No. 23 Duke Falls to No. 19 San Diego, 4-2

Sunday, January 24

Durham, N.C.

12:00 PM

Duke University

San Diego

No. 23 Duke Falls to No. 19 San Diego, 4-2

1/24/2016 3:49:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – After waiting through a snow day Saturday, the No. 23 Duke men's tennis team came within a few points of an upset against No. 19 San Diego on Sunday afternoon at the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center, falling 4-2 to the Toreros. With the win, San Diego advances to the ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championships.

Duke (1-2) dropped the doubles point for the first time this season before responding with the first two singles matches to take a 2-1 advantage. San Diego (4-0) rebounded with three straight singles wins to capture the victory.

“That was a tough loss,” head coach Ramsey Smith said. “I think San Diego is a good team and they played well. I thought they competed extremely well. It was a really good match where we had some chances. Obviously doubles was a chance where we were one point away from winning it.”

Duke started the doubles action with a win on court three, where junior TJ Pura and freshman Catalin Mateas downed Jaan Kononov and Romain Kalaydjian. The Blue Devil pair jumped out to a 3-0 lead and remained on the advantage through the rest of the set. Kononov and Kalaydjian trimmed the deficit to 4-2 and 5-3, but Duke served out for the win. Pura and Meteas are 3-0 this year.

San Diego started the comeback to the point on court one, where the No. 7 team of Jordan Angus and Filip Vittek held off sophomore Nicolas Alvarez and freshman Vincent Lin, 6-4. The two teams remained on serve until 3-3, when Angus and Vittek earned a break to go up 4-3. The Torero pair held on its serve to make it a 5-3 advantage. Duke got a game back on its serve and held a 40-15 lead during San Diego's service game and needed one more point to force a 5-5 tie, but the Toreros tallied the final four points to close the set. Alvarez and Lin dip to 2-1.

With the doubles point down to court two, San Diego staged a late comeback with a 7-5 win by Joshua Page and Uron Petronijevic against senior Josh Levine and freshman Adrian Chamdani. With the match even at 2-2, Page and Petronijevic earned a break, but Levine and Chamdani broke right back to tie the set at 3-3. The Blue Devil duo then held and broke to take a 5-3 lead and was one point away from taking the match. The Torero pair did not relent, however, and bounced back to win the final four games and take the match. Levine and Chamdani drop to 0-1.

In singles, San Diego took four of the first six sets and used wins from two of the top three courts to secure the match, but not before Duke got singles wins from Mateas and Chamdani.

“We got down early in singles on a couple courts,” Smith said. “I felt like we made a nice push midway through the singles and competed really well in that middle stretch. We got ourselves back in the match with the two freshmen getting off the court early. That was huge to change the momentum of the match.”

On court four, Mateas evened the match at 1-1 with a 6-3, 6-2 victory against No. 82 Kalaydjian. It was the first ranked win of Mateas' career as he improved to 3-0 in singles this year. In the opening set, Mateas jumped out to a 3-0 lead before Kalaydjian responded with a hold and break to trail just 3-2. Mateas answered right back with a break and hold to go up 5-2. Kalaydjian got a game back, but Mateas served out for the win. The second set had Mateas turn a 1-1 tie into a 5-1 advantage. Kalaydjian got one game back for a 5-2 deficit before Mateas ended the match.

Duke then took a 2-1 lead from Chamdani on court five as the rookie downed Kononov, 6-4, 6-4. Chamdani jumped ahead 3-0 in the first set before Kononov bounced back with two wins for a 3-2 deficit. The two exchanged service games as Chamdani finished off the set. In the second set, the two continued to exchange service games and were even at 4-4 until Chamdani broke and held to end the match. Chamdani is now 9-7 in singles with a 2-0 mark in dual matches.

San Diego evened the match at 2-2 on court one as No. 35 Petronijevic down No. 12 Alvarez, 6-4, 7-5. Alvarez mounted a comeback in the opening set, falling behind 5-1 and narrowing the gap to 5-4 with a hold, break and hold, but Petronijevic held on his service game to end the set. In the second set, Alvarez led 2-1 before a break gave him a 3-1 advantage. Petronijevic answered with a break and hold to even the set at 3-3. The two were even at 4-4 and 5-5 before Alvarez was broken and Petronijevic held to end the match. Alvarez falls to 5-6 on the year and 1-2 in dual matches.

USD regained the lead at 3-2 overall on court three as Vittek topped Lin 6-4, 7-6 (8). Lin was broken in the first game of the opening set and fell behind 2-0 before narrowing the gap to 3-2. He was within a game at 4-3 and 5-4, but Vittek held serve to win the set. The second set had Lin fall behind early again, down 2-0 and 3-1 before mounting the comeback. Lin trailed 4-2 before winning consecutive games to even the match at 4-4 after a break. Lin was broken to trail 5-4, but broke back to retie the set at 5-5. Even at 6-6, the set went to the tiebreaker, where the two were even at two, three and four each. Lin then took a 6-4 lead in the tiebreaker, only to drop three straight points and trail Vittek, 7-6. Lin bounced back to even the tiebreaker at 7-7 and 8-8, but Vittek got consecutive points to end it. Lin's record is now 9-8 and 1-2 in dual matches.

“That's a tough loss for Vinny [Lin],” Smith said. “I thought that's the best he's played all year. He competed great and left it all on the court. That was high-level tennis. Vinny just keeps getting better. I'm encouraged by him.”

The Toreros closed the match on court six as Page downed Levine in three sets, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. In the first set, Levine trailed 3-0 before evening the action at 3-3. Levine then took a 4-3 lead, but Page won the last three games. The second set had Levine out to a 3-0 advantage before Page cut the deficit to one game at 4-3. Levine bounced back with a hold and break to end the set. In the deciding third set, Page turned a 2-1 advantage into a 5-2 lead and closed out for the win. Levine is now 8-6 overall and 1-2 in dual matches.

When San Diego secured the fourth point, all other action was halted as the match was played to clinch. At the time play was suspended, No. 102 Pura led No. 34 Angus 3-6, 6-2, 4-3 on court two.

Duke returns to action at 6 p.m. Friday, hosting No. 7 Illinois.

#19 San Diego 4, #23 Duke 2
Jan. 24, 2016 at Durham, N.C. (Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center)

Doubles competition
1. #7 Jordan Angus/Filip Vittek (USD) def. Nicolas Alvarez/Vincent Lin (DU) 6-4
2. Joshua Page/Uron Petronijevic (USD) def. Josh Levine/Adrian Chamdani (DU) 7-5
3. TJ Pura/Catalin Mateas (DU) def. Jaan Kononov/Romain Kalaydjian (USD) 6-3

Singles competition
1. #35 Uron Petronijevic (USD) def. #12 Nicolas Alvarez (DU) 6-4, 7-5
2. #102 TJ Pura (DU) led #34 Jordan Angus (USD) 3-6, 6-2, 4-3, unfinished
3. Filip Vittek (USD) def. Vincent Lin (DU) 6-4, 7-6 (10-8)
4. Catalin Mateas (DU) def. #82 Romain Kalaydjian (USD) 6-3, 6-2
5. Adrian Chamdani (DU) def. Jaan Kononov (USD) 6-4, 6-4
6. Joshua Page (USD) def. Josh Levine (DU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3

Match Notes:
San Diego 4-0; National ranking #19
Duke 1-2; National ranking #23
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (4,5,1,3,6)
T-2:33 A-182

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