May 18, 2000

24-5 Overall
8-0 ACC
Ranked No. 6
2000 ACC Champions

Fifth-seeded Blue Devils Advance to NCAA Championships...

After winning its first and second round matches last weekend, the Duke men's tennis team (24-5, 8-0 ACC) advances to the NCAA Championships for the ninth time in school history and eighth time in the last nine years. The Blue Devils put their 11-match win streak on the line by facing 12th-seeded Southern Methodist (23-6, 5-2 WAC) in the Sweet Sixteen matchup on Saturday, May 20 at 5:00 p.m. The championships are being held at the University of Georgia in Athens, with the Duke-SMU match taking place at the McWhorter Tennis Stadium.

While hosting its first NCAA Tennis Regional last weekend, Duke blanked Charleston Southern 4-0 in the first round, then overcame a tough 43rd-ranked South Carolina team, 4-3, to earn the trip to Athens. SMU, who also hosted a regional, shut out Middle Tennessee State 4-0, then topped defending national champion Georgia 4-3 in the second round.

Blue Devils in the Big Dance for Ninth Straight Year...

The Blue Devils are making their ninth straight and 10th overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament, including regional and championship appearances. Duke has posted a 18-9 all-time record in the NCAAs, and has advanced to the national quarterfinals four times - 1993, '94, '97 and '99.

Individuals Get Invites to Championships as well...

Three singles players and one doubles team will also represent Duke men's tennis at the NCAA Championships. The singles competition consists of a 64-player bracket, while the doubles bracket consists of the top 32 tandems in the country vying for the national championship.

Andres Pedroso (Coral Gables, Fla.), Doug Root (Mendham, N.J.), and Ramsey Smith (Hilton Head, S.C.) all received at-large bids to the NCAA singles bracket. Root, a senior, is making his fourth straight appearance in the NCAA Singles Championship, and is the first Duke player to accomplish this feat since Chris Pressley (1992-95). Root, who is currently ranked 46th in the country, lost in the first round in 1997 and '99 and advanced to the second round in 1998. Pedroso and Smith are making their first appearances in the NCAA Singles Championship. All three players are currently ranked, as Smith is No. 34, Root 46th and Pedroso 48th.

Duke's No. 1 doubles tandem of Root and Smith received an automatic bid to the 32-team doubles bracket. The duo is currently ranked fifth nationally, has 27-7 record so far this year, and was the ACC flight champion at No. 1 doubles. Root is making his third appearance in the NCAA Doubles Championship, after making two trips with former Blue Devil Jordan Wile in 1997 and '98. The duo earned All-America honors by advancing to the second round in 1997.

Regional Recap...

Duke won its first round match handily, defeating Charleston Southern, the Big South champion, 4-0 at the Duke Tennis Stadium on May 13. After Duke's top two doubles teams clinched the doubles point, the top of the lineup sealed the shutout as Doug Root, Ramsey Smith and Pedro Escudero won at No. 1-3 singles.

Duke's next opponent, South Carolina, advanced to the second round with a tough 4-3 win over South Alabama. The Gamecocks provided a difficult test for the Blue Devils, pushing No. 3 doubles to a tiebreaker before Duke clinched the doubles point. USC then won three singles matches, making the showdown at No. 1 singles between Root and Robert Steckley the deciding match. After losing the first set 7-5, Root won the second 6-2. Up 5-4 in the third and having already served for several match points, Root received an audible obscenity call which gave Steckley a game and tied it up, 5-5. Root went on to win in a tiebreaker, 7-6(5).

Root Joins Century Club...

Root's win last Sunday over South Carolina's Rob Steckley gave him his 100th career singles victory. Root is just the fifth player in Duke history to reach that mark, joining former Blue Devils Rob Chess (112), Marc Flur (110), Chris Pressley (107) and Peter Ayers (103). Playing at No. 1 singles for nearly his entire Blue Devil career, Root currently has a career record of 100-77.

A Look Back at the 1999 NCAA Championships...

The Blue Devils cruised through the 1999 NCAA Regional in Clemson, S.C. shutting out Charleston Southern and the host Tigers, 4-0.

