Behind the Strings by Steve Carrow

What started out four years ago as a way to make some extra money to offset the alarming rate of “daycare” has now evolved into a very fulfilling part of my life – Stringing for Duke Tennis.

On an average day, I’ll wake at 5:20am dress for the gym and load up the car with my “work attire “, a very large bag full of last night’s stringing labors and head out for Sheffield Tennis Center.  After arrival, I’ll “restock” the “completed bins” in the men’s and women’s locker room and head off for a quick workout, followed by a day of my “day job” (as a Project Manager for Duke).  Then on my return trip home, I’ll swing back by Sheffield to pick up a new allotment from the “to be strung bins”.   After dinner and family time, I retire to my stringing room and turn on CNN or ESPN to listen to (depending on the day/season) and begin my second career.  Depending on the load, usually one to four hours of work on these weekdays along with added time on Saturdays and Sundays usually gets me caught up with demand.  I do manage to slip in five to seven hours of sleep each night also, contrary to what Ramsey will tell you, and then the process starts all over again.

As glamorous as that sounds, it’s really NOT the fulfilling part.  No the part that makes it all worthwhile (aside from the check once a month) is the interaction with this amazing group of young adults and coaches.  First the kids, sure, we like to call them “kids”, but they’re so much more.  Day in and day out I get to see them up close, working together for a common goal and having a youthful energy and lighthearted fun attitude all the while.  Like siblings, they pick on one another and compete amongst themselves on and off the court.  But also like birth brothers and sisters, they stick up for each other from outsiders with a bond of loyalty that can only be described as “family”.  The personalities and nationalities are as diverse as you might expect from a University called simply “Duke”.  But the cohesion of a team among this group brings this simple North Carolina native to truly believe that “world peace” could most certainly be attainable some day, but for a common goal.

As a tennis fan, I’m amazed at both their physical and mental skills of the game, but as a support member of these teams, I’m most proud of their character.  Any predated preconceived notions of elitist “Duke” arrogance, has been replaced with the reality of true moral sincerity.  Sure they’re all intelligent and the fact that they’re also division one athletes test my notions of divine fairness when it comes to the distributions from the gene pool .  But any resentment towards the genetic gods is soon dissipated when I witness the work ethic and the stress toll of a work load of academics and athletics at the highest level possible.  Add to that the ingrained pressures of being an adolescent in 2009 and envy is soon replaced with empathy (except when they’re on a road trip to Hawaii).  It’s the mastery of the life balance and commitment to excellence in all of those areas that I most admire from this group of student athletes.   I’m really glad through these blogs that you (the fans) get to see what fine individuals these young adults are.  They’re really worthy of your support and I know firsthand how much they genuinely appreciate it!

As for the coaches, what can I say except WOW?  They sign up for the jobs of mentor, teacher, friend, boss, disciplinarian, coordinator, travel agent, maid, role model and the list goes on and on.  Couple that with the responsibilities and accountabilities of answering to the parents, fans, staff, alumni and Athletic director and you’ve got a recipe for stress with a side order of “you get to work nights, holidays  and weekends away from home”.  Still thinking they’ve got it made because they get to coach tennis for a living?  Consider this, during the season the teams only get one day off a week and don’t forget that you have to keep one eye on the global domain of recruiting all the while.  But even with all of those trials and pressures they still make it fun, after all, it’s still a game right?  Come to any match and you’ll see the results of these amazingly talented and committed individuals who are simply, the best in the business.  Former standouts themselves, they know firsthand the pressures and challenges facing their teams and impressively meet them head on, conquer them and make it look as smooth as the strokes they perfect each day.  But the really impressive part is that they not only endure this process, but embrace it.  Ask any one of them if they would rather be doing something else and without hesitation the answer is always an emphatic no!   Tennis is a remarkable sport that brings together people that otherwise might never cross paths.  It’s my honor to be involved with this outstanding group of dynamic and impeccable people and my pleasure to share these views from inside with you the fans.  

As always, thanks for your support and for joining us on this journey.  Hold on tight – it’s going to be a fun ride, full of mains, crosses and some perfect tension for just the right feel at impact.

