No. 12 Duke Eases Past No. 18 Wake Forest, 4-1

Friday, January 23

Durham, N.C.

1:30 PM

Duke University

Wake Forest

Incoming Freshman Alvarez to Play in Youth Olympics

No. 12 Duke Eases Past No. 18 Wake Forest, 4-1

1/23/2015 5:13:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – The 12th-ranked Duke men's tennis team faced a stiff challenge Friday afternoon in No. 18 Wake Forest and came away with a 4-1 victory. The Blue Devils improve to 3-0 in dual matches and advance to Saturday's ITA Kick-Off Weekend championship match. All three of the Blue Devils' dual matches this spring have been against ranked foes.

Duke won the doubles point for the third consecutive contest Friday afternoon and used a victory from freshman Nicolas Alvarez on court two in singles to clinch the victory. A big three-set rally on court five from redshirt senior Chris Mengel put Alvarez in position to end the match a few moments later.

"It was a great overall team effort today," head coach Ramsey Smith said. "The thing I'm really happy about is a lot of different guys stepped up. Chris [Mengel] coming through after losing a quick first set was really important."

In doubles, senior Jason Tahir and junior Josh Levine gave Duke an early edge, topping Wake Forest's Noah Rubin and Jon Ho, 6-4. The Blue Devil duo trailed 1-0 and were then tied 1-1, 2-2 and 3-3 before earning a key break and taking a 5-3 lead before holding on for the victory. The win was Tahir and Levine's first of the dual match season.

Minutes later the pair of senior Raphael Hemmeler and Alvarez provided the clinching point on court one with a 6-4 victory against Skander Mansouri and Christian Seraphim. With the set tied 3-3, Duke broke Wake Forest and went up 4-3. The Blue Devils held serve and earned the victory on a Hemmeler backhand at the net. Hemmeler and Alvarez own a squad-best 11-1 record in doubles this year and are unbeaten in dual match play.

Wake Forest's Romain Bogaerts and Maksim Kan led Duke's Mengel and junior Bruno Semenzato 5-3 when the match was halted.

Hemmeler pushed the Blue Devils' lead out to 2-0 with a win in singles against Ho on court four. Hemmeler, ranked No. 103, cruised to a 6-2 victory in set one and took the second set 6-4. He and Ho, ranked No. 52, were even at 3-3 in the second set before Hemmeler broke Ho and held on for the victory. Hemmeler is a team second-best 17-4 this year and has won a Duke-best nine consecutive singles matches.

Minutes after the Hemmeler victory, Wake Forest got its first point as Rubin topped No. 36 Tahir, 6-2, 6-4. The second set was tied 4-4, but Rubin broke Tahir to go up 5-4 and won the next game to earn the victory.

It was Mengel who provided the spark, coming all the way back to win 1-6, 6-1, 6-3 versus Seraphim on court five and put the Blue Devils ahead 3-1. Mengel, 3-0 in dual matches this spring, provided the match-clinching point for Duke in its last match, at No. 18 Kentucky on Monday.

"We're fired up," Mengel said. "We have another big one tomorrow. We'll enjoy this for an hour or two, but this wasn't the end goal. We're trying to win two matches and get to Chicago [for the ITA Men's Team Indoor Championship] and make it to the sweet 16. Anything can happen from there."

Alvarez secured the win for the Blue Devils with his straight-sets win versus No. 18 Bogaerts. Alvarez took the first set 7-6 (1) and earned a 5-3 triumph in the second. Alvarez, who took a commanding 4-0 lead in the tiebreaker of set one, improved to 7-2 versus nationally ranked opponents this year and owns a squad-high 19 singles victories. He is 9-1 in his last 10 singles contests.

"Nico [Nicolas Alvarez] showed unbelievable composure," Smith said. "He just doesn't seem like a freshman. He has come through in two really clutch situations in the last two dual matches. I thought a big turning point in the match was his first set. That really helped turn the momentum."

The other two singles matches were abandoned when Alvarez won. When the matches ended, Semenzato trailed Mansouri 6-1, 1-6, 4-5 and sophomore TJ Pura was behind Kan 6-1, 3-6, 5-2.

Duke will play for a berth to the ITA Men's Team Indoor Championship against No. 23 Memphis (1-0) at 6:30 p.m. ET Saturday. The ITA Indoors will be held at Chicago's Midtown Athletic Club from Feb. 13-16. The Blue Devils have advanced to the team competition the last four years.

#12 Duke 4, #18 Wake Forest 1
Jan. 23, 2015 at Durham, N.C. (Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center)

Doubles competition
1. Nicolas Alvarez/Raphael Hemmeler (DU) def. Skander Mansouri/Christian Seraphim (WF) 6-4
2. Jason Tahir/Josh Levine (DU) vs. Noah Rubin/Jon Ho (WF) 6-4
3. Romain Bogaerts/Maksim Kan (WF) led Chris Mengel/Bruno Semenzato (DU) 5-3, unfinished

Singles competition
1. Noah Rubin (WF) def. #36 Jason Tahir (DU) 6-2, 6-4
2. #18 Nicolas Alvarez (DU) def. #12 Romain Bogaerts (WF) 7-6 (7-1), 6-3
3. #112 Bruno Semenzato (DU) vs. Skander Mansouri (WF) 6-2, 1-6, 4-5, unfinished
4. #103 Raphael Hemmeler (DU) def. #52 Jon Ho (WF) 6-2, 6-4
5. Chris Mengel (DU) def. Christian Seraphim (WF) 1-6, 6-1, 6-3
6. TJ Pura (DU) vs. #102 Maksim Kan (WF) 1-6, 6-3, 2-5, unfinished