In the round of 16 in Athens, Duke, then ranked No. 2, topped Kentucky 4-2 and advanced to the quarterfinals against No. 8 LSU. After the Blue Devils dropped the doubles point, Duke's Pedro Escudero tied it 1-1 with a win at No. 3 singles. Andres Pedroso made it 2-1 Duke with a win at No. 5, and Ramsey Smith won at No. 4 to make it 3-1. LSU tied it up with wins at No. 6 and No. 1 singles, leaving the No. 2 battle between LSU's Tom Hand and Duke's Doug Root as the deciding match. Root captured the first set, 7-6 before dropping the second, 6-4. The third set was halted twice due to rain and moved indoors on the second stoppage of play. Indoors, Hand closed out the match, 6-4.

Duke also had two players competing in the NCAA singles competition, with both bowing out in the first round. Dmitry Muzyka also fell to LSU's Hand, 6-3, 6-2, while Root dropped his first-round match to No. 9 Oliver Freelove of Illinois. In the doubles competition, Muzyka and Jordan Wile dropped their first-round match to the 12th-ranked duo >from Pepperdine.

The Series with SMU...

Duke and Southern Methodist have faced each other only twice on the court, with the Blue Devils winning both of those matches. Duke won the first meeting 5-1 on March 3, 1989, in a match played in Corpus Christi. Two years later, March 7, 1991, Duke returned to Corpus Christi to defeat the Mustangs, 5-3.

The 25-Win Plateau...

With a win over SMU on Saturday, Duke would record its 25th victory of the season, matching last year's win total. Twenty-five wins are the most number of victories in a season during the Jay Lapidus era, and is the second-best mark in school history. The 1981-82 squad posted a school-record 31 victories.

Duke Versus the NCAA Tournament Field...

The Blue Devils have played nine matches this season against opponents still alive in the NCAA bracket, and have posted a 5-4 (.556) record against those teams. In fact, all five of Duke's losses this entire year have come against teams who were among the top eight seeds in the tournament -- No. 2 UCLA (twice), No. 3 Pepperdine, No. 4 Florida, and No. 8 Baylor. Pepperdine, who was upset by San Diego State in the second round, was the only one of those four schools not to advance to Athens.

NCAA "Sweet 16" teams that Duke has defeated this year include Illinois, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Christian, Virginia Commonwealth.

Duke has an all-time record of 64-61 (.512) against teams still playing in the NCAA Championship, with four of those losses actually occurring in previous years of the national tournament.

Smith Receives Sportsmanship/Leadership Award...

Duke junior Ramsey Smith was recently named the winner of the Region II Tennis Magazine/Arthur Ashe, Jr. Sportsmanship and Leadership Award. The annual award, given only to junior or senior collegiate tennis players, honors tennis accomplishments, sportsmanship, leadership and character as well as humanitarian concern and accomplishments.

Smith, who is Duke's top ranked player, is an ACC Honor Roll student who is also involved in Athletes in Action and Habitat for Humanity. Earlier this season he received the USTA Sportsmanship Award at the National Team Indoor Championships. He is the son of Stan Smith, former Wimbledon and U.S. Open Champion.

Success with the Lone Star State...

Perhaps Coach Lapidus should be grateful Southern Methodist is located in Texas, as his Blue Devils have fared well against teams from the Lone Star state this season. Duke defeated Texas (7-0) on Feb. 13, Texas A&M (4-3) on Feb. 19 and Texas Christian (5-2) on March 25. The Blue Devils' lone loss to a Texas team is a 5-2 decision against then ninth-ranked Baylor on March 21. All five of those Texas teams mentioned are still alive in the NCAA bracket.

Blue Devils Named All-ACC, Root for the Fourth Time...

A league-high three members of the Duke men's tennis team were named to the 2000 All-Atlantic Coast Conference squad, as selected by a vote of the league's nine head coaches. Blue Devil senior Doug Root and juniors Ramsey Smith and Andres Pedroso were named to the 12-member team.

Root was named to the All-ACC team for the fourth consecutive year, joining an elite group of ACC men's tennis players. Only seven other men's tennis players in the history of the conference have been four-time All-ACC picks, including Duke's Jeff Hersh (1985-88), Jason Rubell (1988-91), and Chris Pressley (1992-95). Four-time All-ACC selections from other schools include Georgia Tech's Bryan Shelton (1985-88) and Kenny Thorne (1985-88), North Carolina's David Caldwell (1993-96) and N.C. State's Roberto Bracone (1996-99). The ACC has been selecting an All-Conference team since 1984.

Smith was named to the All-ACC team for the second time, after capturing the honor as a sophomore last season. This is Pedroso's first appearance on the squad.