Duke Welcomes Miami for Sunday Match

Match 16
Miami (6-7, 0-2 ACC) at No. 6 Duke (13-2, 0-1 ACC)
Sunday, March 15 l 12 p.m. ET
Durham, N.C. | Ambler Tennis Stadium

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DURHAM, N.C. – After snow and cold temperatures prevented the No. 6 Duke men's tennis team from opening its outdoor campaign in February, the Blue Devils will head to Ambler Tennis Stadium for the first time this spring Sunday at 12:00 p.m. ET against Miami. It will be the second Atlantic Coast Conference match of the year for the Blue Devils, and first at home.

All regular season men's tennis home events at the Ambler Tennis Stadium are free to the public. General public parking is available in the Blue Zone parking lot off Duke University Road.

Miami Series History
Miami and Duke will meet for the 42nd time Sunday with the Hurricanes holding a 22-19 advantage in the all-time series … The programs first played in 1953 and have faced each other every year since 2001 … After dropping the first 19 matches in the series, from 1953-89, the Blue Devils have responded with 19 victories in the last 22 meetings … Miami's last victory was a 4-3 triumph on April 16, 2010, in Miami … The Hurricanes are one of just two (North Carolina) ACC foes that own an all-time series advantage against the Blue Devils.

Scouting the Hurricanes
Miami is 6-7 this dual match season and is 0-2 in ACC play after falling 4-2 to Georgia Tech last week and 7-0 at North Carolina on Friday afternoon … The Hurricanes are led by No. 74 Piotr Lomacki, a freshman, who is 8-4 at No. 1 singles this spring … Lomacki owns Miami's lone win against a ranked opponent … Senior Wilfredo Gonzalez (1-3) and freshman Christian Langmo (2-4) have spent the majority of the spring sharing No. 2 singles action … Senior Henrique Tsukamoto has occupied the No. 3 role, going 4-2 … In doubles, the team of Lomacki and Tsukamoto has been formidable at No. 1, posting a 7-4 record … freshman Kevin Bondar and Gonzalez have teamed up to go 5-2 at No. 2 and 2-0 at No. 3.

Tied For The Best 15-Match Record
Despite a setback at No. 44 Virginia Tech last Sunday, the Blue Devils are tied with the 1951, 1975, 1977, 1988, 2005 and 2012 squads for the best 15-match record in program history at 13-2 … Duke could join the 1977, 1988 and 2005 teams as the only ones to begin a year 14-2.

The Friendly Confines
The Blue Devils posted a 5-1 outdoor mark a year ago with the only setback to No. 7 Virginia on March 23 … Last spring Duke's home slate was highlighted by a 5-2 victory against No. 8 North Carolina to end the regular season … During the 2013 campaign, Duke went undefeated outdoors at 7-0.

Once But Not Twice
Duke looks to avoid a losing streak in ACC action after dropping a 6-1 decision at No. 44 Virginia Tech last Sunday … The Blue Devils have not lost consecutive league matches since April 3 and April 5, 2009 … Duke has only done so twice under head coach Ramsey Smith, on April 3 and 5, 2009, and March 20 and 22, 2009 … The Blue Devils have not lost more than one ACC match in a season since dropping two in 2012 … In all matches, Duke has suffered just six streaks of two or more consecutive losses in the six-plus seasons under Smith, and just one since the start of the 2012 campaign.

Taking The Doubles Point
Through the first 15 matches, Duke has won the doubles point 12 times … In the first 15 dual matches of 2014, the Blue Devils claimed 10 doubles points … The tandem of freshman Nicolas Alvarez and senior Raphael Hemmeler, ranked No. 11 in the latest ITA poll, have been the catalysts for this year's squad, going 7-3 at No. 1 doubles and owning a 4-2 mark against nationally ranked opponents … Redshirt senior Chris Mengel and junior Bruno Semenzato have helped in the No. 3 spot, posting a 6-2 record.

Blue Devils in the ITA Rankings
Duke stands at No. 6 in this week's team rankings … The Blue Devils have been in the top 12 every week of the season … Individually, the highest ranked member of the squad is Alvarez, who checks in at No. 11. The Lima, Peru, native owns a squad-best 25-5 record and is 10-5 against ranked opponents ... Senior Jason Tahir is the other ranked Blue Devil, at No. 34. Tahir is 17-12 this year and owns four wins against nationally ranked opponents.

Last Time Out
Duke suffered a 6-1 setback at No. 44 Virginia Tech in its ACC opener last Sunday … The Blue Devils started strong, taking the doubles point as Tahir and junior Josh Levine and Alvarez and Hemmeler won their matches … Tahir and Levine topped Hunter Koontz and Florian Nicoud, 8-4, on court two … On court one, Alvarez and Hemmeler held off Andreas Bjerrehus and Amerigo Contini, 8-5, to clinch the point for Duke … The Hokies responded by sweeping singles … Nicoud dispatched Levine 6-1, 6-3 on court five to even the match at 1-1 … Virginia Tech then took the lead for good at 2-1 when Aaron Gomez defeated sophomore TJ Pura 7-6 (5), 6-0 on court six … The Hokies pushed the lead to 3-1 with a Bjerrehus 7-6 (7), 6-4 victory against Alvarez on court one … Virginia Tech clinched the victory with a three-set triumph from Edoardo Tessaro on court four as he downed Semenzato 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 … Koontz extended the Hokie lead to 5-1 on court three by defeating Hemmeler 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-3 … Virginia Tech finished its singles sweep with Joao Monteiro coming back to defeat No. 32 Tahir 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7) on court two.

Be On The Lookout For
Mengel owns 103 career wins, one behind Hemmeler for seventh place on the program chart … Duke's all-time leader is Henrique Cunha (2010-13) with 151 career triumphs … Mengel's 26 ACC singles victories are tied for the eighth most in program history … Tahir sits just outside the top 10 with 25 career league singles triumphs … Fred Saba (2011-14) owns the program's career ACC singles wins mark with 35 … Hemmeler enters Sunday with 108 career doubles wins, one shy of tying Jordan Wile (1996-99) for fifth on the Duke all-time chart … Cunha also owns the top mark for doubles wins with 147 … Mengel's 90 doubles victories are three shy of entering the top 10 in Duke history … Hemmeler's 25 ACC doubles wins are tied with Saba for the seventh most in program history … Cunha also owns that mark with 35 doubles victories.

Up Next
The Blue Devils continue their three-match home stand with matches against in-state rivals next Friday and Sunday … Duke hosts No. 37 N.C. State at 3 p.m. ET Friday, March 20, and No. 19 Wake Forest at 3 p.m. ET Sunday, March 22.

#GoDuke

Duke Welcomes Miami for Sunday Match

Players Mentioned

Nicolas Alvarez

Raphael Hemmeler

Josh Levine

Chris Mengel

TJ Pura

Fred Saba

Bruno Semenzato

Jason Tahir

Duke information

Duke Welcomes Miami for Sunday Match

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Players Mentioned

Nicolas Alvarez

Raphael Hemmeler

Josh Levine

Chris Mengel

TJ Pura

Fred Saba

Bruno Semenzato

Jason Tahir

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Duke information