ELON, NC — The Elon University Men’s Tennis opened up their dual-match season on Friday against the 7th ranked Duke Blue Devils. Elon entered the match 0-6 all time vs. Duke.
After a closely contested doubles point, Elon was able to win to two out of the three matches and put the first point on the board heading into singles.
It was clear from the beginning that the Phoenix had come to play with confidence. With every point they won they cheered on their teammates and noticeably had more energy than the Blue Devils.
Elon jumped out to big leads on a number of courts, but was only able to capture two of six first set
Elon’s Stefan Fortmann, Robert Lindgren, and Juan Madrid fought very well but the Blue devils were hitting on all cylinders and were able to capture all three singles matches.
Trailing 3-1 the pressure shifted to Elon as they had to win every remaining match.
Jordan Kaufman started the rally for Elon by picking up a three-set win on court No. 6. The junior had to rally for the win after dropping the first set in a tiebreaker but held tough in the second set and went on to win the third set, 6-3.
Silverman showed why he is ranked No. 25 in the country as he outlasted Duke’s 52nd ranked Jason Tahir, in the third set 6-1
They squared the match up at 3-3 leaving one court to battle it out. It all came down to Brian Kowalski for the Phoenix. Kowalski went up big in the third set 5-2 but duke showed why they were the 7th ranked team in the country pulling it back to 5-5 all.
With his team cheering him on and ice in his veins..Kowalski able to get to clinch the match for Elon.
#64 Elon University 4, #7 Duke 3
Jan 17, 2014 at Durham, N.C. (Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center)
Doubles competition
1. Jason Tahir/Fred Saba (DU) def. Cameron Silverman/Stefan Fortmann (ELON) 6-5 (7-4)
2. Robert Lindgren/Brian Kowalski (ELON) def. Raphael Hemmeler/Bruno Semenzato (DU) 6-4
3. Juan Madrid/Jordan Kaufman (ELON) def. Daniel McCall/Cale Hammond (DU) 6-5 (7-5)
Singles competition
1. #25 Cameron Silverman (ELON) def. #52 Jason Tahir (DU) 6-5 (7-4), 3-6, 6-1
2. Fred Saba (DU) def. Stefan Fortmann (ELON) 6-2, 6-1
3. #95 Bruno Semenzato (DU) def. Robert Lindgren (ELON) 6-0, 3-6, 6-0
4. Brian Kowalski (ELON) def. Raphael Hemmeler (DU) 6-3, 2-6, 6-5 (7-3)
5. #77 Josh Levine (DU) def. Juan Madrid (ELON) 6-3, 6-2
6. Jordan Kaufman (ELON) def. Cale Hammond (DU) 5-6 (7-9), 6-0, 6-3
