Dominant Singles Pushes Duke to 4-3 Win at Tennessee

Friday, February 5

Knoxville, Tenn.

6:00 PM

Duke University

Tennessee

Dominant Singles Pushes Duke to 4-3 Win at Tennessee

2/5/2016 9:14:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 25 Duke men's tennis team broke out of a four-match losing skid with a dominant singles performance to earn a 4-3 victory at No. 40 Tennessee on Friday evening inside the Goodfriend Tennis Center.

The Blue Devils (2-4) dropped three close doubles matches before responding with five first sets won in singles to shift the momentum. Duke finished by taking four singles matches to win the contest. Sophomore Nicolas Alvarez turned in the fifth match-clinching point of his career with a victory on court one.

"I am really happy for our guys," head coach Ramsey Smith said. "It was a complete team effort and I was proud of our fight out there. After a tough start to the year, Nico has really turned things around and played some great tennis under pressure tonight to clinch the match for us."

Tennessee (5-2) used a 6-4 win on court one by the No. 23 team of Jack Schipanski and Luis Valero against Alvarez and freshman Vincent Lin to take the first doubles match. The Tennessee pair jumped out to a 4-0 lead before the Blue Devils started to climb their way back. Alvarez and Lin trailed 5-2 before taking two straight to trail just 5-4. Valero served out for the win to end the set. Alvarez and Lin dip to 4-2 this year and 1-2 versus nationally ranked foes.

The Volunteers clinched the doubles point on court three as Jack Heslin and Preston Touliatos defeated junior TJ Pura and freshman Catalin Mateas, 6-4. With Tennessee down 3-2 and serving, Duke held a 40-15 advantage, but the Volunteer duo fought off three break points and evened the set at 3-3. From there, the two sides were even again at 4-4 before Tennessee earned a break and Touliatos served out for the victory. Pura and Mateas are even at 3-3 on the year, all in the No. 3 slot.

Finishing up the sweep was a 7-6 (4) win by Igor Smelyanski and Timo Stodder against seniors Josh Levine and Daniel McCall. Much like on court one, the Volunteer pair took the early lead, going up 3-0. The Blue Devils had the answer, ripping off four straight games and breaking on the fourth to take a 4-3 advantage. The action continued to swing back and forth as Smelyanski and Stodder then broke back and held to lead 5-4. The two headed to the tiebreaker after a 6-6 draw as both teams remained on serve. In the tiebreaker, the Volunteers got out to a 3-1 advantage before Duke evened the action at 4-4. From there, Tennessee took the final three points to secure the match. Levine and McCall are 2-4 on the year and 0-1 in dual match play.

"We got swept in doubles on the road and could have easily have gotten discouraged," Smith said. "But we bounced back strong in the singles and rode the momentum until the end."

The Volunteer lead did not last long, as Duke quickly shifted the momentum in singles. It was Levine who got off the court first, winning 6-2, 6-2 on court five against Touliatos. In the opening set, Levine fell behind 2-1 and fought off four break points to hold and go on a five-game run to capture the set. In the second set, the two were even at 1-1. Levine inched out to a 3-2 advantage and took the final three games to win the match. Levine improves to 10-7 overall and 3-3 in dual matches.

The Blue Devils took their first lead of the evening on court four, where Lin topped Schipanski, 6-1, 6-1. For the third straight match, Lin got out to a hot start in the first set. This time, he gained a 2-0 lead before closing out the set. In the second set, Lin took leads of 1-0 and 3-1 and put the match away with three straight games. Lin upped his record to 11-9 with a 3-3 dual match mark, including a 2-1 record at No. 4. Lin's 11 singles victories are a team high.

This time it was the Duke advantage that was brief as Valero knotted the match with a 6-3, 6-2 win on court three against No. 102 Pura. After a quick break exchange to start the match, the two were through seven games with Valero up 4-3 before a break, hold and break gave him the set. Valero kept the momentum going in the second set, taking an early 3-1 lead. Pura held it at a two-game deficit at 4-2 but Valero took the last two games for the victory. Pura falls to 6-8 this year.

Returning the lead to the Blue Devils was Mateas, who was playing his first career match at No. 2. Mateas defeated Stodder 6-3, 6-3 to improve to 5-1 this season. The first set had Mateas out to an early 2-1 advantage that he swung to 4-1 and 5-2 leads before closing out the set with a break of Stodder. In the second set, Mateas jumped out to a 2-0 lead and held it at 3-1. He pushed the advantage to 4-1 and led 5-2 again before completing the victory.

Clinching the match was All-America Alvarez on court one, where he downed No. 75 Smelyanski 6-3, 7-5. After facing a 2-1 deficit in the opening set, Alvarez turned it around to take a 5-3 lead and then take the set. The second had Alvarez, currently ranked No. 12, go behind 1-0 only to win consecutive games to take a 2-1 lead. Smelyanski answered and evened the match at 3-3. The two were tied at 4-4 and 5-5 before Alvarez took the final two games to clinch the match. Alvarez is now 7-7 this year, 3-3 in dual matches and 6-6 versus ranked foes.

Closing out the match was Srdjan Jakovljevic, who topped McCall 4-6, 6-0, 6-4 on court six. In the opening set, the two were tied at each of the first four points before McCall took the final two games. Jakovljevic breezed through the second set to force the decider. In nearly a replica of the first set, the third set had the players even at the first four points before Jakovljevic won the last two games. McCall fell to 3-8 this year during his first dual match of the campaign.

The Blue Devils finish this weekend's road trip with a 12 noon match Sunday at No. 54 Michigan.

#25 Duke 4, #40 Tennessee 3
Feb. 5, 2016 at Knoxville, Tenn. (Goodfriend Tennis Center)

Doubles competition
1. #23 Jack Schipanski/Luis Valero (UT) def. Nicolas Alvarez/Vincent Lin (DU) 6-4
2. Igor Smelyanski/Timo Stodder (UT) def. Josh Levine/Daniel McCall (DU) 7-6 (7-4)
3. Jack Heslin/Preston Touliatos (UT) def. Catalin Mateas/TJ Pura (DU) 6-4

Singles competition
1. #12 Nicolas Alvarez (DU) def. #75 Igor Smelyanski (UT) 6-3, 7-5
2. Catalin Mateas (DU) def. Timo Stodder (UT) 6-3, 6-3
3. Luis Valero (UT) def. #102 TJ Pura (DU) 6-3, 6-2
4. Vincent Lin (DU) def. Jack Schipanski (UT) 6-1, 6-1
5. Josh Levine (DU) def. Preston Touliatos (UT) 6-2, 6-2
6. Srdjan Jakovljevic (UT) def. Daniel McCall (DU) 4-6, 6-0, 6-4