Fall Break in Tulsa, OK

Hey there all, been quite some time...

I'm currently in Tulsa, OK, for the All-American Championships. I'll be playing the qualifying (which starts tomorrow), along with Henrique (our extremely good and only freshmen this year). In total there are three of us here, but Reid is in the main draw, which starts Wednesday. It's a rather quiet feeling so far, with only the three of us and Ramsey here, very unlike typical Duke Tennis trips, and perhaps less amusing as well (alas, some of our more colorful comrades are not present to provide often odd and intriguing entertainment and stories).

We got here Saturday, and it seems per usual this year, where Duke Tennis goes, rain follows. However, we did manage to practice outside yesterday and today, so it hasn't been continually raining, and it's supposed to be fine for the rest of the week (fingers crossed). And

Anyway, Henrique will start off the tournament for us when he plays his first round qualifying match at 10am. I will follow with my match at 12pm. I'll try and keep this somewhat frequent and brief, but before I sign off, a couple mundane facts to help frame our conditions here in Tulsa.

Hotel: Courtyard by Marriot...Maybe 10 minutes from the Tulsa courts.
Dinners so far: Te Amo Italiano (very good), Macarroni Grill.
Interesting Fact: Our rental car (Chevy Malibu, white) is covered in bird feces, a consequence of one evening parked underneath a tree outside the hotel.
Odd Moment: Playful sarcasm from the hotel receptionist when asking for a wake-up call last night.
Travel Inconveniences: Minimal

Thanks for reading all,

Dylan

starting off the year...

This past weekend we had our first fall tournament of the season at Wake Forest! It was great to compete again with all the girls, and it was especially incredible to see Liz make her debut on the court for the first time in two years! She played really well, beat a ranked player, and has a lot of good things to build off of. Our new freshman, Monica (aka Mon Mon), also made her debut on the court with us and had a good tournament. She has been a great addition to the team and is extremely good natured. Both Ellah and Reka had a solid performance playing doubles together. The duo teamed up to get to the finals of the doubles draw, but lost a tough match to Illinois for first place. 

Although it was such a good feeling to be out on the court competing again, my favorite part of the weekend was just being with the team. It didn't matter what we were doing...driving in the car, dinners, breakfasts at 7am, watching TV together at night, quoting our favorite youtube videos...we were always laughing and had permanent smiles on our faces. It reminded me how much fun we have together and just how much I've missed team trips with the girls! 

We are all really looking forward to our next tournament, All Americans, out in California. Liz and Monica begin matches on Saturday in the pre-qualifying draw, I begin on Tuesday in the qualifying draw, and both Reka and Ellah will be starting play on Thursday in the main draw. Keep an eye out for results!! 

Until next time, GO DUKE! 

-Amanda

www.tennismd.com

Hello All,

It has been awhile since our last blog has gone up. We are going to try to make this a more frequent thing with some one-liner tips, health suggestions, interesting things we see on the recruiting trail, etc. Anything to keep the mind going and hooked on tennis.

So anyways, I am up in CT running a few camps this summer and just met a very nice guy who started this company online. I immediately thought about all of you. Check it out...

www.tennismd.com

That's right...

www.tennismd.com

This is an unbelievable site for all ages and levels. Have you ever had something tweaked on court but it wasn't severe enough to go see the doctor for? It happens all of the time. Figure out what you did, how to treat it, what doc to see and on and on! So check this out...TennisMD is the answer for everyone.

Here is a little info about them:

"TennisMD is the most comprehensive online Tennis health community – 100% dedicated to injury prevention and treatment specifically for Tennis. Through insightful articles, expert-hosted videos and an ever-growing community of Tennis players like you sharing information, TennisMD helps educate, enlighten and empower Tennis with solution-focused content.

We have assembled the Tennis industry’s leading health and fitness experts – each sharing valuable, practical advice to keep you playing injury-free. Their overall experience translates to your overall wellness."

I suggest you bookmark it and use it wisely!

Have fun and stay healthy.

