Carleton and Cunha Advance to ITA Regional Doubles Final

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Duke's Reid Carleton and Henrique Cunha knocked off a ranked opponent in the doubles semifinal of the Wilson/ITA Carolina Regionals on Sunday.

Carleton and Cunha continued to play well as a duo, extending their winning streak to seven straight. The Duke pair are the No. 2 seed in the tournament and matched up with the No. 3 seed and No. 29 doubles team in the country, North Carolina's Clay Donato and Stefan Hardy in the semifinals. With the win Carleton and Cunha are now 13-2 on the year and will have a shot at qualifying for the ITA National Indoor Championships on Monday when they face the No. 4 seed Iain Atkinson and Steve Forman of Wake Forest. The match will take place at 11 a.m. at the University of North Carolina.

The two Duke players showed resilience in doubles after both were eliminated in the round of 16 in singles earlier in the day. Cunha lost to Atkinson in straight sets 6-1, 6-2 and will have a chance at revenge Monday in doubles. Carleton suffered a 6-4, 6-3 defeat to Jose Hernandez of North Carolina.

Sophomore Torsten Wietoska went the furthest in singles for the Blue Devils, winning his first match of the day to move on to the quarterfinals. Wietoska downed Brennan Boyajian in straight sets 7-5, 6-1 in the round of 16. He then faced Hernandez and got off to a hot start with a 6-2 first set win. However, Hernandez bounced back to take the next two sets 6-2, 6-3 to eliminate Wietoska and move on.

Monday's matches will determine who will represent the Carolina Region at the ITA National Indoor Championships. Singles will begin at 10 a.m. with the doubles final to take place at 11 a.m. The National Indoor Championships will be held Nov. 5-8 on the campus of Yale University in West Haven, Conn.

2009 Wilson/ITA Carolina Regionals
October 18, 2009

Singles - Round of 16
Torsten Wietoska (Duke) def. Brennan Boyajian (North Carolina) 7-5, 6-1
Iain Atkinson (Wake Forest) def. Henrique Cunha (Duke) 6-1, 6-2
Jose Hernandez (North Carolina) def. No. 29 Reid Carleton (Duke) 6-4, 6-3

Singles - Quarterfinals
Jose Hernandez (North Carolina) def. Torsten Wietoska (Duke) 2-6, 6-2, 6-3

Doubles - Semifinals
Reid Carleton/Henrique Cunha (Duke) def. No. 29 seed Clay Donato/Stefan Hardy (North Carolina) 8-5