Tennis Freshmen At The Top Of The Lineup

May 3, 2001

By John Roth

Strong seniors have carried Duke tennis to repeat ACC titles and lofty national rankings this season, but the Blue Devils also have benefitted from the sterling play of key freshmen.

Both the men's and the women's teams feature rookies at the top of the singles lineup, and they've more than held their own this spring as the men have constructed a 21-3 record and the women a 24-1 mark heading into NCAA Tournament play.

The men play freshman Phillip King from Long Beach, Calif., at No. 1 singles, while the women utilize freshman Ansley Cargill of Atlanta at No. 1 and freshman Amanda Johnson of Bettendorf, Iowa, at No. 2.

King joined the men's program as a January freshman after playing pro circuit events all fall. The Taiwan native was the top-ranked junior player in America for two years, played in the U.S. Open in 1999 and 2000, and became just the second player since World War II to win back-to-back national junior championships at Kalamazoo.

King opened his Duke career by winning the Adidas Invitational in Orlando in February. Two wins at the recent ACC Tournament boosted his season singles mark to 19-5 entering the upcoming NCAA Tournament. He was 8-0 in the ACC at No. 1 doubles with senior teammate Ramsey Smith. The conference's nine head coaches voted him All-ACC and ACC rookie of the year.

Cargill, a decorated junior player who competed in the U.S. Open, French Open and Wimbledon, started off her Duke career this fall by winning the Riviera All-America tournament. She was runnerup this spring at the Rolex National Indoors, then started racking up the wins in team play. Ranked second in the national poll, she has a 39-3 singles record and recently was selected both ACC player of the year and ACC rookie of the year. The only other time the same player won both awards was in 1997, by Duke's Karin Miller.

Johnson, a top-10 USTA girls player who didn't sign with Duke until last July, also earned All-ACC honors with her 34-4 singles record this year. After dropping a match in the Riviera tourney last fall, Johnson did not lose another singles match until falling in the final of the ACC Tournament to Wake Forest. During the regular season she was a perfect 8-0 in ACC singles and doubles and is ranked 15th in the country.

All three of these rookies stepped comfortably into the Duke program, in part due to the vast experiences they enjoyed playing numerous national tournaments as prep stars.

"Phillip played in so many major events and won so many tournaments that he's not like a freshman," said men's tennis coach Jay Lapidus. "He's been through a lot. He won the national championship two years in a row and he's hit with every big player you can think of. So he's very experienced and we feel confident in having him in any situation."

One of the biggest transitions for the three was becoming indoctrinated into team tennis after playing for so long as individuals.

"I'd never done that before, it was all individual," said Cargill. "But the teammates I have at Duke are great and they've all helped me a lot. I've made a lot of close friends I wouldn't have made if I hadn't come to college."

Johnson wasn't necessarily planning on college last year at this time. She graduated from high school in December of 1999 and began playing in pro events during the spring of 2000. She was planning to continue on that track for a few more months when she met Cargill and Duke sophomore Katie Granson at a summer tournament. They told her the Devils had an opening on the roster, so she visited in July and loved everything about the campus and the team.

"Both of them have been leaders on the court, which is a little surprising considering the success our two seniors have had," said women's tennis coach Jamie Ashworth. "They've really taken to college tennis and have done everything they can to make the team better. Sometimes with freshmen that's not the case because they've been out playing as individuals and have never been part of a team. But these two grabbed it and ran withit, that team concept."

Cargill and Johnson describe themselves as perfectionists who are doing much better than they expected as freshmen due to their intense competitiveness.

"It all comes natural to me," said Johnson. "I didn't always have the best ability, but what I've always had is fight. As I worked on my game, the fight has stayed with me."

Ashworth admires the way Johnson yields no free points to her opponents and describes her as one of the smartest players he's seen in a Duke uniform. "We've had great serve-and-volleyers like Vanessa Webb, we've had great pure baseliners like Karin Miller," he said. "But she has the best court sense as far as knowing when somebody is in trouble, then stepping inside the baseline and putting them away as soon as she gets the opportunity."

Cargill's determination could be seen in the ACC championship match when she squared off with Wake Forest's Bea Bielik, also one of the top-10 players in the country. Bielik ripped Cargill in the first set and took a lead in the second. But Cargill chipped back and eventually tied the score before the match was halted when Duke clinched the team title on another court.

"Ansley brings a never-lose attitude to the court," Ashworth said. "If you are going to beat her, you better bring more than your A-game that day."

"I try not leave the court unless I've given 110 percent," she said. "I guess I'm a perfectionist a little bit. School, tennis, I always try to give the best I can give."

All three rookies see professional tennis in their futures and could leave school early to pursue those dreams. Cargill says she plans to finish this season before she plots next season, Johnson says she'll definitely be back next year. "I really love Duke, the team and everything about it, so it's more likely that I would stay four years," she said. "But you never know. I'm taking it one year at a time."

Ashworth and Lapidus, meanwhile, already have continued the circle of college tennis life by landing the freshmen of tomorrow to help their teams overcome the departure of key seniors this May. Men's seniors Ramsey Smith, Marko Cerenko, Andres Pedroso and Ted Rueger helped the Devils to a 44-0 ACC record during their tenure, while women's seniors Megan Miller and Kathy Sell led the Duke women to a 43-1 ACC mark. The women have won the last 14 ACC titles, while the men have won nine of the last 11.

Lapidus has signed talented prepsters Peter Schultz and Jason Zimmerman for next year, and has another current freshman, Ryan Heinberg, who hasn't played much this season but should be ready to help next year.

Ashworth picked up two premier players in the fall in Susie Abromeit and Kelly McCain. The Florida natives attended the ACC Tournament in Orlando and already appeared to be a part of the program in cheering on their future teammates to the championship.

"Both of us were able to get the top players in the country," said Lapidus, "so that's very fortunate for the two programs."

Tennis Freshmen At The Top Of The Lineup

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