J

PS:They also have a sportsMD.com and also a golfersMD.com

#5 Duke vs. #7 Georgia Tech

The Lady Blue Devils took the court today at noon playing against the Georgia Tech Yellow jackets. We started off with a clean sweep of the doubles with Reka and Ellah cruising to an 8-4 victory, followed by Jess and I. We won 8-2 Amanda and Melissa battled to take the final match winning in a tiebreaker. They won 87. We had our ten-minute break and quickly got ready to take the courts again. We knew that GT was going to come out firing in the singles so we knew we had to be prepared to stay out on the court as long as it was going to take. Finishing her match quickly, Melissa cruised to a 6-3, 6-2 playing beautifully to obtain her 100th match season victory! Congrats Melissa! So proud of you! Next was Reka to come off taking down her opponent 6-3, 6-0. Reka was so pumped and it was awesome to listen to her fire herself up after each point. So tough Reka! There were four matches left (me, Ellah, Amanda, and Jess) and they were all in third sets. I closed out my match winning 2-6, 6-2, 6-2. Awesome! We had officially beaten Georgia Tech! Shortly after, Amanda had retired from her match. It was Ellah and Jess left and they were both battling. Ellah lost 6-4, 3-6, 3-6, but she fought till the very end. She never gives up! Jess soon finished just barely losing as well. (3-6, 7-6, 3-6) Our last season match was finished, and we were victorious.
It is such an awesome feeling to finish our season on such a strong and positive note. I feel that we are definitely match tough and are ready to compete in ACC’s next weekend and NCAA’s shortly after. We are really fighting hard and are hungry to win. WE finished tied for 1st with University of Miami for the ACC Regular Season Champs, and have also been undefeated this season at home!! We have you, the fans, to thank for this. Ya’ll have been so amazing and have really helped pull us through in our tough matches. We are truly grateful and appreciate every single one of you for coming and supporting us. Again, ya’ll are awesome!!! Thank you!!
Today was also Senior Day ☹ This was Tara, Melissa, and Jess’s last season match. They were given beautiful flowers and a plaque. I have been truly honored and blessed to have gotten to know these three outstanding and unique ladies. I am sad that I have only gotten one semester with them, but I would take that over never getting to know them. Melissa and Jess have been awesome leaders through out this entire season and have been huge mentors for me. I will miss these girls terribly. I love you guys!!!
We start the ACC Tournament this Friday where we will be seeded 2. We are pumped and ready to play! It’s at the Cary Tennis Center if any of you would like to come out and watch. It will be a great weekend of tennis!
Until next time………. GO DUKE!!!!!!

Duke vs. Virginia Tech

Immediately following our thoroughly dominating win against Virginia, we had a quick turnaround and played Virginia Tech the next day at noon. Following the routine for our early matches, we had a nice little team breakfast to start of our day, and then hit the court to tear up the Hokies. It was a nice change from our last few matches, since we were actually at HOME, had some amazing fans out, AND had a sunny day. Truly, a very rare combination for us in the last few months. The doubles started off well, with all of us winning the 3 matches; AND, we actually managed to play some solid doubles on all 3 courts...looks like all the doubles drilling is paying off!

Singles was equally solid, and almost everyone won their matches without losing a set, except for Ellah, who struggled a bit with a combination of wrist issues, and her opponent having an out-of-body experience, which is never pleasant. But overall, we won 5 out of 6 singles, and swept the doubles point. Not bad, for a busy weekend! It was especially important for us to get a quick win, since we've been spending SO much time on the courts, and this week will be no different, when we take on Clemson and Georgia Tech back to back to finish out our regular season.

GO DUKE!!

-Reka

Home match: Virginia

Hi everyone!

So we played our first home match, after a long time, on Saturday. Starting with doubles, the teams of Mang and Granson won 8-4, Robinson and Cecil won 8-3, and Zsilinszka (did I spell that right?) and Nze won 8-6. With the 1-0 lead, we were off to a good start. The girls played great singles against a gritty Virginia to close out the match 7-0. Some people won easily, while others toughed it out. Mallory crushed Emily Fraser at no.1 singles 6-1, 6-0. Reka and Ellah played long three-setters and triumphed in the end. Amanda, Melissa, and Jess all won in straight sets.

Overall, we were happy with our performance, and look forward to playing more home matches. After that, hello ACCs! We are all gearing up to play the remainder of our season, and prepare for the national championships. I feel (watching from the stands) that not much can stop the girls from doing as well as they want to in the NCAAs. As of now, we hope to go all the way! So stay tuned in, for exciting results will follow.

Till next time,
Tara