Blue Devils Earn Road Win At No. 18 Kentucky, 5-2

Monday, January 19

Lexington, Ky.

12:00 PM

Duke University

Kentucky

Duke Paces ACC with Five on All-Academic Team

Blue Devils Earn Road Win At No. 18 Kentucky, 5-2

1/19/2015 4:09:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The No. 12 Duke men's tennis team withstood a tough test from No. 18 Kentucky on Monday inside the Hillary J. Boone Tennis Complex, edging the Wildcats 5-2. The Blue Devils won the doubles point for the second straight match and were tied at 2-2 before taking three consecutive singles contests to earn the victory and improve to 2-0 on the young season.

Duke has won its last three true road matches against top-20 opponents and claimed its last 10 overall road contests. The Blue Devils have taken their road opener in four of the last five years.

"This was a great team effort and a big road win for us today," head coach Ramsey Smith said. "There were some extremely tight moments in this dual match and I thought we showed impressive composure and resiliency as a team."

The duo of junior Bruno Semenzato and redshirt senior Chris Mengel put Duke out to a quick lead, downing Trey Yates and Jake Stefanik, 6-0. On court one, senior Raphael Hemmeler and freshman Nicolas Alvarez fell behind 3-2 to Beck Pennington and Kevin Lai before winning four of the next six games to take the match 6-4 and clinch the doubles point for Duke. Semenzato and Mengel improved to 4-0 when paying together this year while Hemmeler and Alvarez own a team-best 10 doubles wins. The duo has claimed six straight matches and is 10-1 overall in 2014-15.

The doubles victory was the 101st of Hemmeler's career. He sits two triumphs behind current head coach Smith for sixth place on the Duke all-time doubles wins chart.

On court two, senior Jason Tahir and junior Josh Levine were behind 3-5 to Kentucky's Jerry Lopez and William Bushamuka when the match was abandoned.

In singles, Kentucky won the first two decisions to take a 2-1 lead in the match. On court one, No. 96 Pennington topped No. 36 Tahir 6-2, 6-4. On court three, No. 112 Semenzato got out to a quick 2-1 advantage in the first set and later led 5-4 in the opening set before falling 7-5, 6-1 to Bushamuka.

Duke started the comeback on court four with No. 103 Hemmeler cruising to a 6-3, 6-3 victory against Lai. No. 18 Alvarez then swung the match firmly in the Blue Devils' favor, coming back in three sets to defeat Lopez 6-7 (2), 6-2, 6-4 on court two. Alvarez had led 4-3 in the opening set before Lopez earned the victory. Alvarez paces Duke with an 18-3 record and is 9-1 in his last 10 matches.

Mengel earned the match-clinching point for Duke in the No. 5 slot, topping Yates, 6-3, 6-4. The singles victories for Hemmeler and Mengel were the 96th of their careers as they quickly approach becoming the 13th and 14th Blue Devils to reach the 100-win plateau.

"It was neat to see our freshman, Nico [Alvarez], and fifth-year senior, Chris [Mengel], both step up and clinch our comeback win," Smith added.

In the No. 6 matchup, Stefanik edged Levine 6-4 in the opening set before Levine returned the favor with a 6-4 victory in the second set. Levine then took the super tie breaker in the third set 10-7 to win the match and give Duke the 5-2 final.

Duke returns to action Friday, hosting the ITA Kick-Off Weekend. The Blue Devils face No. 20 Wake Forest at 1:30 p.m. ET. In the day's earlier match, No. 23 Memphis and No. 24 Clemson play at 10 a.m. ET.

#12 Duke 5, #18 Kentucky 2
Jan 19, 2015 at Lexington, Ky. (Hillary J. Boone Tennis Complex)

Doubles competition
1. Nicolas Alvarez/Raphael Hemmeler (DU) def. Beck Pennington/Kevin Lai (UK) 6-4
2. Jerry Lopez/William Bushamuka (UK) led Jason Tahir/Josh Levine (DU) 5-3, unfinished
3. Chris Mengel/Bruno Semenzato (DU) def. Trey Yates/Jake Stefanik (UK) 6-0

Singles competition
1. #96 Beck Pennington (UK) def. #36 Jason Tahir (DU) 6-2, 6-4
2. #18 Nicolas Alvarez (DU) def. Jerry Lopez (UK) 6-7 (2), 6-2, 6-4
3. William Bushamuka (UK) def. #112 Bruno Semenzato (DU) 7-5, 6-1
4. #103 Raphael Hemmeler (DU) def. Kevin Lai (UK) 6-3, 6-3
5. Chris Mengel (DU) def. Terry Yates (UK) 6-3, 6-4
6. Josh Levine (DU) def. Jake Stefanik (UK) 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (7)