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Alvarez Leads Blue Devils in Preseason Rankings
9/15/2015 2:06:00 PM | Men's Tennis
DURHAM, N.C. – The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) released its preseason singles and doubles rankings Tuesday with Duke being represented by sophomore Nicolas Alvarez, who checks in at No. 7 in the initial singles Oracle/ITA poll. Alvarez also appears with freshman Ryan Dickerson at No. 34 in the doubles rankings.
Alvarez turned in one of the best freshman campaigns in program history in 2014-15 and capped the year by earning All-America honors. Alvarez became Duke's 21st All-American, and the first since Henrique Cunha in 2012. Alvarez ended the year ranked No. 11 in the final Oracle/ITA poll, the highest for a Blue Devil since Cunha was No. 5 in 2013. The 2015 ITA Carolina Region Player to Watch, Alvarez also earned first team All-ACC honors and a pair of ACC Player of the Week awards. He posted a 31-11 overall singles record with all 11 losses coming against nationally ranked opponents.
Dickerson was a five-star recruit who helped Duke finish with the No. 2 recruiting class for 2015, according to TennisRecruiting.net. The Marlton, N.J., product ranked as high as the No. 49 recruit in the country by TennisRecruiting.net and took part in the Easter Bowl ITF Tennis Championships in April of 2015. Dickerson also played in the USTA National Selection Tournament in February. During his junior career, he collected five USTA silver balls at national events. Dickerson played high school tennis for the winningest high school coach in the country, Bill Kingston, at Morrestown. As a senior, Dickerson was named the Burlington County Scholastic League Player of the Year and to the NJ.com All-State Second Team.
Selections for the 2015 ITA Men's All-American Championships were also announced Tuesday, with Alvarez earning a spot in the main singles draw while Alvarez and Dickerson are in the qualifying doubles draw. Freshmen Adrian Chamdani, Dickerson, Vincent Lin, Catalin Mateas and junior T.J. Pura were all tabbed pre-qualifiers for the singles portion of the tournament.
The Blue Devils open their fall slate Friday by hosting the Duke Bonk Invitational at the Cary Tennis Park in Cary, N.C. Alvarez will be in action at the Oracle/ITA Masters in Malibu, Calif.
The first team rankings of the 2015-16 season will be released by the ITA on January 5, 2016.
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