ELON, N.C. – Elon University men's tennis will open its 2019 spring slate on Saturday, Jan. 12, with a road matchup against ACC foe Duke at 6 p.m. inside the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center.
 
THE SERIES
In nine meetings all-time with the Blue Devils, Duke holds a 1-8 record against Elon. In the last meeting, Duke earned a 6-1 victory on Jan. 16, 2017. The lone Elon victory came to open the 2014 season when the Phoenix defeated No. 7 Duke in Durham, 4-3. Monday's meeting marks the fifth time in seven seasons the two programs have met.

SCOUTING DUKE
Duke concluded the 2018 season standing 30th in the final Oracle/ITA rankings. The Blue Devils reached a high ranking of No. 10 for the week of February 27 and made its 26th showing in the NCAA Team Championship in the last 27 seasons, facing Ole Miss in the opening round of the event. Duke finished the 2018 season with a 16-14 mark, which included a 9-4 ledger at home. The team returns All-ACC honoree Nick Stachowiak after leading the Blue Devils with 25 singles victories last season.

ABOUT ELON
This season, Elon returns the 2018 CAA Player of the Year and three-time First Team All-CAA honoree Felipe Sarrasague, as well as Second Team All-CAA honoree Mario Paccini. The Phoenix returns an experienced squad that includes five upperclassmen, led by seniors Sarrasague, Paccini, Felipe Osses-Konig and Taylor Foote. Junior Jacob Bicknell rounds out Elon's five upperclassmen. Kyle Frankel and Camilo Ponce are Elon's lone underclassmen heading into the 2019 season. Elon, which posted a 16-8 dual-match record and ended its season in the 2018 CAA Championship semifinals, also earned a No. 9 spot in the final ITA Carolina Region poll for the second time in the last three seasons.

THE SARRASAGUE SPECIAL
Felipe Sarrasague was named the 2018 CAA Men's Tennis Player of the Year in 2018,  becoming the fourth player in Elon's Division I era – all of which have come in the last six seasons – to earn conference Player of the Year. A 20-match winner in 2017-18, Sarrasague posted a combined record of 20-11 since the start of the fall campaign. Fourteen of those victories came during the spring season with 12 of them coming at the No. 1 spot. During the year, Sarrasague put together an eight-match winning streak and while he lost eight matches this spring, three of the defeats came to nationally-ranked opponents. In doubles action, Sarrasague contributed 15 victories.

SINGLES SUCCESS
During the 2018 season, Elon went 84-51 during dual-match singles action, winning 62.2 percent of its contests. Felipe Sarrasague led the team with 14 wins, while Kyle Frankel tallied 13. Sarrasague duplicated his freshman and sophomore success, taking 11 victories at the No. 1 spot while Fränkel won 12 matches at No. 3 and was 8-2 in his last 10 individual matches. Mario Paccini also had great success, winning 12 matches on the year with 10 of those wins coming at No. 2 and the other two at No. 1 singles. He, Camilo Ponce and Felipe Osses-Konig were tied for third on the team with 12 individual wins.

FRESH FACES
Elon University head men's tennis coach Michael Leonard announced the signing of Dino Bonetta (Rijeka, Croatia) and Maxwell Zucker (Dallas, Texas) for the 2019 season on Saturday, Jan. 5. Bonetta joins the Phoenix program as a transfer from the University of Detroit Mercy. Zucker arrives from Parish Episcopal High School in Dallas, Texas.

UP NEXT
The Phoenix hosts its first home matches of the season on Monday, Jan. 21, with a doubleheader against Appalachian State and North Carolina A&T at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center. Elon will open the doubleheader against the Mountaineers at 9 a.m. and conclude with a 3 p.m. contest against the Aggies.