Match 27
No. 9 Duke (21-5, 8-4 ACC) vs. Miami (7-16, 1-11 ACC)
Thursday, April 23 l 12 p.m. ET
Cary, N.C. | Cary Tennis Park
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DURHAM, N.C. – The Duke men's tennis team (21-5, 8-4 ACC) heads into the postseason with the start of the ACC Men's Tennis Championship at Cary Tennis Park in Cary, N.C. The Blue Devils, ranked No. 9 nationally in the latest ITA poll, earned the fifth seed for the league tournament and will play No. 12 seed Miami (7-16, 1-11 ACC) at 12 p.m. ET Thursday.
If the Blue Devils defeat Miami on Thursday, they would face the winner of the No. 4 seed North Carolina (19-9, 8-4 ACC) versus No. 13 seed Boston College (5-16, 0-12 ACC) match on Friday at 12 p.m.
Single-day passes for the event are $8 for adults and $6 for children nine and over and seniors 55 and over. Children eight and under and college students of ACC schools with a valid ID get in free. Championships passes can also be purchased by adults for $15 and children nine and over and seniors 55 and over for $11.
Duke In The ACC Championship
The Blue Devils own a league second best 12 total ACC Championships, most recently winning the title in 2006 … Since the dual match format was used in the ACC Championship in 1986, Duke's .753 winning percentage (55-18 record) at the event is the best in the league … The Blue Devils' 55 wins during the span are the most among ACC programs, and eight more than second-place Virginia … Duke has won at least one ACC Championship match every year since 2008 … The Blue Devils have taken part in the semifinals for the last five years, last failing to make the semis in 2009.
Miami Series History
Miami and Duke will meet for the 43rd time Thursday with the Hurricanes holding a narrow 22-20 advantage in the all-time series … It will be the first match between the two during the ACC Championship … The programs first played in 1953 and have faced each other every year since 2001 … After dropping the first 19 matches in the series, from 1953-89, the Blue Devils have responded with 20 victories in the last 23 meetings … Miami's last victory was a 4-3 triumph on April 16, 2010, in Miami.
Scouting the Hurricanes
Miami is 7-16 and has dropped 10 of its last 11 decisions after posting a 6-6 start to dual match play … The Hurricanes, 1-11 in the ACC, earned their only league victory by topping Boston College 6-1 on March 29 … Miami is led by No. 85 Piotr Lomacki, a freshman, who is 9-10 at No. 1 singles this spring … Lomacki owns two of Miami's four wins against ranked opponents … Freshman Christian Langmo has served as the primary No. 2 player and posted a 5-8 record in that spot … Senior Wilfredo Gonzalez has split time between the second and third slots, going 2-5 at No. 2 and 4-7 at No. 3 … Senior Henrique Tsukamoto has also been in the No. 3 role, with a 5-4 record there … Tsukamoto is also 3-5 at No. 4 … In doubles, the team of Lomacki and Tsukamoto has occupied the top spot, posting a 7-8 record … Freshman Kevin Bondar and Gonzalez have teamed up to go 6-4 at No. 2.
Earlier This Season Versus Miami
Duke's first outdoor match of the year was against Miami on March 15 as the Blue Devils cruised to a 6-1 victory … Duke earned the doubles point as senior Raphael Hemmeler and sophomore TJ Pura got Duke off on the right foot, downing Miami's Bernard Tefel and Andrew Harrington 8-3 on court three … On court two, Duke took a similar 8-3 decision as redshirt senior Chris Mengel and junior Bruno Semenzato topped Gonzalez and Bondar to secure the doubles point … In singles, Pura was a quick winner, downing Alexander Fahnehjelm 6-1, 6-2 on court six … Miami earned its only point of the day with a win on court five, where Nile Clark downed junior Josh Levine, 6-3, 6-0 … Hemmeler defeated Langmo, 6-3, 6-3, on court two for a 3-1 overall Duke lead … The Blue Devils clinched the match and made it a 4-1 advantage on a Mengel 6-4, 6-1 victory against Niclas Genovese on court four … On court one, Duke made it a 5-1 lead as senior Jason Tahir fought through Lomacki 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (1) … The Blue Devils closed the match on court three with a straight-set victory from Semenzato, who defeated Gonzalez 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5).
North Carolina Series History
In a series that dates back to 1912, the Tar Heels own an 85-41 advantage … Duke has, however, won four of the last six matches … The two have met 12 times in the ACC Championship with UNC holding an 8-4 advantage in the postseason … Duke and North Carolina have played at least once a year since 1937 … The Tar Heels won 58 of 61 matches from 1928 to 1977 … The Blue Devils have responded more recently, going 20-7 against UNC since 1997.