Dylan Arnould- Nostalgic and Feeling Good

For me, Saturday’s match against VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University) brought back some old memories and familiarly good feelings afterwards.  As a team we posted a very solid and overwhelming performance, bettering the VCU Rams by a score of 6-1.  And why was I feeling nostalgic?  Probably because VCU was the second team I ever played against in my collegiate dual match career almost exactly two years ago, but probably even more so because former Duke Tennis alumni Peter Rodrigues 07’, David Goulet 08’, and Alex Stone 08’ were all in attendance, all of whom I played on the team with, and all of whom drove a long distance to be there.

The doubles started off really close and with us down a break on two of the three courts.  Al and Kiril we doing well keeping their opponents at the number one position, but Reid and I were struggling to find a groove and Torsten and Holland were in a close fight at line three.  But we battled back well at positions two and three, most impressively with Holland and Torsten fighting off a match point to come back and win their match in a tiebreaker.  Reid and I ended up losing shortly after the doubles point was clinched, though it was of no consequence to the overall outcome and we had done well to come back and stay alive for the sake of alleviating some of the pressure on the freshmen duo.  Big props to them for fighting back and coming up big, and also to Al and Kiril for a really hard earned win at number one.

Our singles warm-ups were subject to a new innovation in player introductions thanks to Mike Gagnon (the invaluable Director of Clinical Operations and Planning for Surgery at the Duke Medical Center who has donated his time and energy to helping both the men’s and women’s tennis teams) who offered pro basketball intros that helped get things started and revved up the energy level. After battling back in the doubles to take a 1-0 lead in the overall score, there was no let up as we got out to first set leads on nearly every court right away.  I was actually on serve throughout most of my first set, but as I glanced at the Goldstein scoreboard I saw we were dominating on almost every other court.  Torsten was next to me playing well and smothering his opponent, and on the other side of me Reid was off to a fast start and it seemed improbable that his opponent would be able to successfully fight back.  Kiril was playing well and providing some great fire for the rest of us, as even though I was unable to see much of his match I heard quite a few of his “Go Duke!” yells.  I got off early enough to see the last few games of Pinsky’s match which he closed out confidently with some crowd pleasing shot making.  Al had the upper hand on his scrappy opponent throughout most of the match until a hard fought set didn’t go his way, and then was unfortunate to have to concede to playing an always unpredictable super tiebreaker to decide the match, which he narrowly lost.

It was a great feeling afterwards and all among us were pleased, especially our coach Mr. Josh Goffi who was celebrating his 30th birthday in conjunction with our victory.  Spirits were high though and the crowd was awesome, with there being an awesome attendance turn out.  Among the attendees were such notables as Count Chocula, the Chicken, and if I’m not mistaken I believe the infamous Gorilla was there as well.  Most crucial though were the guys not playing that were providing the noise and support that makes such an incredibly huge difference.  It was a team effort between the ten of us and our famed coaching triumvirate in addition to the incredible crowd support that delivered the decisive victory. The atmosphere was great and I can’t wait for our next home match, which regrettably is not until we play a double header on March 4th before we then start up the ACC Season with N.C. State on March 18th.  Thanks to everyone that came out and supported us, you all made it such an awesome atmosphere to play in and showed what an advantage it is to have a supportive and plentiful home crowd.  We leave Thursday to head up to Penn State where we will play for a spot in the last sixteen of the Team National Indoor Championships on Saturday and Sunday (I’ll be really annoyed if we are scheduled so that we miss the Super Bowl).

Our first dual match!

We played our first dual match of the season against Old Dominion University yesterday. Understandably, the girls were all nervous, but exited at the same time. It had been more than eight months since we had officially competed as a team (the Fall season comprised of individual tournaments). Liz Plotkin and I could not play due to injury, and we were ready to cheer like crazy!

Our new freshman, Mallory Cecil was businesslike. She pulled back her long blond hair into a tight bun, and stepped onto the court with confidence. Jessi Robinson partnered Mal, and we watched them with eager anticipation. They made a great doubles team! After stuggling through (and winning) a loooooooooooong first game, they effortlessly demolished their opponets. The other doubles teams were more experienced, as the girls had played together last season. They played well, and led the team to the first point.

All this while, more and more people streamed in. They were ready to support the girls, and did so quite loudly! The singles started. Jess, Ellah Nze, Reka Z., and Melissa Mang played superb tennis in the beginning and steamrolled their opponents in the first set. Ellah's opponent, a feisty hitter, came back and even led in the second set. But Ellah, helped by the crowd, triumphed in the end. I must say, the Sprited Freshmen Luke Marchese and David Holland, and the Crazy Towel Guy, didn't exactly keep their voices low! A special thanks to them. Mallory and Amanda Granson were down in the beginning, but came back and dominated in the end. We won 7-0.

