Blue Devils Drop Sunday Match at No. 8 Virginia

Sunday, March 29

Charlottesville, Va.

2:00 PM

Duke University

Virginia

Blue Devils Drop Sunday Match at No. 8 Virginia

3/29/2015 6:05:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 4 Duke men's tennis team had its four-match winning streak come to an end Sunday at No. 8 Virginia as the Cavaliers pulled away for a 6-1 victory at the Snyder Tennis Center. The Blue Devils' point was tallied by senior Raphael Hemmeler, who defeated Thai-Son Kwiatkowski in straight sets.

Hemmeler's victory was the 110th of his career, one shy of a tie for fifth on the Duke all-time wins chart. The triumph over 10th-ranked Kwiatkowski was also the highest-ranked win of Hemmeler's career, and his fifth victory against a ranked foe this year.

Virginia won the doubles point on Sunday with wins on courts one and three. On court one, the No. 8 team of Luca Corinteli and Ryan Shane defeated the 12th-ranked pair of Hemmeler and freshman Nicolas Alvarez, 8-3. With Virginia up 2-1, the Cavalier pair opened up a 4-1 advantage. The two extended the advantage to 7-3 and closed out the set. Hemmeler and Avlarez fall to 15-8 overall and 1-4 in ACC action, all playing at No. 1.

Court three had the Cavaliers' Mitchell Frank and Collin Altamirano top Duke junior Bruno Semenzato and redshirt senior Chris Mengel, 8-1. Frank and Altamirano jumped out to a 5-0 lead and never looked back. Semenzato and Mengel are now 12-5 overall and 2-3 in league matches.

The court two match between No. 54 Kwiatkowski and Mac Styslinger and Blue Devil junior Josh Levine and senior Jason Tahir went unfinished with the Cavalier pair leading 7-2.

In singles, Virginia extended its lead to 2-0 as Altamirano defeated Semenzato 6-1, 6-4 on court four. Altamirano, ranked No. 55 this week, broke a 1-1 tie in the first set with five consecutive victories to end the first set. In the second set, the two were tied 4-4 before Altamirano won the last two games. Semenzato dips to 23-10 and 3-3 in league contests.

Duke made it a 2-1 deficit with Hemmeler's 7-5, 6-1 victory against Kwiatkowski on court three. Hemmeler held a 3-1 lead in the first set, but Kwiatkowski won four straight games to take a 5-3 lead. Hemmeler then won the following four games to capture the set. Hemmeler breezed through the second set to up his overall record to a team-best 29-7. He is also 5-1 in ACC matches.

Virginia took a 3-1 advantage on court five as J.C. Aragone downed Levine 4-6, 6-1, 6-2. Levine led 4-3 in the opening set and put it away before Aragone fought back and claimed the final two sets. Levine drops to 15-12 and 1-5 in ACC action.

The Cavaliers made it a three-point cushion at 4-1 with Shane's highly contested 7-6 (3), 7-5 victory against Tahir on court two. Shane, ranked No. 6 this week, and Tahir, ranked No. 41, traded blows throughout the match. Tahir led 3-1 in the opening set before falling behind 4-3. The two were tied 5-5 and 6-6 before going to the tiebreaker that Shane won. In the second set, Tahir again held a 4-3 lead, but dropped four of the final five games to end the match. Tahir is now 19-15 overall and 2-4 in the ACC.

Frank pushed the lead to 5-1 as he defeated Alvarez 7-5, 6-3 on court one. No. 29 Frank and No. 11 Alvarez battled throughout the first set as Alvarez led 3-2 and Frank led 4-3 before closing out the set. The two were tied at 2-2 in the second set before Frank pulled away with four wins in the last five games. Alvarez drops to 27-6 overall and 2-2 in league matches.

Virginia closed the match and earned its sixth point with a Henrik Wiersholm 6-7 (2), 6-3, 1-0 (2) victory against sophomore TJ Pura on court six. In the first set, neither player led by more than one game and the score was tied at 5-5 and 6-6. Pura captured the tiebreaker, but Wiersholm responded in the second set and pushed the match into the first-to-10 tiebreaker of the third set. There, Wiersholm went ahead 5-1 and held on for the victory. Pura now sits at 14-8 overall and 4-2 in the ACC.

Duke returns to the court Friday and Saturday with home 3 p.m. ET matches. The Blue Devils host No. 37 Notre Dame on Friday and Boston College on Saturday.

#8 Virginia 6, #4 Duke 1
Mar 29, 2015 at Charlottesville, Va. (Snyder Tennis Center)

Singles competition
1. #29 Mitchell Frank (VA) def. #11 Nicolas Alvarez (DU) 7-5, 6-3
2. #6 Ryan Shane (VA) def. #41 Jason Tahir (DU) 7-6 (7-3), 7-5
3. #101 Raphael Hemmeler (DU) def. #10 Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (VA) 7-5, 6-1
4. #55 Collin Altamirano (VA) def. Bruno Semenzato (DU) 6-1, 6-4
5. J.C. Aragone (VA) def. Josh Levine (DU) 4-6, 6-1, 6-2
6. Henrik Wiersholm (VA) def. TJ Pura (DU) 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 10-2

Doubles competition
1. #8 Luca Corinteli/Ryan Shane (VA) def. #12 Raphael Hemmeler/Nicolas Alvarez (DU) 8-3
2. #54 Thai-Son Kwiatkowski/Mac Styslinger (VA) vs. Josh Levine/Jason Tahir (DU) 7-2, unfinished
3. Mitchell Frank/Collin Altamirano (VA) def. Bruno Semenzato/Chris Mengel (DU) 8-1

Match Notes
Duke 17-3, 4-2; National ranking #4
Virginia 14-3, 7-0; National ranking #8
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (4,3,5,2,1,6)

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