College Tennis News - Deacons Fall to No. 6 Blue Devils 6-1

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Amogh Prabhakar claimed a closely-contested three-set win over Duke's Raphael Hemmeler on Sunday afternoon at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex, but the Demon Deacons ultimately fell to Duke 6-1.

The Deacons and Blue Devils played a competitive doubles point, but Duke scored wins at No. 1 and No. 3 to earn the opening point. Danny Kreyman and Adam Lee rallied from a 6-3 deficit at No. 2 to notch Wake Forest's lone victory at No. 2, edging David Holland and Fred Saba 8-7 (6).

Cale Hammond and Raphael Hemmeler finished first at the No. 3 position, topping Conner Sherwood and Sam Wells 8-2, and No. 62 Henrique Cunha and Chris Mengel secured the doubles point at No. 1 with an 8-5 win over David Hopkins and Amogh Prabhakar.

Rain hit the tennis complex midway through singles, forcing the remainder of the matches to be finished indoors. The Blue Devils were able to post quick victories at No. 6, No. 5 and No. 2 singles to seal the overall win, but the other matches would be much closer.

Danny Kreyman battled one of the nation's best players in third-ranked Henrique Cunha at No. 1 singles. After dropping the first set and falling down a break in the second, Kreyman and had a break point to get back on serve at 4-5, but his lob unluckily hit the ceiling of the indoor center, and a few points later, Cunha finished off the 6-3, 6-4 win.

Amogh Prabhakar claimed the lone singles win of the day for the Demon Deacons with a three-set win over Duke's Raphael Hemmeler. The junior took control early and grabbed the first set 6-4, but Hemmeler refused to go away and rallied back to take the second set, 6-3. In the decisive third set, the two staged several long points, highlighted by Prabhakar tucking a long lob just inside the back line to fuel his wire-to-wire lead in the set that earned him the victory, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

In the other three-setter of the day, Adam Lee grabbed an early lead by taking the first set from Fred Saba, 6-4. Saba battled back, however, and claimed the second set by a 6-2 margin. Despite excellent play from Lee in the third set, Saba earned the win in a hard-fought battle, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.

#6 Duke 6, #74 Wake Forest 1

Singles
1. #3 Henrique Cunha (DU) def. Danny Kreyman (WF) 6-3, 6-4
2. #18 Chris Mengel (DU) def. David Hopkins (WF) 6-2, 6-0
3. Amogh Prabhakar (WF) def. Raphael Hemmeler (DU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
4. Fred Saba (DU) def. Adam Lee (WF) 4-6, 6-2, 6-2
5. Jason Tahir (DU) def. Conner Sherwood (WF) 6-2, 6-2
6. Cale Hammond (DU) def. Alex Tsai (WF) 6-1, 6-1

Doubles
1. #62 Henrique Cunha/Chris Mengel (DU) def. David Hopkins/Amogh Prabhakar (WF) 8-5
2. Danny Kreyman/Adam Lee (WF) def. David Holland/Fred Saba (DU) 8-7 (8-6)
3. Cale Hammond/Raphael Hemmeler (DU) def. Conner Sherwood/Sam Wells (WF) 8-2

Match Notes:
Duke 13-2 (2-0 ACC); National ranking #6
Wake Forest 9-8 (0-2 ACC); National ranking #74
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1*,2); Singles (6,5,2*,1,3,4)