The experience was made even more memorable by the people who came to support the team yesterday. I would like to thank you all for watching, and hope you come to the rest of our home matches. You make it fun; we love you!

Thanks for reading,
Tara

The Magnificent 7-0

Our coaching “triumvirate” of Ramsey Smith, Josh Goffi, and KJ Hippensteel made their dual match debut this evening under the roof of Sheffield indoor tennis center. Everything they wore matched. The crisp jacket, the windpants, the shoes, the socks… their GQ-like attention to detail must have put fear into the sweatpants-clad Elon staff.  They looked, in a word, professional.

And so did the players (figuratively speaking, of course, — my 1998 Volvo was bought with my own money). We did such a “professional” job it was almost a little dull. On one end, you saw the Good German Torsten Wietoska slowly dismantle Phil Nemec’s Canadian net-rushing. On the other end, in a match that was just dying to be played on red clay, Alain Michel’s “Brasileiro” style slowly dragged down and strangled Alberto Rojas’s legendary grinding. And in the middle, Reid Carleton and his background chorus of soccer player fans made Damon Gooch’s evening a nightmare — sweet revenge from last weekend. Pinsky, Kiril, and Dylan all dominated. As Lil' Wayne’s voice blasted through the speakers announcing our triumph, everyone but our guests from across the state left the building satisfied.

There were still some moments of drama. They may not have known it, but Dylan and Alain were playing match-clinching points at the same time. Dylan won his match approximately 2 seconds before Al, giving him the honor of first clinch of the year.

In the locker room afterwards, one didn’t really know what to criticize. Doubles were fiery and the breaks came early and often. Outside of a couple tough first sets, singles went pretty smoothly. At least this time (and hopefully the first of many), we went out and accomplished close to what we set out to do. It was a job well done from all aspects of the program.

I guess good things happen when a certain member of your team is reading “The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists.” It keeps our priorities straight.

However, tomorrow is a new day and Saturday night brings a new opponent, the highly ranked VCU Rams. We have quite a rivalry with these guys, especially after last year’s painful (particularly for me, as I lost the decider) 4-3 loss. It will be one of the most exciting home matches of the year. Saturday night indoor matches always have a great atmosphere and huge crowd and this should be no exception. There will be an absolute battle on the courts. Basketball tickets will be given away, and pizza will be eaten… at no charge. If you’re not there, you’re missing out on what is probably the best night of college tennis in North Carolina all year.

Thanks to everyone who came out and supported us tonight, and to everyone keeping up with the blog, 

Aaron 

The Battle of Tobacco Road

MLK Day – A Day to Celebrate

January 19, 2008 – MLK Day. More than 45 years ago, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech heard around the world. Every year on this day, the United States of America pays respect to a legend who advocated peace and equality. Despite the overwhelming sense of unity felt around the nation, there remained one hot spot, a tennis center to be specific, in which animosity and unadulterated hatred still thrived. On the third and final day of the Duke Invitational, the Battle of Tobacco Road unraveled under the lights of the Sheffield Tennis Center. Duke versus UNC – pride, honor, and most importantly, bragging rights were on the line.

Doubles play commenced with more intensity and fight than the two previous days combined. The international tandem of Al (Alain) and Kiril played an extremely well fought match but came up a bit short against a team who seemingly forgot how to miss a volley. Reid and Dylan prevailed in a close contest against their Tar Heel opponents through the winning combination of Reid’s deft volleys and Dylan’s burning desire to plow the ball straight through opponent’s chests. The freshmen duo of Torsten and Holland played a solid match demonstrating maturity and team chemistry well beyond their years. The “Dream Team” consisting of Carp and Pinsky put on a show for the crowd with a decisive 8-3 victory complete with eclectic shot making. At the completion of doubles action, Duke tallied 3 W’s while UNC garnered only 1.

Inside the locker room, energy as well as morale was high. The coaching staff of which I’ll refer to as the Duke Tennis Triumvirate (Smith, Goffi, and Hippensteel) was extremely pleased with our performance as well as our ability to match and ultimately surpass UNC’s energy. Nevertheless, the triumvirate issued sage advice by telling us not to get complacent and to come out even hungrier for singles. They reiterated that our UNC foes, despite an abysmal past two days, would still fight and compete because they were playing Duke. After the 10 minute intermission, the singles matches began. Right off the bat, things got heated as energy and emotions ran high.

