Dylan Arnould- Act II from The Gothic Wonderland

Day two of the Duke Invitational brought with it more inspiring results and performances from the Duke Men’s Tennis Team against the ETSU (Eastern Tennessee State University) Buccaneers, along with some more excellent cuisine catered courtside (It’s just a shame that normal on-campus dining can’t measure up).  After a total of thirteen matches – four doubles and nine singles – we finished with a dominating 8-1 record in singles play, with a slightly less impressive 2-2 split in the doubles action.

The day got started on a slightly different note, with Al providing a new warm-up CD intended to surpass the inspiration that Luke’s heavily hip-hop inspired mix did for us on day one.  A more dance and techno influenced compilation infused with some hip-hop favorites from the previous day, I’ll put my personal opinions aside and just say that I suppose it’s difficult to argue with the performance results that came afterwards…

The doubles got off to a mixed start, with Carp and I offering some instances of solid and disciplined doubles play at the number four position, though unable to adequately consolidate on service breaks, and ultimately going down.  Reid and Torsten started out on fire at the number two slot and seemed destined to overwhelm their Buccaneer opponents, but a few close games and bad breaks disrupted their very sound play early on.  Alain and Kiril proved their reliability and grit as a doubles team once again, proving too determined and fired up for the number one duo they were facing, a rather dangerous and talented team if I may say so.  Pinksy and Holland were too far away for me to see much, but they took care of their opponents in a close 8-6 match.

We headed into the locker feeling pretty good about of our play despite failing to dominate the doubles like we did the day before.  The reality was that this team was a cut above the Elon squad we faced the day before.  Nevertheless we refocused in the locker room and headed back out to provide some impressive singles play, though perhaps more so in the way we took care of our matches and did all the little things than simply ball striking or flare.  What we lacked in flash and grandeur we made up for with discipline, competitiveness, focus and tough play.  Ramsey, Josh, and K.J. remarked to us in our post match briefing on how we wore down our opponents and broke their spirits, not only winning our matches but leaving our adversaries feeling completely defeated.  We’re hoping to make that a habit for all teams paying a visit to the Gothic Wonderland this year.

Singles wrap-up (from what I was able to actually see of everyone…)

My match started with some rough patches in the first set, with my eventually getting back on serve after being down a break and then breaking a second time to then serve out the set.  After that it was a matter of keeping him from getting back up, which I was thankfully able to do and allowed me to get off the court a little quicker than the previous day.  My neighboring teammate Torsten stepped up his level a couple of notches today, putting behind him some early bumps to get grooved and physically overwhelm his opponent with heavy balls and net attacks.  He also literally left sweat and blood on the court when he managed to fall yet again and reopen a wound on his fingers.  This misfortune was on top of his undoubtedly feeling a bit intimidated by how vocal and loud I was being on the court next to him…Kiril battled their number one player Enrique Olivares from Venezuela, ultimately coming up short, but as he related to me after the match, the difference was merely a few big points that didn’t go his way.  Reid overcame his somewhat off day to win the first set against his opponent and then run away rather comfortable with the second.  The few glimpses I did catch reminded me of my aspiration to one day make half as many crazy gets as him.  I hear Al (Alain) performed extremely well, though I saw almost nothing of his match, as he was on the other end of the Sheffield Indoor Center and finished before me. Holland showed some great heart, pulling out a tight three set match on a day that was certainly not his best.  Pinsky took care of business and slid lefty serves and smacked early returns to dispose of his opponent rather tidily.  Carp’s balls had too much depth and he drilled enough down the line backhands to manhandle his opponent similar to day one. Luke battled back from a set down to force a third set, until whoops a 10 point super tie breaker was played in lieu of a third, but which he buckled down to take 10-8. 

 Tomorrow we’ve got our rivals from 8 miles down the road, the North Carolina Tar Heels.  Irrespective of some recent struggles, their hatred of Duke is only perhaps surpassed by ours for them.  Needless to say it should be an awesome prelude to our real showdown to come at the end of March.  May the visiting Tar Heels be sent packing and the bellows of “Go Heels” be obscured by the screams (which I will surely be leading in both quantity and decibels) of “Go Duke”!

 Thank for your interest and support,

 Dylan Arnould