No. 4 Duke Crushes No. 31 Syracuse in 6-1 Win
By Brad Klein
CitrusTV Tennis Beat Reporter
DURHAM, N.C. – Syracuse has an impressive resumé at home this season, featuring seven wins at Drumlins Country Club. But the Orange have struggled on the road.
Durham is certainly a long way from home as No. 31 Syracuse (12-10, 5-8 Atlantic Coast) suffered a brutal 6-1 loss against No. 4 Duke (20-2, 12-1 ACC) on Friday. Syracuse’s away record is now just 3-4 with their last road victory coming over a month ago.
It all started when the Orange dropped their seventh-consecutive doubles point.
This week, Sonya Trescheva and Sofya Golubovskaya received their first ranking since the beginning of the year, landing 90th in the country. The Russian duo did not defend the standing against Duke, losing 6-3. The Orange’s other ranked doubles pair of Miranda Ramirez and Gabriela Knutson won their set 6-4. But, Dina Hegab and Guzal Yusupova fell in their set, 6-4, handing the doubles point to the Blue Devils.
The Orange were then deflated after their loss on the doubles court, much like last match against Miami. Libi Mesh, Ramirez, Hegab, and Yusupova all lost their first singles sets.
No. 100 Ramirez met her match against the Blue Devils. No. 32 Kelly Chen brought Ramirez’s hot streak to a halt, running away with the match 6-1 in the second frame. Ramirez had been victorious in seven of her last eight matches that went final.
The three other straight-set losses from Mesh, Hegab and Yusupova clinched the victory for Duke and left Syracuse with their eighth loss of the year to a ranked opponent.
After the dual was clinched, Sofya Golubovskaya lost her singles match as well. This continues a major slump for the sophomore as she has lost four of her last five matches. She suffered three set tiebreak loss against No. 18 Meible Chi, putting Golubovskaya at 1-5 against ranked opponents this season.
No. 19 Gabriela Knutson was the only victor for the Orange in singles, defeating No. 13 Maria Mateas in a pro set 10-8 after splitting the first two frames.
The Orange have just one more match before the ACC tournament kicks off on Wednesday. Syracuse will face unranked Clemson on Sunday at noon.
bwklein@syr.edu | @BradKlein15
