Latest Lineup Doesn’t Help the Dukes in San Antonio

The Newport Beach Dukes, playing with another new lineup, were beaten by the San Antonio Racquets, 23-18, in a TeamTennis match Tuesday in San Antonio.

San Antonio (4-0) is the only undefeated team in the league.

With Stephen Enochs replacing Jorge Lozano in men’s doubles, the Dukes (1-3) fell behind, 6-1, after the first set in front of 1,490 at the McFarlin Tennis Center. However, Manon Bollegraf won her first women’s singles set of the season, defeating Gretchen Magers, 6-1, to tie the score.

The Dukes took a slim lead when Bollegraf and Elise Burgin beat Magers and Anne Smith, 6-4, in women’s doubles, but the Racquets countered with lopsided victories in men’s singles (Sammy Giammalva d. Tim Pawsat, 6-2) and mixed doubles (Peter Doohan and Anne Smith d. Pawsat and Burgin, 6-3).

Earlier Tuesday, the Dukes had announced two more lineup changes, signing Enochs, a 1988 graduate of Georgia, and Amy Frazier.

Beginning with Saturday’s match against Sacramento, Frazier will replace Bollegraf, who is leaving to compete in the Federation Cup for her native Holland.

Lozano injured his back Sunday during the Dukes’ overtime loss to Wichita. On Monday the team announced that Richard Lubner, a former UC Irvine standout, would replace Lozano for at least two matches. But Lubner could not complete the season because of prior commitments, so the Dukes signed Enochs.

Enochs played for Greg Patton, Dukes coach, on the Junior Davis Cup team in 1986-87 and led Georgia to the 1987 NCAA championship. In 1990, Enochs played on five different satellite tours around the world.

Frazier, who played for the Dukes last season and was named the TeamTennis women’s rookie of the year, replaces Bollegraf, who was a last-minute replacement for Leila Meskhi. Meskhi pulled out a week before the opening match because of a shoulder injury.

The Dukes next play on Thursday at Wichita against the Advantage.