Duke Cruises Past Ole Miss, 4-0

Sunday, February 15

Chicago, Ill.

10:00 AM

Duke University

Ole Miss

Duke Cruises Past Ole Miss, 4-0

2/15/2015 12:44:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

CHICAGO – The No. 6 Duke men's tennis team closed out the ITA Team Indoor Championship on a strong note Sunday morning, downing No. 19 Ole Miss 4-0 at the Midtown Athletic Club. The Blue Devils won the doubles point and captured singles victories on courts two, three and six to seal the victory.

Duke's indoor campaign comes to a close with the team off to the second-best 12-match start in program history with an 11-1 record. The only squad that was better was the 1933-34 team that began the year 12-0. This is the fourth consecutive appearance at the ITA Team Indoor Championship that the Blue Devils have gone 2-1 and the 11th trip that Duke has produced at least two victories.

As they have all season, Duke's doubles teams got the Blue Devils off to a strong start. Duke has captured the doubles point in nine of this year's 12 matches. Sunday, it was redshirt senior Chris Mengel and junior Bruno Semenzato taking a 6-2 decision against Ole Miss' Stefan Lindmark and Grey Hamilton on court three to start off doubles. After falling behind 2-1, Mengel and Semenzato won five consecutive games.

On court two, Ole Miss evened the doubles action with a 6-3 victory by Nicholas Scholtz and Zvonimir Babic against senior Jason Tahir and junior Josh Levine. Scholtz and Babic took an early break to go ahead 3-0 and extended the advantage to 5-2.

The Blue Devils captured the doubles point with a 6-4 win on court one by freshman Nicolas Alvarez and senior Raphael Hemmeler. The two teams remained on serve through eight games and were tied 4-4 before Duke's pair, ranked No. 34 this week, broke Ole Miss' Gustav Hansson and William Kallberg, ranked No. 55, and won the last two games. It was the second straight win against a ranked opponent for Alvarez and Hemmeler, who improved to 13-4 overall this year and 4-2 versus ranked foes.

In singles, Duke quickly took a 2-0 advantage as sophomore TJ Pura cruised past Vinod Gowda, 6-1, 6-1, on court six. Pura played for the first time during the weekend and improved to 3-1 in dual matches.

Duke pushed its lead to 3-0 with a win on court three as No. 77 Hemmeler downed Hansson 6-3, 6-2. With the first set tied 3-3, Hemmeler closed out strong with three consecutive wins. Hemmeler used the same late surge in the second set to secure the victory as he led 3-2 before closing with three straight victories. The triumph was the 103rd of Hemmeler's career, tied for the eighth most in program history. Duke's all-time leader is Henrique Cunha (2010-13) with 151 career triumphs.

The Blue Devils ended the match with a win on court two from No. 38 Tahir, who recorded a 6-4, 6-3 triumph against No. 78 Lindmark. Entering today's action, Lindmark had been 5-0 in dual match contests this spring. Tahir led 2-1 in the first set before gaining a break and taking a 5-2 lead from which Lindmark could not come back. The win snapped a brief two-match losing streak for Tahir and was his fourth against a ranked opponent, and first since downing No. 1 Sebastian Stiefelmeyer of Louisville on Jan. 8 in Honolulu. The victory for Tahir was also the 94th of his career. Hemmeler and Mengel both reached the 100-win plateau this spring.

Duke has next weekend off and returns to action with the outdoor season and a doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 28, against Coastal Carolina and UNC Charlotte. First serve against Coastal Carolina is set for 10 a.m. ET while the match against Charlotte will begin at approximately 2:30 p.m.

#6 Duke 4, #19 Ole Miss 0
Feb 15, 2015 at Chicago, Ill. (Midtown Athletic Club)

Singles competition
1. #9 Nicolas Alvarez (DU) led #59 Nicholas Scholtz (MISS) 6-4, 3-4, unfinished
2. #38 Jason Tahir (DU) def. #78 Stefan Lindmark (MISS) 6-4, 6-3
3. #77 Raphael Hemmeler (DU) def. Gustav Hansson (MISS) 6-3, 6-2
4. William Kallberg (MISS) led #95 Bruno Semenzato (DU) 2-6, 6-3, 2-1, unfinished
5. Zvonimir Babic (MISS) led Josh Levine (DU) 6-4, 6-6, unfinished
6. TJ Pura (DU) def. Vinod Gowda (MISS) 6-1, 6-1

Doubles competition
1. #34 Nicolas Alvarez/Raphael Hemmeler (DU) def. #55 Gustav Hansson/William Kallberg (MISS) 6-4
2. Nicholas Scholtz/Zvonimir Babic (MISS) def. Jason Tahir/Josh Levine (DU) 6-3
3. Chris Mengel/Bruno Semenzato (DU) def. Stefan Lindmark/Grey Hamilton (MISS) 6-2

Match Notes
Ole Miss 5-2; National ranking #19
Duke 11-1; National ranking #6
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (6,3,2)
ITA Team Indoor Championship Consolation Semifinals

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