Michigan
Duke
Wolverines Cannot Maintain Lead in Loss to No. 10 Duke
1/21/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Jan. 21, 2012
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Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Varsity Tennis Center)
Score: #10 Duke 4, Michigan 3
Records: U-M (1-1), Duke (1-0)
Next U-M Match: Saturday, Jan. 28 -- vs. Texas Tech - ITA Kickoff Weekend (Austin, Texas), 2 p.m. CST
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's tennis team claimed the doubles point but could not maintain its advantage, falling to No. 10 Duke, 4-3, on Saturday evening (Jan. 21) in front of 618 fans at the Varsity Tennis Center.
The Blue Devils claimed four singles matches -- from their four ranked players -- and clinched the dual at the No. 1 position, where No. 7-ranked Henrique Cunha rallied from an early and significant deficit to knock off No. 6-ranked junior Evan King (Chicago, Ill./Kaplan Prep), 7-5, 6-1. King had led 5-1 in the first set after a pair of early breaks, before Cuhna took 12 of the next 13 games to steal the match.
Michigan's singles wins came at the No. 3 and No. 5 spots, where freshman Alex Petrone (Staten Island, N.Y./Laurel Springs Prep) and sophomore Barrett Franks (Christchurch, New Zealand/Shirley Boys' School) improved to 2-0 in duals this season.
Franks was the fourth player off the court, defeating Jason Tahir, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, to keep the Wolverines alive in the dual. The Wolverine sophomore earned a pair of late breaks to take the opening set, and after Tahir forced the third, Franks used two early breaks to cruise to the win.
Petrone's victory, a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (2) decision over the Blue Devils' Torsten Wietoska, came with the dual already decided. After dropping the first set, Petrone took control in the second with a pair of early breaks. Wietoska earned a break in the sixth game to narrow the score, but the Wolverine broke back in the ninth to force the third set. On serve to 6-6, Petrone fell behind early in the tiebreaker before reeling off six straight points to close out the win.
The Wolverines won two-of-three doubles matches to take the dual's first advantage, earning victories at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions. Petrone and freshman Michael Zhu (Princeton, N.J./Keystone National HS) made their debut at the No. 2 spot and after giving up an immediate break, rolled to an 8-3 win over Wietoska and Raphael Hemmeler.
Michigan heads to Austin, Texas, next weekend to participate in the annual ITA Kick-Off Weekend. The Wolverines face No. 22 Texas Tech at 2 p.m., on Saturday (Jan. 28) and will face either Texas or Maryland on Saturday (Jan. 29). The regional serves as a four-team tournament, with the winner heading to the ITA National Team Indoors Championships on Feb. 17-20 in Charlottesville, Va.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- No. 7 Henrique Cunha (Duke) d. No. 6 Evan King (U-M), 7-5, 6-1
No. 2 -- No. 17 Chris Mengel (Duke) d. Shaun Bernstein (U-M), 7-6 (7), 6-1
No. 3 -- Alex Petrone (U-M) d. Torsten Wietoska (Duke), 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (2)
No. 4 -- No. 110 Fred Saba (Duke) d. Michael Zhu (U-M), 6-3, 6-4
No. 5 -- Barrett Franks (U-M) d. Jason Tahir (Duke), 6-3, 4-6, 6-1
No. 6 -- No. 120 Raphael Hemmeler (Duke) d. Alex Buzzi (U-M), 6-3, 6-4
Doubles
No. 1 -- Henrique Cunha/Fred Saba (Duke) d. No. 22 Evan King/Shaun Bernstein (U-M), 8-4
No. 2 -- Alex Petrone/Michael Zhu (U-M) d. Torsten Wietoska/Raphael Hemmeler (Duke), 8-3
No. 3 -- Barrett Franks/Alex Buzzi (U-M) d. David Holland/Chris Mengel (Duke), 8-5
Order of completion: Singles 4-6-2-5-1-3; Doubles 2-3-1
N O T E S
• With its loss tonight, Michigan fell to 5-6 in the all-time series against Duke. The two teams split a pair of duals last season with the Blue Devils claiming the first meeting, 7-0, at the ITA Kickoff Weekend before U-M rebounded with a 4-3 win in the dual match.
• Junior Evan King fell to 0-3 in collegiate meetings against Duke's Henrique Cunha. He also lost to Cuhna, 6-3, 6-4, last fall at the USTA/ITA National Indoor Championships.
• Freshman Alex Petrone improved to 9-4 in his collegiate career. He is now 2-0 in dual appearances.
• Tonight's attendance of 618 ranks as the second-largest crowd in program history. Michigan's attendance record is 687, which it set against Texas last season.
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Bruce Berque
On the Wolverines' doubles performance ... "I think it was three quality efforts. I think Shaun (Bernstein) and Evan (King) would be the first ones to say they didn't play up to their level. But I do think it was a positive that we were able to win the doubles point against a top-10 team with our best pairing not playing up to par. Barrett (Franks) and Alex (Buzzi) played much better today than they did last week, and our freshmen at No. 2 were very impressive. That led to some very positive feelings about our chances of solid doubles play this year. We're definitely getting better."
On freshmen Alex Petrone and Michael Zhu ... "They did great in doubles. Their skills in doubles have improved so much. Alex had a great singles win. I was really impressed with the way he finished that match. It's not easy to play No. 3 as a freshman, and he beat a good Duke player who is a senior. Michael just got outplayed in his singles match. His opponent played a really high level of tennis. But Mike has been working on the way he's competing and fighting no matter what, and I thought he did a pretty good job with that today. So, the freshmen have been doing a really good job."
On hitting the road next weekend after back-to-back home events ... "We have a lot of important matches coming up. We've got the ITA Kickoff next weekend. We'll be going back outdoors in Texas. All three of the teams out there are very good, and we'll need to win two matches to qualify for the national indoors, which we haven't done in a few years. It's certainly different playing indoors at home versus outdoors on the road. We had a great crowd tonight, and the guys were really pumped up to play. But next weekend is a big tournament, so I know they'll be excited to play."
U-M Sophomore Barrett Franks
On his singles win ... "I definitely lost a bit of heat after the first set. I just couldn't get into the same rhythm that I had been in. But I strung together a couple games early in the third set, and it was a clear path to the finish line from there."
On his doubles win with Alex Buzzi ... "I think we came out with the intention of having better energy -- bouncing around, communicating, fist-pumping and that kind of stuff. It nice playing with Buzzi, because he's a good friend."
On the big home crowd ... "It was good to have that crowd. I decided that since it was such a big match, I would force all my friends to come out. They were all loud and on my side, and it was awesome. We really fed off the energy. It helps us and adversely affects our opponents."
U-M Freshman Alex Petrone
On his doubles win ... "I thought Mike (Zhu) and I played solid as a team. We communicated well, and we got the job done. Everything was working. Mike was volleying well at the net. We took chances on the returns, made big things happen and won the match pretty handily."
On his win and progress so far this season ... "It was too bad that we'd lost the dual already, but I kept fighting through it. I did pretty well. My confidence is high right now. Since I've been here, I've been playing really good tennis, and I want to keep that up through the rest of the season. As a junior player, I struggled a little bit. As soon as I got here, the training has been intense. Everyone stays on me every day. You just get better. We work so hard in the gym, on the court. It's a great atmosphere to improve. I love it. So, if you love it and you embrace the work, you just keep going."
Contact: Leah Howard (734) 763-4423