Scouting the Tar Heels
Leading the way for North Carolina, which is ranked No. 16 as a team this week, is sophomore Brayden Schnur, who is 17-6 in 2015 … Schnur is ranked No. 12 in the latest ITA poll and is the highest of UNC's four ranked singles players … Sophomore Ronnie Schneider has been the Tar Heels' primary No. 2 player when Schnur is at No. 1 … Schneider, ranked No. 23, is 26-13 overall and went 8-4 in ACC contests … He owns a 6-4 mark at the No. 1 spot and is 10-4 at No. 2 … In the No. 3 position have been junior Brent Clark and sophomore Jack Murray … Clark is 11-2 at No. 3 and 6-3 at No. 2 while Murray is 6-2 in the third spot and 7-3 at No. 4 … Clark is ranked 68th with Murray 117th … In doubles, seniors Esben Hess-Olesen and Oystein Steiro are the top team, ranked No. 36 … The duo is 7-2 overall and went 2-2 in ACC matches … Clark and freshman Robert Kelly, ranked No. 39, are 15-2 and were 9-0 in league contests while Murray and Schneider have gone 19-7 overall and were 7-3 in the ACC.
Earlier This Season Versus North Carolina
Duke and North Carolina renewed their rivalry on April 9 with the Tar Heels coming away with a 5-2 victory … In a closely contested doubles point, UNC tallied two victories, on courts two and three … On court two, the Tar Heels won as Murray and Schneider downed Hemmeler and Levine, 8-4 … UNC captured the point on court three as Hess-Olesen and Andrew Gores earned a hard-fought 8-5 victory against Pura and Semenzato … In singles, the Blue Devils quickly evened the match at 1-1 with a retirement on court five … With Mengel leading Hess-Olesen 5-2 in the opening set, Hess-Olesen retired … North Carolina regained the lead at 2-1 with a win on court six, where Kelly downed Pura, 6-0, 6-1 … UNC pushed it to a two-point lead at 3-1 on court one as Schnur downed freshman Nicolas Alvarez, 6-3, 6-4 … Duke made it a 3-2 contest on court three, where Hemmeler won his eighth straight match, defeating Clark, 7-5, 6-3 … It was a back-and-forth battle on court two that gave the match to North Carolina as Schneider came back to top Tahir, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 ... The final match of the night went to the Tar Heels as Murray downed Semenzato, 7-6 (5), 6-2, on court four.
Boston College Series History
Duke is 12-0 against the Eagles … The series began in 2006, when Boston College joined the ACC … Duke has swept 11 of the 12 matches, yielding its only point in 2010.
Scouting the Eagles
Holding down the No. 1 singles slot for Boston College has been senior Philip Nelson, who is 3-14 this spring in the top spot … Sophomore Hank Workman is 3-10 in the No. 2 spot and classmate Aidan McNulty has also played at No. 2, going 2-4 … Five Eagles have played at No. 3, with freshman Will Turner owning a 3-0 mark … In doubles, junior Kyle Childree and Workman are 9-9 overall and 3-7 in ACC matches … The two have been at both No. 1 and No. 2 this season … Freshman Conor Mullins and Nelson have paired together in the No. 1 spot, falling in all five matches they have played there.
Earlier This Season Versus Boston College
Duke swept Boston College 7-0 during the first weekend in April … The Blue Devils won the doubles point, capturing victories on courts three and one … On three, Semenzato and Pura cruised past Alexander Aziz and Jeffrey Melvin, 8-3 … On court one, Tahir and Alvarez downed Nelson and Matt Wagner, 8-1 … Duke completed the sweep with all six singles victories … Court one finished first with Alvarez topping Nelson, 6-1, 6-1 … Hemmeler finished just after Alvarez, downing Childree, 6-0, 6-1, on court three for a 3-0 Duke lead … It was Tahir on court two who clinched and made it a 4-0 advantage for the Blue Devils, defeating Kent Mukai, 6-2, 6-0 … Pura made it a five-point advantage for Duke as he topped Wagner, 6-4, 6-2, on court five … Duke went ahead 6-0 on court six, where Levine defeated Melvin, 6-4, 6-1 … The match ended with a lengthy battle on court four between Semenzato and Turner, eventually claimed, 7-6 (6), 2-6, 1-0 (8) by Semenzato.
Smith's Take
"Miami has good players," head coach Ramsey Smith said. "They finished the regular season losing 5-2 to Virginia, the top-ranked team in the ACC. They're certainly dangerous. We'll have to be ready to go. They are strong at the top with the guys at No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3. They have pretty good depth as well.
"Our last match doesn't define our season. We look at all the things we've accomplished this season with a top-10 ranking and we've had a really good year. It was a tough final regular season match, but we competed well and gave ourselves a chance. I think we're going to bounce back well. Every time we've lost this year we've bounced back and played really strong in the next match."
