Duke Falls to Top-Ranked USC at ITA Indoors

Saturday, February 18

Charlottesville, Va.

3:30 PM

Duke University

USC

Duke Falls to Top-Ranked USC at ITA Indoors

2/18/2012 8:18:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Following a 4-2 upset of No. 8 UCLA in Friday's opening round of the 2012 ITA Men's National Team Indoor Championships, No. 10 Duke fell to top-ranked Southern California Saturday, 4-0. The loss was just the Blue Devils' first of the season, setting up a consolation match against No. 5 Florida on Sunday at 12 p.m.

The three-time reigning NCAA champion Trojans jumped out to a 1-0 lead after notching a pair of doubles victories on courts one and three.

The 13th-ranked duo of junior Henrique Cunha and sophomore Fred Saba surrendered just their second match of the season at the No. 1 spot in an 8-3 loss to No. 28 Steve Johnson and Yannick Hanfmann of Southern California. Senior Torsten Wietoska and freshman Raphael Hemmeler went up a break early on in their No. 3 doubles match against Emilio Gomez and Roberto Quiroz, but were unable to hold off the Trojan tandem, falling by a score of 8-5.

"We had some chances in doubles early and couldn't capitalize," said head coach Ramsey Smith.

Southern California presented a tough challenge in singles, with all six players ranked among the top 90 in the nation. Hemmeler dropped a 6-0, 6-2 decision to No. 36 Hanfmann on court five to give the Trojans a 2-0 advantage. The loss was just Hemmeler's first of the spring season, moving him to 6-1 in dual match play.

The Blue Devils continued to battle in the remaining singles matches, but Southern California would take first-set victories on all six courts on its way to a 4-0 victory. The Trojans' Gomez, ranked 47th in the latest ITA poll, defeated Saba by a 6-3, 6-1 margin in the No. 4 contest, and No. 14 Daniel Nguyen posted a 6-4, 6-2 win against Wietoska on court three to clinch the match.

Duke (8-1) was in the midst of several close contests on the remaining courts before the match was decided. In a meeting of top-20 players on court one, Southern California's Steve Johnson, ranked 11th in the ITA poll, took the first set by a score of 6-4. However, Johnson and second-ranked Cunha were locked at three-all in the second set before their match was abbreviated.

Seventeenth-ranked Chris Mengel also demonstrated perseverance, dropping the first set of his No. 2 singles match to No. 18 Ray Sarmiento but clawing back for a 6-3 win in the second set and a 3-1 lead in the third. Meanwhile, freshman Jason Tahir lost a hard-fought first-set tiebreak, 7-6 (7-4) against No. 86 Quiroz but was leading 4-3 in the second set before the Trojans closed out the win.

"Credit USC for playing a great match," Smith said. "It's important that we put this one behind us and get prepared for a big match tomorrow against a very good Florida team."

The Blue Devils will face fifth-ranked Florida (6-2) Sunday at 12 p.m. in a consolation match. At last year's ITA Team Indoors, Duke defeated the Gators by a 4-1 margin in the tournament quarterfinals. Florida leads the overall series between the two teams, 23-17.

Live stats will be available for Sunday's match at www.virginiasports.com.

2012 ITA Division I National Men's Team Indoor Championship
Hosted by the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA at the Boar's Head Tennis Club
February 18, 2012

#1 USC 4, #10 Duke 0

Doubles
1. #28 Steve Johnson/Yannick Hanfmann (USC) def. #13 Henrique Cunha/Fred Saba (DU) 8-3
2. Daniel Nguyen/Ray Sarmiento (USC) vs. Chris Mengel/David Holland (DU) 6-6, unfinished
3. Emilio Gomez/Roberto Quiroz (USC) def. Torsten Wietoska/Raphael Hemmeler (DU) 8-5

Singles
1. #11 Steve Johnson (USC) vs. #2 Henrique Cunha (DU) 6-4, 3-3, unfinished
2. #18 Ray Sarmiento (USC) vs. #17 Chris Mengel (DU) 6-1, 3-6, 1-3, unfinished
3. #14 Daniel Nguyen (USC) def. Torsten Wietoska (DU) 6-4, 6-2
4. #47 Emilio Gomez (USC) def. Fred Saba (DU) 6-3, 6-1
5. #36 Yannick Hanfmann (USC) def. Raphael Hemmeler (DU) 6-0, 6-2
6. #86 Roberto Quiroz (USC) vs. Jason Tahir (DU) 7-6 (7-4), 3-4, unfinished