Men's Tennis Falls to No. 13 Duke
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The No. 47 Miami Hurricanes men’s tennis team was overpowered by No. 13 Duke 7-0 Friday afternoon at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center.
Duke took the first point of the day as they swept the doubles matches. Partners Bernard Tefel and Henrique Tsukamoto finished first and fell 8-2 to Duke’s Bruno Semenzato and Daniel McCall. Senior duo Gabriel Flores and Diego Soto were defeated by Jason Tahir and Josh Levine 8-4. Omar Aly and Wilfredo Gonzalez fought hard but were ultimately defeated 7-6 by Fred Saba and Raphael Hemmeler in the number one position.
“I think we gave our best effort and tried as hard as we could,” assistant coach Mark Dickson said, “but on the whole I really felt that they just outplayed us a little, they were just a little bit tougher physically, a little bit tougher mentally.”
The Blue Devils were dominant in singles matches. No. 54 Fred Saba won the first point, defeating Flores 6-1, 6-4. Soto finished second and fell to Raphael Hemmeler 6-3, 6-1. Josh Levine clinched the victory for Duke as he overcame Shebshayevich 6-3, 6-2. Freshman Tefel was able to notch some points against his opponent TJ Pura but was eventually defeated 6-3, 6-2.
Both Aly and Gonzalez battled in close sets against ranked Duke players. Aly, who is ranked 92nd nationally, returned to play after being sidelined this past weekend. He ultimately fell to his opponent, No. 48 Jason Tahir, 6-2, 7-5. Gonzalez had a strong first set against No. 71 Bruno Semenzato but was beat in his second set losing with a final score of 7-6, 6-1.
Miami is now 13-7 (ACC 3-4) on the spring and will host No. 9 North Carolina at noon Sunday. Make sure to stay connected with the Canes and follow them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter at @CanesMensTennis.
No. 13 Duke 7, No. 47 Miami 0
Singles
1. No. 48 Jason Tahir (DU) def. No. 92 Omar Aly (UM) No. 19 6-2, 7-5
2. No. 54 Fred Saba (DU) def. Gabriel Flores (UM) 6-1, 6-4
3. Raphael Hemmeler (DU) def. Diego Soto (UM) 6-3, 6-1
4. No. 71 Bruno Semenzato (DU) def. Wilfredo Gonzalez (UM) 7-6 (7-5), 6-1
5. Josh Levine (DU) def. Daniel Shebshayevich (UM) 6-3, 6-2
6. TJ Pura (DU) def. Bernard Tefel (UM) 6-3, 6-2
Doubles
1. Fred Saba/Raphael Hemmeler (DU) def. Omar Aly/Wilfredo Gonzalez (UM) 7-6 (7-4)
2. Jason Tahir/Josh Levine (DU) def. Gabriel Flores/Diego Soto (UM) 8-4
3. Bruno Semenzato/Daniel McCall (DU) def. Bernard Tefel/Henrique Tsukamoto (UM) 8-2
Order of finish: Doubles (3, 2, 1); Singles (2, 3, 5, 7, 1, 4)