As a person more inclined to numbers than words, I’ll first start off with the overall statistics. We won 5 out of the 8 singles matches which equates to 62.5% for those who fancy percentages. The Tar Heels were successful at the top positions, but the Duke Blue Devils dominated everywhere else. At the first spot, Reid unfortunately ran into a player who had signed up for the wrong tournament. His opponent, Donato, may have hit a plethora of winners, but lacked geography prowess to know that Melbourne was no where near Durham, North Carolina. Kiril, the Bulgarian sensation, competed extremely well but in the end, could not overcome his opponent’s lefty crosscourt forehand. However, this is where UNC’s success ended. To lead the way, Junior Dylan Arnould won a three setter while exhibiting true tenacity. During an extended rally in the first set, I was shocked as I looked over to see Mr. Arnould on the ground nursing his left ankle while grimacing in pain. In my three years at this institution, I’ve witnessed two catastrophic events and could only hope for the best. Relief spread among the Sheffield crowd as he finally got to his feet and gently walked to his bench. After receiving medical attention, the crowd applauded as he returned to the baseline to continue play. Arnould did drop the first set, but under the guidance of Mr. Hippensteel, Arnould would battle back in the second and would run away with the 3rd. In the other matches, Torsten played a great match against Crone of UNC. Despite Crone’s incessant approaches to net, Torsten utilized his superior German genes and came up with fantastic passing shots. I watched this match in its final stages and vividly remember one scene in particular. After Torsten aced Crone to obtain his first match point, Torsten pumped his fists and let out a roar that epitomized fighting spirit – David Hasselhoff pre-Wendy’s/YouTube would be most proud. On the other end of the center, Jared Pinsky made quick work of his Tar Heel opponent. Word on the street was that Mr. Pinsky heard the day’s cookies were the best of the weekend and well frankly, he couldn’t miss out. Holland, who was determined to take first place in time spent on court, once again was battling deep in a third set. Amidst the militia of UNC players heckling, Holland dug deep and triumphed once again. The other freshmen from New Jersey, Luke Marchese, channeled his hatred toward UNC by not only beating, but crushing his opponent. A man of few smiles, Marchese did have a big grin for this victory. The match that went the distance involved the Sao Paulo native, Al. His opponent, Ahari, notorious for getting in one’s face proved to be just that. Even I as a spectator knew I was in for the long haul after Ahari went wild after just the first point. Nevertheless, Al remained stoic and unfazed despite these antics. Sure enough Al confidently took the first set 6-3 which, much to my relief, temporarily quieted Ahari. The second set was closely contested as Al had two match points. On the second match point, Al decided to end the match with an exclamation point as he attempted to win the point with a drop shot. Unfortunately, this exclamation point would soon turn into ellipses as Ahari would go on to win the point and eventually the set. In the third and final set, Al came up a bit short due to the combination of the weekend’s fatigue as well as better play from his opponent.

All in all, this weekend was a success as we dominated all three days of play. Additionally, Junior Dylan Arnould receives accolades as he earned the most points and thus won the singles contest of the Duke Invitational. The Duke Tennis Triumvirate congratulated everyone on a great weekend and was extremely excited to get the season underway.

Finally, as an engineer, I’m accustomed to succinct statistics that capture the entire weekend in one glance. I have formulated them and they are as follows:

Statistics

· Matches Won: 32

· Matches Lost: 8

· Winning Percentage: 80%

· Duke > UNC

I want to personally thank everyone who came out to support us this weekend.

Thanks for tuning in and enjoy the Inauguration (and snow)

David Lue

Liz Plotkin-Last Day in Michigan

Depending on who is reading this you may or may not know that I have been struggling with a knee injury for the past year. Therefore, I will be writing about the matches I watched.

We faced Michigan in doubles and Vandy in singles on our last day of competition in Michigan. It FINALLY warmed up to 18 degrees on our last day there which made it much more bearable. The tennis improved as well. It was great to see everyone get more comfortable playing and most of the singles matches were won fairly easily. The doubles matches on the other hand were both very close. Amanda and Melissa pulled out a really close one 9-7. Ellah and Reka lost in a a nail bitter but had a ton of really great points. Overall, this weekend was a great start to the season. My teammates were able to get some really good matches and I truly enjoyed watching them. I'm looking forward to our first dual match later this week!

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