a great job today. At the beginning, we hadn't played a dual match in two weeks so it took a little bit to get our teeth in there. But once we got going I thought we played great.”

Duke improved to 23-6 with the victory and advanced to Saturday's second round of the NCAA Team Championship. The 23 wins are tied for the eighth most in a year in program history. The Blue Devils have lost their opening NCAA Team Championship match just once, during their first trip, in 1982.

The win also lifted Duke's home record to 15-0 this season. The squad looks to become just the ninth in program history to finish the year unbeaten at home. The 15 home victories are tied for the third most in a year, two behind the 1985 club's record of 17.

“We have a lot of confidence playing at home,” Tahir said. “I think playing outdoors, especially in the heat, the courts play to our advantage. It's awesome to play here in Durham and have all our fans watch. It's also great to be able be at home and to graduate with my class on Sunday."

The Blue Devils cruised through doubles on Friday, recording wins from the pairs on courts one and two. On court two, Tahir and Levine lost just once against Soufiane Mouline and Edgar Diaz to win 8-1. The Duke duo, which lost only the third game, improved to 19-5 on the season and is 12-1 in its last 13 decisions

On court one, the No. 20 pair of senior Raphael Hemmeler and freshman Nicolas Alvarez downed Rodney Carey and Martin Figura, 8-3. The Blue Devils took an early 2-1 lead and pushed the advantage out to 5-1. South Carolina State made it a 5-2 and 6-3 deficit, but Duke took the final two games for the win. Hemmeler and Alvarez, playing together for the first time since April 17, lifted their overall record to 17-8 and 9-7 on court one.

The court three match between Duke junior Bruno Semenzato and Pura and South Carolina State's Stanislav Baco and Jakub Vitek was halted with the Blue Devils leading, 6-4.

Duke earned its second point, and first in singles, on court one, where Tahir defeated Carey, 6-0, 6-0. Tahir is now 25-17 this season. The victory also improved his singles record in NCAA Team Championship play to 6-1 in his career. Tahir's win was Duke's first 6-0, 6-0 triumph in singles in an NCAA event since Henrique Cunha's victory against Coastal Carolina's Yusuke Kusuda on May 10, 2013.

“I focused a lot on my fitness,” Tahir said about what he worked on between the ACC and NCAA Championships. “It's my last NCAA tournament, so I really wanted to feel prepared. I know a lot of the guys felt the same way. I feel like we're ready to go. We're really just looking forward to tomorrow.”

The Blue Devils picked up their third point from Levine on court five as he topped Baco, 6-0, 6-3. After breezing through the first set, Levine turned a 1-1 tie in the second set into a 3-1 advantage. Baco kept it at a two-game deficit at 4-2 and 5-3 before Levine broke to end the match. Levine upped his overall record to 19-14 this season. He also remained perfect in NCAA Team Championship action during his career at 3-0

The match ended with fourth and fifth points for Duke as the matches ended simultaniously. Pura topped Vitek, 6-2, 6-2, on court six. Pura trailed 1-0 and 2-1 in opening set before taking the final five games. In the second set, Pura jumped ahead 2-0. Vitek cut the lead to one game at 2-1 and 3-2, but Pura won the final three games to end the match. Pura improved to 21-10 this season and 2-1 in NCAA Team Championship matches.

At nearly the same time, Mengel downed Mouline, 6-1, 6-2, on court four. Mengel fell behind 1-0 in the opening set before taking six straight games. With the second set tied 2-2, Mengel ripped off four consecutive games to end the match. Mengel is now 17-7 this year and 6-1 in career NCAA Team Championship contests.

The Blue Devils led on the other two courts when the matches were halted. Hemmeler led Figure, 7-5, 1-0, on court two and Semenzato led Vladyslav Tanchenko, 6-4, 4-3, on court three.

Duke will face No. 23 Stanford (18-6) at 1 p.m. ET Saturday. The winner will advance to the NCAA Team Championship round of 16 in Waco, Texas.

“Stanford has been playing exceptionally well, especially the second half of the season,” Smith said of Saturday's match. “They play good doubles and are aggressive in singles. They toughed out a really hard-fought match today. That will give them a lot of confidence. It should be a really good match tomorrow.”

#10 Duke 5 South Carolina State 0
May 8, 2015 at Durham, N.C. (Ambler Tennis Stadium)

Singles competition
1. #41 Jason Tahir (DU) def. Rodney Carey (SCSU) 6-0, 6-0
2. #57 Raphael Hemmeler (DU) led Martin Figura (SCSU) 7-5, 1-0
3. Bruno Semenzato (DU) led Vladyslav Yanchenko (SCSU) 6-4, 4-3
4. Chris Mengel (DU) def. Soufiane Mouline 6-1, 6-2
5. Josh Levine (DU) def. Stanislav Baco (SCSU) 6-0, 6-3
6. TJ Pura (DU) def. Jakub Vitek (SCSU) 6-2, 6-2

Doubles competition
1. #20 Raphael Hemmeler/Nicolas Alvarez (DU) def. Rodney Carey/Martin Figura (SCSU) 8-3
2. Jason Tahir/Josh Levine (DU) def. Soufiane Mouline/Edgar Diaz (SCSU) 8-1
3. Bruno Semenzato/TJ Pura (DU) led Stanislav Baco/Jakub Vitek (SCSU) 6-4

Match Notes
Duke 23-6; National ranking #10
South Carolina State 14-5
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (1,5,6)
NCAA Team Championship First Round