May 23, 2000

ATHENS, Ga. ---- Three Duke men's tennis players will compete in the NCAA singles championship, beginning Wednesday, May 24, while one Blue Devil duo team begins action on Thursday, May 25 in the NCAA doubles championship.

Duke junior Andres Pedroso (Coral Gables, Fla.), ranked 48th nationally, will face 100th-ranked Rodrigo Echagaray of Kansas in a 9:00 a.m. match on Wednesday, while at the same time 34th-ranked junior Ramsey Smith (Hilton Head, S.C.) plays Matt Wright of Michigan, ranked 45th. Senior and 46th-ranked Doug Root (Mendham, N.J.), making his fourth straight appearance in the NCAA Singles Championship, plays 11th-ranked K.J. Hippensteel of Stanford at 4:30 p.m.

Root lost in the first round in 1997 and Î99 and advanced to the second round in 1998. Pedroso and Smith are making their first appearances in the NCAA Singles Championship.

Duke's No. 1 doubles tandem of Root and Smith, ranked fifth nationally, will face the 30th-ranked Matt Amgwerd and Nic Dubey of New Mexico on Thursday, May 25. Time is TBA. Root is making his third appearance in the NCAA doubles championship, after making two trips with former Blue Devil Jordan Wile in 1997 and Î98. The duo earned All-America honors by advancing to the second round in 1997.