Duke Players In The ACC Championship
The Blue Devils have six players who have played in the ACC Championship … Semenzato is undefeated at the event, going 2-0 in singles and 2-0 in doubles … Tahir, Mengel and Hemmeler have the most experience of the bunch with Tahir going 4-1 in singles and 2-1 in doubles while Mengel owns a 2-3 singles record and 3-2 doubles mark and Hemmeler is 3-3 in singles and 5-2 in doubles … Levine is 1-1 in doubles and suffered a singles loss in his only appearance … Pura has competed in only singles and gone 1-1.
Reaching 20 Wins … Again
The Blue Devils have 21 wins this season, marking the sixth consecutive campaign the program has reached the 20-win plateau … The only time Smith has not reached 20 or more victories was his first year, in 2009 … The six straight years with 20 or more wins is the second longest streak in program history, behind only 10 such campaigns from 1992-2001 … Duke's 21 wins are one shy of tying for ninth on the program's single-season chart.
Lots Of Ranked Wins
Duke owns 16 wins against ranked teams, tied for ninth on the single-season top-10 chart in program history … The Blue Devil record for wins against ranked foes is 23 in 1999.
Smith One Away From No. 150
Entering the ACC Championship, Smith owns 149 career wins as Duke's head coach … He is one victory shy of becoming the fourth Blue Devil head coach to reach the 150-win plateau, joining John LeBar (1971-82/184-88 record), Steve Strome (1983-90/160-70) and Jay Lapidus (1991-2008/373-127) … Smith will likely be the second-fastest Duke coach to reach 150 wins as Lapidus took 193 matches, Strome 216 and LeBar 236 … Smith has coached 201 matches at Duke entering this week … In Smith's career at Duke, as a player from 1998-2001, as an assistant and associate head coach from 2006-08 and as head coach starting in 2009, the Blue Devils have gone 294-104 (.739 winning percentage) in dual matches.
Blue Devils in the ITA Rankings
Duke heads to the postseason ranked No. 9 in the country in the latest ITA poll … The Blue Devils have been in the top 12 every week of the season, and within the top five for four weeks … Individually, Alvarez at No. 14 holds the highest ranking on the team ... The Lima, Peru, native owns a 29-9 record this year ... Tahir is the second ranked Blue Devil, at No. 46 … The Rochester, N.Y., product is 24-16 with seven wins against nationally ranked opponents … He has also won five of his last six matches … Rounding out the singles rankings is No. 70 Hemmeler … The senior from Zurich, Switzerland, owns a Duke-high 33 wins and is 19-5 in dual matches … The doubles team of Alvarez and Hemmeler, 16-8 overall, is No. 17.
Last Time Out
Duke trailed 2-0 with five singles matches remaining and rallied to even the score at 3-3, but could not get the final point it needed, falling 4-3 at Georgia Tech on Sunday afternoon … The doubles point was extremely close, with all three courts even at 5-5 at one point … Georgia Tech 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 Pura and Semenzato, 8-5, on court two … Duke answered with a win on court three from Hemmeler and junior Daniel McCall, who defeated Casey Kay and Nathan Rakitt, 8-6 … 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 … In singles, Georgia Tech pushed its lead to 2-0 with a victory on court six, where Segura downed McCall, 6-2, 6-3 … Duke cut the deficit in half with a victory from Levine on court four, where he downed Michael Kay, 6-4, 7-6 (3) … 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 … Georgia Tech regained the overall lead at 3-2 when Cole Fiegel defeated Pura, 6-3, 6-4, on court five … 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 … It all came down to court two, where Benito edged past Hemmeler, 7-6 (11), 3-6, 6-3.
Be On The Lookout For
Hemmeler owns 114 career singles wins, the fourth most for any Duke player and four victories behind Smith (1998-2001) for third on the all-time chart … Mengel's 107 wins are tied for the eighth most while Tahir's 104 are the 10th most … The Blue Devils' all-time leader in singles wins is Henrique Cunha (2010-13) with 151 … Hemmeler's 33 wins this season are one shy of the program's single-season record chart … Alvarez's 28 wins are one short of entering the Duke top-10 chart for victories by a freshman … Hemmeler's 114 career doubles wins are the fourth most on the program's all-time list, three behind Reid Carleton (2008-11) for third place … Mengel's 93 career doubles wins are tied with Rob Chess (1993-96) for 10th on the all-time Blue Devil list … Cunha also owns the top mark for doubles wins with 147.
Up Next
At the conclusion of Duke's ACC Championship run, it will wait to hear its 2015 NCAA Championship competition … The pairings will be announced on Tuesday, April 28, at 5:30 p.m. ET … NCAA play begins May 8-10 with the first and second rounds … The NCAA Championship finals will be held in Waco, Texas, May 14-19.
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