DURHAM, N.C. – #17 Duke won a pair of doubles matches and claimed three singles bouts in straight sets to down James Madison, 4-0, on Sunday afternoon in its men's tennis opener at the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center.
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Blue Devils (2-0) moved to 2-0 all-time against the Dukes (0-1), as the teams squared off for the first time since 1987.
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Duke grabbed the early 1-0 lead with a pair of 6-3 doubles wins on courts two and three.
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Over on court one, JMU neared a victory at the top spot, as the team of
Zach Fleishman and
Aurelien Schmitt led Duke's Pedro Rodenas and Cooper Williams, 5-4, but the match was abandoned with the game at 30-all when Duke clinched the doubles point.
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In singles play, Duke won the opening set on all six courts, leading to wins on the top three courts to clinch the match.
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The Blue Devils doubles their lead to 2-0 on court two, as Rodenas claimed a 6-2, 6-2 win over
Aurelien Schmitt. Minutes later, Duke made it 3-0 on court one, where Williams earned a 6-2, 6-1 triumph against
Ryan Morgan.
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The clinching point occurred on court three, as Alexander Visser capped off the day with a 6-2, 6-1 victory against
Esteve Agusti. Elsewhere, Fleishman held a 4-3 lead in the second set with Dylan Long on court four while
Gur Libal was knotted at 2-2 with Teddy Truwit on court six.
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JMU returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 24 when it faces a former conference foe at Elon in a 1 p.m. start from the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.
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