Dear Duke Tennis Family,
Happy New Year from Durham! I hope you had a happy holiday season with family and friends. Classes start tomorrow and we are back on campus getting ready to kick off our spring semester. This team has put in a lot of hard work on and off the court. I am excited about the growth and commitment our guys have shown since August. Here are a few of our team highlights from the fall:
· Nico Alvarez returns strong from injury and picks up 18 ATP points, including his first ATP Challenger main draw win and first professional Futures final
· Jason Lapidus had a breakout semester winning three titles: Our James Bonk Invite B Singles and A1 Doubles (with Catalin Mateas), and Charlotte 49ers Fall Invitational A1 Doubles (with Sean Sculley)
· Spencer Furman takes James Bonk Invite A1 Singles and Wake Invite A3 Doubles (with Nick Stachowiak) titles
· Freshman Sean Sculley finishes fall strong, sweeping top singles and doubles draws of Charlotte 49ers Fall Invitational
· 2017 Team MVP Nick Stachowiak leads the team with an 11-3 singles record and closed the fall campaign with a pair of titles, winning the A2 Singles Draw and A3 Doubles Draw at the Wake Forest Fall Invitational
· We achieved a 3.62 Team GPA for fall semester
This spring we have one of the toughest schedules we have ever had, starting with a unique opportunity to travel to Tempe, Ariz., to face Arizona State in their first dual match in 10 years. After we defeated ASU in the 2008 NCAA Championships, the program was dropped. Duke is its first match as a reinstated program. They have a top-15 level team and there is a lot of excitement around this match in the college tennis world.
Please watch our televised match on the PAC-12 Network this Saturday at 12:30 p.m. ET.
Thank you for your ongoing support of Duke Men’s Tennis and stay tuned for more updates on our spring season as we get going.
Go Duke!
Ramsey