Duke Handed First ACC Loss

Friday, April 1

Charlottesville, Va.

3:00 PM

Duke University

Virginia

4/1/2011 7:54:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Duke went on the road Friday and saw its four-match winning streak come to an end with the first ACC loss of the season, 6-1, to No. 1 Virginia in Charlottesville, Va.

The doubles point came down to a matchup of two top 10 doubles pairs at the No. 1 position. The match between No. 2 Drew Courtney and Michael Shabaz of Virginia and No. 6 Reid Carleton and Henrique Cunha of Duke was on serve to the finish. Both teams had claimed one doubles match already with Duke's Cale Hammond and Torsten Wietoska winning at No. 3 and Virginia taking the No. 2 contest. Courtney and Shabaz served to take a 7-6 lead and then was able to break serve for the 8-6 win and the doubles point. The loss ended an eight-match winning streak for the Duke pair and was just the second in dual matches this season.

Each of the top two singles matches featured players ranked in the top 10 nationally in singles. In a matchup of No. 5 Michael Shabaz (Virginia) and No. 6 Henrique Cunha (Duke) at the top spot of the order, Cunha won a first set tiebreaker, 7-6 (9-7). Cunha then won three straight games with the score tied at 3-3 in the second set to earn the Blue Devils' only point of the match. It is the fourth time Cunha and Shabaz have met the past two years with both players ranked 11 or higher in all four contests. Cunha is 3-0 in those four meetings despite Shabaz being in the top 10 each time with the other match in the NCAA Tournament last year not finished.

Cunha claimed his eighth consecutive singles victory to improve to 27-5 overall and 5-0 in the ACC. He has not lost an ACC singles match in two years, posting a 13-0 career record in conference play.

Virginia's No. 2 Alex Domijan won the battle at the No. 2 position against No. 8 Reid Carleton of Duke. Domijan took the match in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2 for the second singles win of the day for the Cavaliers. Virginia would win three matches in straight sets to seal the win. After Cunha's win at No. 1, the final two matches were won in three sets by Virginia.

Duke fell to 13-7 overall and 4-1 in the ACC. Virginia remained undefeated on the season, improving to 21-0 overall and 6-0 in conference play.

Next up for the Blue Devils will be a road match at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va. on Sunday at 1 p.m. It will be the second match in a five-match road streak for Duke.

2010-11 Duke Men's Tennis
Duke vs Virginia (Apr. 1, 2011)
Apr. 1, 2011 at Charlottesville, Va. (Sheridan Snyder Tennis Center)

#1 Virginia 6, #10 Duke 1

Doubles
1. #2 Drew Courtney/Michael Shabaz (UVA) def. #6 Reid Carleton/Henrique Cunha (DU) 8-6
2. Jarmere Jenkins/Sanam Singh (UVA) def. David Holland/Chris Mengel (DU) 8-5
3. Cale Hammond/Torsten Wietoska (DU) def. Alex Domijan/Steven Rooda (UVA) 8-6

Singles
1. #6 Henrique Cunha (DU) def. #5 Michael Shabaz (UVA) 7-6 (9-7), 6-3
2. #2 Alex Domijan (UVA) def. #8 Reid Carleton (DU) 6-2, 6-2
3. #25 Sanam Singh (UVA) def. #123 Chris Mengel (DU) 6-2, 6-1
4. #44 Jarmere Jenkins (UVA) def. Fred Saba (DU) 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3)
5. #37 Drew Courtney (UVA) def. Torsten Wietoska (DU) 7-5, 6-3
6. #120 Justin Shane (UVA) def. Luke Marchese (DU) 6-4, 5-7, 6-2

Match Notes
Duke 13-7, 4-1 ACC; National ranking #10
Virginia 21-0, 6-0 ACC; National ranking #1
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (3,2,5,1,6,4)

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